Eating Habits
A careful orthodontic patient can eat almost any food and not damage their braces. However, there are certain types of food that may cause trouble. Please use common sense, or if you are in doubt, ask us about a particular food you enjoy eating.Avoid Eating:
- Hard Foods
- Sticky and/or Chewy Foods
- Food High in Sugar Content
- Popcorn, Nuts, Peanut Brittle
- Ice (not even if you’re careful)
- Lemons (pure lemon juice can hurt your tooth enamel)
- Corn-on-the cob (cut it off the cob)
- Corn chips, crisp taco shells, corn nuts, sunflower seeds in the shell.
- Taffy, sticky candies (i.e. Starburst, Now-N-Laters, Jolly Ranchers, etc.), beef jerky, etc.
- Pizza crust (the hard outer edge)
- Carrot & Celery Sticks (only when cut into thin slices)
- Apples (again cut into thin wedges)
- Hard Breads (only if you take small pieces and are very careful)
- Occasional Soft Drinks (again rinse your mouth with water afterwards)
- Sugarless Chewing Gum