Certain food and drinks cause dental cavities. If possible, you should not eat these foods while wearing braces. Sticky foods tend to stick to braces and remain on teeth for long periods of time. If you eat these foods, please brush your teeth and rinse your mouth out as soon as possible. Between meals, please make an effort to confine your snacks to foods without refined sugar. And if brushing immediately afterward isn’t possible, please rinse your mouth thoroughy.
While wearing braces, avoid the following foods:
- Sticky food or candy
- Ice, beef jerky, Doritos, Fritos, Corn Nuts, nuts
- Taffy, caramel, Tootsie Rolls, Gummy Bears, Now or Laters, Licorice
- Soft drinks, carbonated drinks, sugary drinks
- Popcorn
- Seeds in the shell (sunflower and pumpkin seeds)
- Gum of any kind
- Lemons (citric acid in juice can dissolve tooth enamel if eaten frequently)