Foods to avoid

Foods to Avoid

Taking Care of Your Teeth and Braces

Diet Changes

Avoid sticky or hard foods that may loosen your bands, break off brackets, or bend wires. Foods that cannot be cleaned off the braces may lead to discoloration and decay of your teeth. Examples are listed below:

Absolutely No...

Caramels 

Caramel apples 

Hard, sticky or chewy candy

Frozen candy bars 

Fruit rollups and fruit snacks 

Granola Bars 

Chewing gum 

Chewing ice 

Popcorn 

Chewy or hard breads such as
bagels, pizza crust, bread sticks 

Chunky peanut butter 

Corn on the cob 

Fruits with pits 

Pretzels

 Pumpkin seeds 

Sunflower seeds in the Shell 

Tacos (Hard Shell) 

Nuts 

Meat on the Bone 

Jerky 

Chips

Minimize Sugar Intake

EAT MUCH LESS

Cookies, Cake, Pie, Candy, Ice Cream 

DRINK MUCH LESS

Soda Pop,  Drinks with Sugar,  Beware of Sports Drinks

Other things to avoid: using whitening toothpaste & chewing on pens, pencils, or fingernails

You may cut up apples, raw carrots, and celery into bite-size pieces. Be careful when biting into hamburgers, steak, or large sandwiches. These foods put pressure on the brackets and wires.

Failure to follow these rules can damage the braces, making it necessary for you to come in more often for repairs. This will lengthen your treatment time in braces and could become costly as excessive repairs incur extra charges to the patient.

ORAL HYGIENE

It is important to brush and floss your teeth daily to avoid decay around the braces. Be sure to keep up your 6 month visits to your dentist for cleaning.