Just eat soft foods for a few days. Yogurt, mashed potatoes-- that sort of thing. Meat and bread are fine if you cut them up or pull them apart. But don't starve yourself-- that can make the whole thing worse. Swish water in your mouth every now and again, to clean your braces. 

Your braces will probably continue to hurt for a little while. The first 48 hours are the worst, and after that it tones down a bit. It's good to give your teeth an occasional workout-- try something a bit more dense texture-wise, cut it up, and give it a go.  

Remember that this will only be for so long-- a small price to pay for a lifetime with straightened teeth! Also that it's best that you're doing it while young-- your teeth are more flexible now, and it won't be such an intensive process. Hope this helped! 

@Moonlight:

That's crazy! I got braces on Friday! I've been taking lots of Tylenol and avoiding hard foods, but I haven't been eating just yogurt, either. That's been working for me. Good luck!

~Starseeker 

Pain medicine is your friend. When I first got mine on, they told me to chew lots of gum. This struck me as weird, since I thought you weren't supposed to chew gum with braces, but apparently its fine as long as it's sugarless and you brush your teeth afterwards. Not liking gum, I got my parents to by a jar of honeycomb (I got a sore throat a day after getting my braces on so this served a double purpose). Chewing stuff makes the pain go away faster, so I avoided eating soft foods and it worked (some of my friends after getting their braces on still felt pain after a month of yogurt, and I only felt an occasional twinge after 3 days).

Also, just a warning, at certain times you might have no idea how to close your mouth all the way because your teeth will have moved over night into slightly different but unfamiliar positions. 

Braces suck, especially the first few days. I've had mine since August. Like what was said before me, eat a ton of soft foods - your teeth will adjust eventually. After about a week or so the pain goes away almost entirely, and they're fine from then on. I don't know what your orthodontist does in terms of tightening - mine never hurt after they're tightened, though if a loose bracket is replaced, that tooth does hurt.

Do you have only your top braces or both? I got mine on separately.

I've never had braces, so I don't have advice, but I just want to say that I'm here for you, abd this website is here for you.

"The good life is one inspired by love and guided by knowledge." --Bertrand Russell

Oh, yay! Welcome to the club! I've had braces for... 1 year and 1 month now? 

I did the same thing, because I'm stubborn like that- eat hard food on the first day and regret it. It gets better... sort of. Eventually, they will put on specialized wires, and those are sore for longer. (at least, I think they will. It might only be for certain people?) The tightening makes them sore, and sometimes your bottom lip might get kind of cut open because of where the brackets are rubbing against it- but it's no big deal, just put wax on them if they start poking you. 

Good luck! 

Thanks everyone!

Update: chewing from my front teeth hurts, but molars are fine. So, I'm ripping stuff into little pieces to eat in the back of my mouth. Also, I'm eating a lot of noodles.

I've gotten different kinds of advice. So, I'm going to ask a more narrow question. If my front teeth only hurt, what should I do?

I've never had braces Moonlight, but I'm here if I can do anything to help. We all love ya!! <3

Braces are annoying and painful at first, but soon you won't notice them at all, I promise!

Painkiller is good, as are cold foods because they kind of numb your teeth for a little bit. 

Did you have to wear a retainer? My tip for those is don't lose them! I took mine out at a restaurant one time and they accidentally got thrown away...

i had braces and the best advice I can give you is for a few days just eat soft food refried beans smoothies etc.

This is extremely repeptitive advice, but I agree with everyone else. Soft foods, (ie: mashed potatoes, smoothies, oatmeal, refried beans, ice cream, yogurt, etc) are good for the first few days. 

And as for the brackets rubbing your lips, your orthodontist might have given you wax to put over the brackets until your lips get used to them. The wax really helps. A lot. (don't do what I did my first day of having braces and stuff napkins in your mouth in the middle of the restaurant because the brackets hurt so bad XD)

Anyway, I know it seems like the braces won't help with anything, that all they do is make your mouth sore, but they really do help. Hope they stop hurting soon :)

(I'm going to have to document some of this advice... my brother is getting braces on tuesday... and I have a friend getting braces in may... so many braces...) 

Yes. PAIN MEDICINE IS YOUR FRIEND. Tylenol worked really well for me, if you want to try it.

It's normal for your front teeth to hurt more than your molars - that's what happened to me, too. Definitely use your molars more than your front teeth, and don't bite into things directly. After a while you'll get used to it and the pain will be gone.