Foods to Avoid

No Hard Materials:

• No biting into or chewing on hard snack chips, pretzels, etc.
• No hard, sticky, gooey, chewy candy such as: licorice, Tootsie Rolls, Jolly Ranchers, Starbursts, gummy candy, caramels, suckers, Life Savers, jaw breakers, cough drops, peanut brittle, etc.
• No hard bread crusts, hard shelled tacos, hard bratwurst rolls, hard crusts on bread or pizza, large sub sandwiches and bombers
• No pieces of ice or frozen candy bars
• No hard nuts – such as almonds, brazil, macadamias, or granola bars
• Be careful of fruits or olives with pits
  
• No chewing on pens or pencils
• No beef jerky, Slim Jims, etc.
• No popcorn balls, taffy apples or caramel corn

Semi-Hard Materials:

These items that are

 okay if cut into small pieces and chewed with the side and back teeth, for example:

• Apples
• Raw Vegetables

Other Considerations:

• Gum is okay occasionally, as long as it is soft, sugarless gum (like Trident)
• Peanuts and Popcorn are okay as long as you do not eat handfuls – eat one kernel at a time. Don’t chew on ½ or un-popped kernels. Be sure to floss after popcorn!
  
• No Gnawing – Use a knife and fork: cut meat into smaller pieces
• Meat must be sliced from the bone: pork chops, chicken, ribs, etc.
• Corn must be sliced from cob

Important!

Disregarding suggestions will cause loosening of bands or brackets and bending of wires which would very likely extend treatment time and hinder our obtaining the best results for you!