Brace Watcher's Diet

Our goal is to provide you with a beautiful smile. This can only be accomplished if the braces stay attached to your teeth. We do not want to interfere with your nutritional intake, but we do ask that you watch the types of foods you eat. Some types of food are capable of breaking your bands or brackets, bending your wires, and may loosen the cement under your bands or brackets. All these things prolong treatment time.

A Brace Watcher can eat a nutritionally balanced diet and do no harm to their braces. The foods listed below are examples of the most common cause of loose bands, brackets, and broken appliances.

HARD FOODS

Ice (no crunching, please)
Fire Balls
Corn-on-the-cob (may be eaten if sliced off the cob)
Chewing on pencils or pens
Nerds
Chewing on suckers
Life savers
Hard edges of pizza
Peppermint sticks
Ribs or chicken (meat may be eaten if sliced off the bone)
Blow Pops
Crisp French Fries
Carrots and Apples (may be eaten if cut into small pieces)
All nuts, i.e. peanuts, cashews
Popcorn

Even though some of these are not food items, chewing on hard objects, such as pen or pencils, can damage your braces. Biting your nails can also break bands and brackets.

STICKY AND CHEWY FOODS

Caramels
Bonkers
"Milky Way" bars
Taffy
Gum (not even Sugar-Free)
"Now or Later" candy
"Gummy Bears"
"Snickers"
"Sugar Daddy" candy
"Tootsie Roll"

SWEET FOODS

Cake
Pie
Pastries
Candy
Ice Cream
Cookies
Sweet Drinks (Soft drinks, lemonade, etc.)

Because of the interaction of sugar with the bacteria in your mouth, sweet foods can cause damage to your teeth. The best way to protect against this is to brush immediately after eating. If you cannot brush, at least rinse your mouth with clear water. Sweets and foods left on the teeth can cause decalcification and decay.

Be a good "Brace Watcher" and check your braces every morning. Please notify our office if appliances become loose or broken in order that we might minimize prolonged treatment time.

Brushing is important at all times - but especially now that you have braces, Work hard to keep your braces just as shiny as the day they were placed. Then when your treatment is complete and your braces are removed, you will be proud to smile.

A SMILE IS FOREVER!