If this is your child’s first holiday season with their new braces, their visions of sugarplums dancing in their heads may need to be slightly altered. We’re here to help you navigate which traditional treats your child can still enjoy and which should be avoided.
Keeping The Right Treats In Sight
Keep their spirits high by focusing on the foods that they can still enjoy with their new braces, rather than pointing out which foods they can’t have this year. Having the whole family in on the change of plans will help one child not feel left out as the others enjoy.
By offering enticing alternatives, your child can have just as much holiday fun as their friends while benefiting from the long-term advantages from their braces.
Traditional Holiday Desserts That Won’t Damage Braces
Treats that are sticky or require biting into are more likely to pop brackets off and cause wires to break, but there are plenty of safe and tasty snacks to satisfy young tastebuds that will keep everyone happy – including your orthodontist!
Strawberry Santas
You will need:
- Strawberries
- Whipped cream
- Chocolate sprinkles
- Piping bag or ziplock
Start by:
- Slicing the bottom off of the large end of the strawberry to remove the top, and so the strawberry stands upright.
- Cut off the top quarter of the strawberry making “Santa’s hat”
- Use a piping bag or ziplock filled with whipped cream to apply the whipped cream to the top flat surface of the strawberry
- Place Santa’s hat on the top of the whipped cream and give him a little bobble topper
- Make Santa’s eyes with two chocolate sprinkles
Marshmallow Snowman
You will need:
- White chocolate candy coating
- Wooden skewers
- Marshmallows
- Carrots
- Chocolate chips
Start by:
- Melt the white chocolate candy coating in the microwave
- Take your wooden skewer and push it through three stacked marshmallows to form the three parts of the snowman’s body
- Dip the skewer with marshmallows into the candy coating
- Before the coating sets, press chocolate chips into the top marshmallow to make the snowman’s eyes
- Add a tiny piece of carrot for the snowman’s nose
Reindeer Cheese
You will need:
- Yellow bell pepper
- Cheese
- Olives
- Cherry Tomato
Start by:
- Cut your yellow bell pepper into strips to form the shape of antlers
- Cut your cheese into a soft triangle
- Push the antlers into the wide end of the cheese triangle
- Use two pieces of olive to make the reindeer’s eyes
- Add half a cherry tomato to make the reindeer’s nose
Christmas Tree Brownie Lollipops
You will need:
- Brownies
- Colored frosting, or white frosting with food coloring
- Piping bag or ziplock bag with small piece of corner cut off
- Sprinkles
- Wooden skewer
- Cookie cutter or knife
Start by:
- Cut your brownies into triangles, or use a shaped cookie cutter to create your Christmas trees (or other fun holiday shapes!)
- Push a wooden skewer or brightly colored straw through one edge of the tree
- Put your frosting in a piping bag or ziplock with small corner cut off
- Decorate the brownie with lines of frosting for tinsel and sprinkles for ornaments
Avoid These Dangerous Snacks
While it is important to stay positive, you should also outline those treats that aren’t such a good idea so that you can keep them out of sight and out of mind. Do your best to help your child avoid desserts and candies that are hard, chewy, sticky, or require biting into like:
- Gingerbread cookies
- Candy canes
- Ribbon candies or other hard candies
- Peanut brittle
- Toffee
- Fudge (especially with nuts)
- Any other treats with nuts or crunchy crusts
- Popcorn balls or any other form of popcorn
Need help coming up with other fun holiday treats that are safe for your child to enjoy with braces? Let’s brainstorm some alternatives together at your next orthodontic check-up.
