Can You Eat Chips With Braces?

Few snack foods are as irresistible as chips. The crunch and the seemingly endless variety of flavors and textures filling the shelves of grocery stores are bound to tempt you and your kids when cravings hit.

However, choosing snacks that will not harm your dental work can get challenging when you wear braces. Can you eat chips with braces? What brands or textures are safer? At Peterson Family Ortho, our San Tan Valley team can help you make wise choices to protect your family’s dental work while you enjoy snack time. 

Can You Eat Chips With Braces at All? 

Resisting your favorite chips is no easy feat, and you are not alone. A 2020 report noted that around 16% of people in the country eat chips weekly and that chip sales generate billions of dollars for the most well-known brands. Chips are a favorite for snackers everywhere, including those who wear braces. If you count yourself among them, knowing which brands are safe to eat can help you avoid costly repairs. 

No matter what style of braces you wear, keep in mind that some types of chips can cause problems or cause breakage, including: 

• Loose wires 
• Damaged brackets 
• Bent wires 

Reducing portions and choosing snack-sized bags of chips can satisfy your craving for one of America’s favorite snacks. Fortunately, not all chips are created equal and you and your kids can still enjoy several kinds with a bit of care. 

What Types of Chips Are Safe To Eat With Braces? 

When you shop for potato chips, consider brands or styles with a softer crunch that do not require a lot of chewing. The more chewing a chip requires, the more damage it can cause. Those that splinter easily can cause sharp edges that might also damage your dental hardware. The following types of chips are generally safe if you wear braces. 

Pringles 

This brand features softer, thinner chips, which can lower the risk of damage to metal braces and their brackets and wires. The softer crunch also lowers the chance of splinters poking your gums or spaces between the teeth. 

You can also protect your braces by enjoying Pringle chips one at a time. While these chips are the ultimate finger food, avoid crunching down on a stack and instead eat slowly. 

Puffed Chips 

While puffed chips may not have the same loud crunch as other varieties, they are a safer option when you wear braces. Soft and rounded, puffed chips have no sharp corners or rough edges, making them easier to eat. Remember to brush your teeth thoroughly after enjoying these snacks to clear away any remaining food debris. 

Baked Chips 

Some brands of baked chips have a milder crunch, which lowers the risk of breaking your braces’ brackets as you eat. Baked chips are also often lower in calories than traditional chips, especially those made with avocado or olive oil, which means less time on the treadmill. 

What Types Of Chips Can Damage Your Braces? 

Certain types of chips can cause serious damage to your braces, especially if you indulge too often. As you shop for your home’s snack pantry, skip these chips and protect your dental work. If you have teenagers who can choose their snacks at school or while with friends, remind them to make choices to keep their braces safe, including avoiding the following.

Small Cheese-Flavored Chips 

These chips and crackers’ small size makes them dangerous for any type of braces. The texture usually requires extra chewing, causing wear and tear. Their size may also cause them to become stuck or damage your braces’ wires. 

Kettle Chips 

Many people enjoy the serious crunch that kettle-cooked potato chips provide, and the extended cooking process and thickness of the slices make these popular sellers. However, their hard texture and thickness make them a dangerous choice if you wear braces. They can splinter easily and get stuck in the brackets. Some brands have such a challenging crunch that they can easily chip or crack a tooth. 

Tortilla Chips 

These chips come in a variety of tempting flavors, but resist them to protect your braces. A tough crunch, pointed corners, and a texture that gets caught easily in your teeth and braces make them a poor choice. 

Ruffled Chips 

The ridges that made Ruffles and other types of wavy chips famous have a satisfying texture, but they can damage your braces and cause costly repairs. Choose a chip with a thinner, softer texture. 

Rolled Chips 

Brands like Takis and Tostitos offer a variety of rolled chips in spicy styles and flavors as well as shapes often preferred for dipping. The cooking process gives these chips a texture much like kettle chips, which means they tend to splinter and get caught in your braces. 

Doritos

These chips are famous for their nacho cheese tang and triangular shape. That distinctive, pointy shape can unfortunately damage and misalign the wires and brackets on your braces. 

Can You Eat Chips With Braces If You Make Them At Home? 

Making homemade potato chips puts you in charge of their ingredients, flavoring, and the thickness of the cut. If you make chips in your oven or air fryer, do your best to keep the slices as thin as possible and monitor the cooking time to control the hardness and crunch. 

While making homemade potato chips allows you to recreate or modify your favorite type of store-bought chips to something more braces-friendly, still try to consume them in moderation to avoid damage to your orthodontics. If you do indulge, brush and floss afterward. 

We Offer Dental Assistance for the Entire Family 

Choosing braces to straighten your teeth can lead to many questions. How do you clean them? Can you eat chips with braces? What if a bracket or wire breaks? At Peterson Family Ortho, we can fit any member of the family with braces and answer all your questions regarding their care. Contact us at our San Tan Valley office to ask about a free initial visit today.