What to skip while brackets are on.
A broken bracket or bent wire adds visits and time to treatment. These lists apply during braces and appliance phases at NRH Orthodontics in North Richland Hills, TX. Because aligners come out to eat, the diet rules are different — see below.
Aligners come out — so you eat normally.
This practice is aligner-first. With clear aligners, you remove them to eat, so no food is off-limits for the appliance itself.
The rules that follow matter most during a braces or fixed-appliance phase — including the short sectional-braces steps Dr. Fallah uses when a specific movement calls for it. With aligners out of the mouth, the constraint shifts: protect the aligners rather than the food.
Two aligner habits keep treatment on track. Do not eat or drink anything but water while aligners are in — sugary or hot drinks trap sugar against the teeth and can warp the trays. And put aligners back promptly after meals; the weekly DentalMonitoring reviews assume consistent daily wear.
What to avoid
Two failure modes drive the whole list: foods that break hardware, and sugar that collects where a brush cannot reach around brackets and bands.
Sticky foods — avoid entirely
These pull brackets off and bend wires, and they cling to enamel between cleanings.
- Gum (sugar-free or regular)
- Caramels and toffee
- Licorice
- Tootsie Rolls and Sugar Daddies
- Starburst
Hard foods — avoid entirely
Hard, crunchy foods snap brackets and wires. Some — apples and carrots — are fine only when cut into small pieces.
- Ice
- Nuts
- Hard taco shells
- French bread crust and pizza crust
- Corn on the cob
- Jolly Ranchers and hard candy
- Chips
- Whole apples and raw carrots (cut small if eaten)
Sugary foods — keep to a minimum
Sugar around fixed appliances raises decay risk in spots a brush struggles to reach.
- Cake
- Ice cream
- Cookies
- Pie
- Candy
Sugary drinks — once a day at most
Frequent sipping bathes the teeth in sugar and acid throughout the day.
- Soda
- Sweetened tea
- Gatorade
- Kool-Aid
- Any drink with added sugar
A loose bracket is not an emergency.
It is common, and it is fixable. Call the office so we can advise you and adjust your next appointment if needed.
Save any piece that comes off and bring it with you. A wire poking the cheek can usually be tucked with a clean pencil eraser or covered with orthodontic wax until you are seen. The sooner a broken appliance is reported, the less it delays treatment — call (817) 581-8881.
Keep treatment on track
Oral Hygiene
Brushing, flossing, and aligner cleaning that protect enamel through treatment.
Invisalign®
Why removable aligners lift most diet restrictions in the first place.
FAQs
Common questions about comfort, appointments, and daily wear.
Unsure whether a food is safe? Ask the practice.
09 — Intake
Begin with an evaluation.
Your first visit at NRH Orthodontics is a full evaluation — CBCT airway screening included — and a treatment plan you understand before you commit to anything.
Accepting new patients — North Richland Hills, TX