What Foods and Drinks Should You Avoid During Your Orthodontic Treatment?

Typically, the first thing I am asked after placing braces, an appliance, or aligners is: "What foods should I not eat?" The best response I can give is, "Stay away from anything hard, sticky, or chewy." Now, of course there are plenty of exceptions to the rule but, for the most part, if something you are about to eat falls into one of those three categories, it is best to stay away from them.

Here are some helpful tips to keep your braces and appliances in-tacked, while keeping your teeth and aligners nice and bright:

•   Gum - some orthodontists allow you to chew sugar free gum but in our office we recommend staying away from gum all together - due to the style of brackets and appliances we use

•   Taffy/Caramel - obviously, these are extremely sticky and can many times pull your brackets off of your teeth

•   Hard Candies - when biting into hard candies you can cause the bracket to loosen from your teeth

•   Corn on the Cob - biting into anything hard, such as corn on the cob, can cause a bracket to come off, if you really like corn you can always cut it off of the cob

•   Raw Carrot/Apples - just like corn on the cob, biting into anything hard can cause your brackets to come off, but cutting them into small, bite-sized pieces will help to keep your brackets in-tacked 

•   Doritos/Tortilla Chips - these chips are not only hard but also have pointed edges, so they can get stuck between your brackets and irritate your gums, as well as pop brackets off of your teeth

•   Hard Taco Shells - you can substitute a soft taco shell

•   Pizza Crust - most crust is fine to eat unless it is hard or the thin pizza crust. Either way, you should try to be careful

•   Ice - in your glass is fine but not to crunch on

•   Nuts

•   Coffee, Sodas, Dark Juices - these drinks can stain your teeth, so if you do drink any of these, it is best to minimize your intake as well as brushing your teeth right after. The dyes in these drinks can cause your teeth to stain, and if you are wearing Invisalign, it can stain the Invisalign Trays and in-turn make your teeth appear stained

-Chalice Fraser, RDA

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