It is important to realize that the orthodontic patient will have to change their eating habits slightly during the treatment. A careful patient can probably eat almost any food and do little damage to their appliances; however, these three types of foods may cause trouble:

1. Hard foods
2. Sticky foods
3. Foods high in sugar

Hard Foods

These foods can do damage by bending wires, breaking braces and loosening the cement that attaches the appliances to your teeth.

Avoid all of the following hard foods:

• Hard bread including hard crust or bagels
• Hard candies such as jaw breakers or jolly ranchers
• Chocolate bars with crunchy centres like Crispy Crunch or Crunchie
• Bones, ice cubes

Take special care when eating these foods:

• Meat – Remove the meat from the bone of spare ribs, chicken, steaks or veal with a knife and not with your teeth.
• Corn on the cob – Corn should be cut off the cob.
• Carrots (Raw) – Cut carrots into thin carrot curls and chew them with your back teeth.
• Celery, Radishes and Pickles – Cut celery, radishes and pickles into small pieces and chew them with your back teeth.
• Apples – Cut apples into wedges and chew them with your back teeth.
• Peaches, Prunes, Nectarines, Cherries and Olives – Avoid biting into the core of the above foods: if unsure, the core should be extracted first.
• Popcorn – Avoid hard corn kernels. Remove any outside husks that may get trapped between the teeth and gums. Be sure to floss, as trapped husks can cause serious swelling and infection.
• Chips – Avoid tortilla chips, nachos or corn chips. Regular potato chips can be eaten with care.

Sticky Foods

These foods may damage appliances by bending wires and loosening the cement bond between the appliances and the teeth.

Avoid the following sticky foods:

• Gum (sugar free gum is ok to have)
• Chocolate bars with sticky centres like Oh-Henry, Mars or Snickers
• Liquorice, caramels, Starburst, ju-jubes, gummy bears, toffee or any other sticky candy
• Raisins, as well as chocolate-covered (Glosettes) or yogurt-covered raisins

Foods high in Sugar

Limit the amount of foods that are high in sugar. Sugar increases the likelihood of cavities and permanent white marks that may form on the teeth. Many foods, like breakfast cereals, have hidden sugars. These foods should be avoided whenever possible. If you do eat sugary foods, brush your teeth immediately afterwards. If that is not possible, vigorously rinse your mouth with water to remove most of the larger pieces of food stuck around the braces.

Avoid the following foods high in sugar:

• Soft Drinks – In addition to the high sugar content, soft drinks are made with a substance called carbonic acid which can cause permanent damage to the enamel of the teeth. If you do consume soft drinks, we recommend that you brush your teeth thoroughly to decrease the possibility of damage. Again, if you are unable to brush, please rinse your mouth with water to minimize potential problems.
• Lemons – Over a long period of time, pure lemon juice can erode the enamel on your teeth. Avoid biting directly into a lemon.
• Foreign Objects – Do not put fingers, pens, pencils, or popsicle sticks in your mouth. These objects may break brackets, bend wires and loosen cement.