Yes, you can eat ice cream with braces, as long as you choose soft kinds and avoid hard or sticky mix-ins like nuts, candy chunks, or caramel.

What’s safe

• Plain, soft ice cream (like vanilla, chocolate, soft serve, or smooth gelato) is fine because it doesn’t require much chewing and won’t usually damage brackets or wires.

• The cold can even feel soothing if your teeth are sore after getting braces or after an adjustment.

What to avoid

• Flavors with hard or chewy pieces (nuts, toffee, hard candy, big chocolate chunks, cookie pieces that are very crunchy) can break brackets or bend wires.

• Hard cones can be risky if you bite into them; it is safer to eat the ice cream with a spoon instead of biting the cone.

How to eat it safely

• Let the ice cream soften a little and eat it slowly, especially if your teeth are sensitive to cold.

• Rinse your mouth with water and brush your teeth well afterward, because the sugar in ice cream can increase the risk of cavities around the brackets.