Foods to Avoid
While you are undergoing orthodontic treatment, eating habits may need to be modified. Certain foods (in general, hard, brittle and chewy foods) will bend, break or loosen your appliances. Here is a list of foods to avoid and a few tips to make eating some foods easier and/or safer.
- • Ice, hard candy - Ice and hard candy totally destroy braces
- • Pizza Crust, Bagels - The hard crust and breads bend wires, loosens bands and knocks off brackets
- • Hard pretzels - Like pizza crust, pretzels can cause serious damage to appliances
- • Caramel candy, bubble gum - the sticky goo pulls off wires
- • Popcorn, Nuts - The small kernels and shells can become trapped between the bands and your gums, causing inflammation
- • Pens and Pencils!!! - Favorite exam time food - BREAK EVERYTHING
- • Lemons - They contain a substance that can permanently damage the enamel on your teeth
- • Cut raw fruits and vegetables into bite-size pieces. Corn may be eaten if it is sliced from the cob.
- • Cut all meat off the bone before eating (pork chops, spare ribs, chicken, etc.)
- • Cut down on sugary foods and carbonated soft drinks.
- • Brush your teeth after eating whenever possible to remove food that may become caught in appliances.
If it's... sticky, chewy, gooey, or hard
you should not eat it
Keep in mind that this is only a partial list. In general, if you use good judgment when eating, you will experience few problems.
