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:
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
Cookies, Cake, Pie, Candy, Ice Cream
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.
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.