ORTHODONTIC DIET CHART
Foods that cannot be cleaned off the braces may lead to discoloration and decay of your teeth. Even though our braces and wires are metal, they are fragile and are usually damaged by eating the wrong foods, thus taking us longer to finish our treatment.
GUM chew sugarless stick gum only
ABSOLUTELY NO
Sticky Foods
- Caramels
- Carameled apples
- Toffee's
- Now & Laters©
- Sugar Daddies©
- Sugar Babies©
- Tootsie Rolls©
- Starbursts©
- Licorice
- Gummy bears
Hard Foods
- Nuts
- Popcorn
- Hard candy
- Bagels
- Pizza crusts
- Hard pretzels
- Ice
- Corn on the cob
- Doritos©
- Jerky
- Apples Carrots (Unless cooked or cut into small pieces)
MINIMIZE SUGAR INTAKE
Eat Much Less
- Candy
- Ice cream
- Cake
- Cookies
- Food w/sugar
- Pie
Drink Much Less
- Soda pop
- Drinks with sugar
AVOID CHEWING ON PENS,PENCILS, FINGERNAILS
EMERGENCY CARE
True orthodontic emergencies are rare, but when they occur we are available to you. As a general rule, you should call our office when you experience severe pain or have a painful appliance problem you can’t take care of yourself. We’ll be able to schedule an appointment to resolve the problem.
You might be surprised to learn you can temporarily solve many problems yourself until you can get to our office. When working with your appliances, you need to know the names of their parts so you can identify what is broken or out of place.
After alleviating your discomfort, it is very important that you still call our office as soon as possible to schedule a time to repair the problem. Allowing your appliance to remain damaged for an extended period of time may result in disruptions to your treatment plan.
General Soreness
When you get your braces on, you may feel general soreness in your mouth, and teeth may be tender to biting pressures for three to five days. Stick to a soft diet until your teeth do not hurt to chewing. Irritated gums and other sore spots can be relieved by rinsing your mouth with a warm salt-water mouthwash.
Dissolve one teaspoonful of salt in eight ounces of warm water, and rinse your mouth vigorously. An alternative (better tasting) mouthwash is the Healthy Gums Rinse by The Natural Dentist. Placing Orabase on the affected area may also help relieve discomfort; Orabase can be found in a pharmacy.
If the tenderness is severe, take Acetaminophen (Tylenol) or whatever you normally take for headache or similar pain. Aspirin, Ibuprofen (Motrin, Advil) and Naproxen Sodium (Naprosyn, Anaprox) actually slow the tooth movement, so it is not advisable to use them frequently while wearing braces.
The lips, cheeks, and tongue may become irritated for one to two weeks as they learn a new posture and become accustomed to the surface of the braces. You can put wax on the braces to lessen this. We ’11 show you how!
BRUSHING AND FLOSSING WITH BRACES
Brushing
- 1 step ) Using a dry brush with a small amount of toothpaste place bristles where gums and teeth meet.
- 2 Step ) For 10 seconds on each tooth use circular, vibrating motions around the gum lines.
- 3 Step ) Every tooth of both arches should be brushed slowly.
- 4 Step ) Brush the lower teeth from gum line up and the upper teeth from the gum line down. Brush the roof of your mouth and your tongue too!
Flossing
- 1 step ) Carefully thread unwaxed floss between braces and wire. You may find a floss threader helpful.
- 2 Step ) Carefully floss around the braces.
- 3 Step ) Carefully floss around the gum areas
- 4 Step )Carefully floss around each tooth.
Loose Appliance
If your appliance is poking you, place wax on the offending part.
Loose Bracket
If your bracket or band is still attached to the wire, you should leave it in place and put wax on it if needed for comfort. The bracket or band can be removed easily by removing the colored tie and sliding the bracket off.
Loose Wire
Using a pair of tweezers, try to put your wire back into place. It is okay to use a piece of floss to tie the wire into place: tie the floss around the bracket in place of the missing colored o-ring.
If you cannot put the wire into a comfortable position, as a last resort use a small fingernail clipper to clip the wire behind the last tooth to which it is securely fastened. If it is still sharp, place wax on it.
Poking Wire
Using a pencil eraser, push the poking wire down or place wax on it so that it is no longer poking.