OK, here's the story. Orthodontists attach braces to your teeth with a small amount of cement (Braces are not bolted, riveted, nailed, welded, or chemically melted to your teeth; a less permanent method is usually preferred). This cement is designed to hold the brackets and bands against your teeth during normal orthodontic treatment, and, when it's time to remove the braces, scrapes off your teeth easily without leaving any permanent marks . It doesn't take much force to remove or "break" the braces off your teeth. That's good because it allows for easy removal when the time is right. However, it's also bad for you because any heavy force put on your braces could break them off and extend the treatment time.

Hard and sticky foods will break off brackets, bend wires and loosen bands, which , in turn, will extend your treatment time. Foods high in sugar content could cause cavities, calculus build up, and ugly stains on your teeth.

So what can you do? Well, you must limit your diet to soft and healthy foods. I'm not saying you can only eat broccoli and mashed potatoes while wearing braces. There are just certain types of food that need to be avoided while wearing braces.

AVOID EATING THESE THINGS:

Hard foods-

Anything that is hard cannot be chewed with braces on. Remember, braces are fragile, and strong forces from hard foods will break them off. Damaged appliances will extend treatment time. Extended treatment time will increase the risk of cavities and stains on your teeth.

Sticky foods-

Braces can be pulled apart with sticky foods. Again, this could extend your treatment time.

Anything high in sugar-

Braces make it harder to keep your teeth clean. Sugar will feed the bacteria that cause cavities. If you do eat any foods high in sugar, brush your teeth immediately.

EXAMPLES OF WHAT TO AVOID

Ice....Definitely NO!! It totally destroys braces.

Nuts

Peanut brittle

Hard pizza crust

Corn on the cob

Ribs

Doritos, corn chips, hard tacos, cheetos, fritos and the like

Popcorn

Hard pretzels

Hard rolls and bagels

Raw carrots

Bubble gum

Carmel candy

Beef jerky

Suckers

This is just a small list. Remember, nothing hard, sticky, or sweet!