Eating with your Braces
Now that you are in braces there are certain foods that you will need to avoid because they will damage your braces. Don’t worry, you’ll be able to bite into an apple again in no time, however, until you get your braces off you’ll need to do your best to protect them.
Some of the foods that are okay for you to eat are:
Potato Chips, Small Pretzels, Crunchy Peanut Butter, Ice Cream, Raisinets, Nestle Crunch, M&M’s, 3 Muskateer Bar, and Sugarless Gum.
Don’t eat hard foods!
Hard Pizza Crust, Corn on the Cob, Peanuts, Popcorn, Corn Nuts, Ice, Jawbreakers, Jolly Ranchers, and Beef Jerky. Please cut up Carrots and Apples before eating them. Avoid chewing on Pens and Pencils.
Don’t eat sticky foods!
Avoid sticky foods like Snickers, Milky Way, Baby Ruth, Milk Duds, Tootsie Rolls, Caramel, Licorice, Taffy, Starburst, Dots, and Bit-O-Honey
Brushing
It is more important than ever to brush and floss your teeth regularly while in braces, lack of proper oral hygiene could result in permanent damage to your teeth! Be sure to brush your teeth after every meal with fluoride toothpaste, concentrating on these important areas:
- Brush your teeth for at least 2-3 minutes: Time yourself
- Between the brackets and the gums
- On top of the brackets
- On the bottom of the brackets
- Look in the mirror to make sure that there is no food left anywhere on the teeth or between any of your brackets.
We will be happy to provide you with a special toothbrush designed to help you get in between each bracket.
Loose Wires or Brackets
Occasionally a bracket or wire can become loose, before you take time out of your schedule to come in for an appointment there are a few things that you can try at home. If a wire becomes loose it may poke your cheek, causing minor irritation. If this happens take a blunt object such as the back of a spoon or the tip of an eraser and push it back toward your teeth, you may also place wax (or even a piece of chewing gum) over the area to prevent further irritation. If a bracket comes off of your tooth, you may take a pair of fingernail clippers or small scissors, and clip the colored tie off, allowing the bracket to fall off the wire. You should contact our office so that we may schedule an appointment to bond the bracket back on. Saving the bracket is not necessary.
Elastic Wear
Some people call them rubber bands, others call them elastics. Whatever you choose to call them, they are an important key to successful orthodontic treatment. Elastics move your teeth in ways that cannot be accomplished with braces alone, helping with the following:
- Close space between teeth
- Move teeth into correct alignment
- Pull partially erupted teeth into their proper position
- Align your bite, which helps prevents uneven wear of teeth
You may expect your teeth and jaw muscles to be tender for several days when you begin elastic wear. Because we anticipate this tenderness to occur, we suggest you take Ibuprofen (Advil or Motrin) for any discomfort. Chewing sugarless gum will help speed you through this process.
To achieve the necessary correction, elastics MUST be worn 24 hours a day. Always carry extra elastics with you at all times, you may stop by the office at any time if you need more. Change your elastics routinely, if one breaks, change them both.
Palatal Expander (RPE)
Turn your expander as instructed, inserting the “key” in the activation hole, push from the front of the mouth to the back of the mouth, in the direction of the arrow, then remove the key.
Only turn the expander for the prescribed amount of time, only once per day. If you miss a day DO NOT turn it twice the next day, just add a day on to the end of the prescribed time. If you cannot remember how long Dr. Ohmart asked you to turn your expander, please call the office and we will let you know.
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