Hard food can break or twist completely the wires, or it can detach braces. If action is not taken on time, this can lead to a major delay in the treatment, because if braces get detached, wires won’t have any action, and the braceless tooth will be pushed by its neighbouring teeth towards an undesirable position. And if the wire gets twisted, teeth will align according to the wire deformation. No more than 2 or 3 braces should get detached during the whole treatment.

Tips for eating with orthodontic devices:

• Overall, avoid hard, very sweet or sticky foods, which can damage your teeth.
• You can eat anything you want: any fruit, vegetables, fish, pulses, meat, hamburgers, sandwiches… You can eat sweets as long as they are not hard or sticky, and you must always brush your teeth afterwards. Avoid hard candy.
• Hard things you must avoid: snacks of salted and toasted maize and nuts, bread crust, biting into carrots and apples, ice cubes, nougat candy, chocolate, hard candy, popcorn, pizza crust. Don’t chew or bite little meat, chicken or rib bones, and don’t eat unpitted olives.
• Avoid sticky foods: they can get stuck between the braces and the wire.
• Try not to eat too many sugary foods, such as pies, ice-creams, biscuits, cakes. Only once a day: soft drinks or sugary drinks and, afterwards, brush your teeth immediately.

Never bite pens with your teeth! Don’t use your teeth to tear pieces of food or other objects. Overall, it is better to cut your food into pieces before putting it into your mouth, than to do it with your teeth.