If Your Child Is Worried About Braces, It's Time For A Party!

Posted on: 18 March 2015

Even with today's less intrusive designs, getting braces still isn't something most kids look forward to. If you have a son or daughter who will soon be getting braces, why not cheer them up with a pre-braces party?

It might sound like a strange idea, but reality TV mom Kate Gosselin has held pre-braces parties for some of her children; it's a great way to help kids get ready for the restrictions of wearing braces.

Plan The Menu Together: There are a lot of foods that kids with braces have to avoid, from sticky and gooey snacks like caramel, gum, taffy, and chocolate to hard foods like popcorn, nuts, pretzels, and tortilla chips or hard taco shells. A lot of candy becomes off-limits, so if your kid has a sweet tooth, they may have some particular treats they want to enjoy before getting braces.

By making the menu together with your kid, they can create a sort of wish list of all the foods they think they'll miss the most while they have braces. In addition to the common foods they'll think of, you can suggest some special treats, too – like candy apples, caramel corn, or a game of bobbing for apples.

Consider The Guests: With so many kids with braces today, however, you'll also have to consider the guests at the party. It wouldn't be very nice to invite over kids with braces and make them watch as their friends got to eat all these treats. One option, of course, would be to make it an exclusive party for people without braces.

But this can also be a great opportunity to show off some delicious foods that your kid will be able to keep eating. So consider making some special foods just for the kids with braces – a sweet cake or soft cheesecake, for instance, or simpler ice cream or pudding. For a meal, try serving meatballs, tuna, or other softer foods.

Get Dental Decorations: It's not a theme party without silly decorations! A long banner that's a set of teeth, with a letter on each one spelling out a message, is a great idea. And teeth are easy to make from plain white paper. Strings made of colorful "floss" or ribbon, hung between paper teeth, are a goofy look.

And if you're feeling really ambitious, consider dental cake. Cutting any tall, unfrosted circular cake down the middle will give you two half-moon shapes. Frost a half-moon shape in pink and then draw white teeth around the curved edge – now they look like dentures! Embedding colorful candies within the white teeth, with a line of frosting between them, could even make them teeth with braces.

And there's also the promise of a post-braces party at the other end of the tunnel – with beautifully straight and healthy teeth. Contact your orthodontist for more tips.

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