EATING HABITS
Please do not eat hard foods: nuts, ice, crisp taco shells, whole apples and carrots (cut them into pieces first), hard French bread crust and rolls, spareribs, corn on the cob (cut the corn off the cob before eating), and popcorn. These foods risk breaking brackets and wires. Also beware of nail biting and pen or pencil chewing habits, since these can damage your braces. Do not eat sticky foods: taffy, caramels, bubble gum, sticky candy of any sort. Use common sense about most foods.

Absolutely No:

Sticky Foods
(sugarless or otherwise):
Gum
Caramels
Sugar Daddies
Starbursts
Caramel Apples
Sugar Babies
Licorice
Toffee
Tootsie Rolls
etc.

Hard Foods:
Jolly Ranchers
Jaw Breakers
Lolli-pops
Nuts
Bagels
Apples (unless cut up)
Pizza Crusts
Carrots (uncooked, unless cut up)
Doritos
Pretzels
etc.

To Minimize Sugar Intake: Eat Less:

Candy
Ice Cream
Cake
Cookies
Pie
Drink Less: Soda
Drinks with sugar

Check your braces occasionally for anything loose or bent. If a brace comes loose or you break a wire, please call our office so that we can arrange an appointment long enough to repair it. Be as specific as possible with the treatment coordinator. Please check our "What are these things called?" list to help you better identify the parts of the braces. If you lose your rubber bands, call us so we can mail you some more or drop by the office and pick some up.

WHAT ARE THESE THINGS CALLED???
You may find the following definitions helpful:

Appliances: This is what we call your braces. Your appliances aremade up of such things as bands, archwires, brackets, tiewires, hooks and tubes.
Bands: The small metal rings that we cement onto your back molars.
Tubes: Usually found on the outer surface of the bands. These tubes are different sizes and are for arch wires to rest in or for the attachment of a headgear or lip bumper.
Bonded Brackets: These are the small front or side brackets which are bonded directly to your teeth.
Archwire: This is the main wire that fits into the brackets or other attachments on the outside of your teeth. This is fastened to your brackets by tiewires or small plastic ligature ties. The arch wire is what moves your teeth.
Hook: This is a small attachment that is either part of the bracket or attached to the archwire. It is used to attach rubber bands.
Tiewire: These are little fine wires which fasten your archwire into the brackets. They are twisted, leaving a small "pigtail" or twisted wire which is then tucked under the archwire. Sometimes when eating or brushing, this may become bent and stick out. If this happens, push it back against the archwire or put wax over it until we can see you.
Plastic Ligature Ties: These little rings are used to attach your archwire to the brackets. They come in a variety of colors!
A-chain or Chain: This is a chain of ligature ties linked together used for closing space.
Rubberbands: These are removable elastics that we will show you how to wear and change.

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