When wearing braces, it’s very important to know what kinds of foods to avoid. Foods containing sugar should be minimized, and other kinds of food particles and bacteria can get stuck behind the braces and lead to tooth decay.

Sticky Food

Any foods that will pull or get stuck in your braces are best to be avoided; that includes all types of chewing gum, gummy candies, caramels, fruit roll-ups and licorice.

Hard and Crunchy Food

Popcorn is especially troublesome because the bits, pieces and hulls slip into tiny crevices. Avoid hard candy, nuts, chewing on ice, corn on the cob, pretzels, hard cookies (unless you soften them with milk first) and hard or chewy crusts of any kind. If a food is overly crunchy when you bite into it, be cautious.

Hard Food Exceptions

You can still enjoy apples or pears, but you need to cut them into small pieces or wedges first–taking a bite without doing this can cause too much stress on your braces. You can eat raw carrots, too, but shred or grate them first.

Considerations

Brush and floss your teeth often. If you have a sugary snack, brush as soon as possible.

Warning

If you do not avoid foods that are inappropriate, you will spend a lot of extra time at the orthodontist. Damaged braces can lead to a longer treatment process.

Getting rid of thick skin on the feet can often require multiple attempts before noticing any major improvements. With the aid of essential oils and over-the-counter callus removal products, you can begin to see softer, better-looking feet after only a few at-home treatments. Take good care of your feet by removing thick skin and moisturizing regularly. Never use a blade, cheese grater or other sharp object to cut excess thick skin off your feet.

1. Fill a bathtub, sink or foot pan with warm water.
2. Add 1/2-cup of magnesium sulfate — commonly referred to as Epsom salt — along with a few drops of tea tree oil, castor oil or another callus-removing essential oil to the warm water. The oils or callus-remover liquids are optional, although they are helpful in removing thick skin by softening the skin on the feet.
3. Soak your feet in the warm water solution for 5 to 25 minutes, depending on severity.
4. Moisten the pumice stone by dipping it into the warm water solution for a few seconds. Working on only one foot at a time, scrub the problem areas with the pumice stone in a circular motion. Place the first foot back into the warm water solution. Moisten the pumice stone and repeat scrubbing on the second foot.
5. Remove dead skin from the feet by gently rubbing off any excess with your hands into the warm water.

Having a cavity filled is a necessary procedure that is unfortunately very expensive and sometimes a little painful. However, fillings are not full-proof and can often fall out from eating certain foods that jostle it out of your tooth. In some instances, you may not even realize that you have lost a filling and may have even swallowed it. In the end, losing a filling isn’t a major immediate emergency, but it should not be ignored.

When It Comes Out

If you realize your filling has come out when it has happened and you haven’t already swallowed it, you should remove it from your mouth to prevent yourself from swallowing it. If you have swallowed it, it usually passes through your system without a problem. However, if you swallow it and you breathe it into your lungs, it could cause an infection.

Call Your Dentist

You should call your dentist as soon as you lose your filling if it’s within business hours to make a new appointment as soon as possible to replace the filling. If you recently got the filling or it was recently replaced, your dentist should replace it for free especially if it was an issue with the bonding of the filling when it was being put in.

Keeping it Clean

If you are not able to get to your dentist that day to have it refilled, you will need to keep that area of your tooth really clean. The cavity that was filled is now exposed again and could worsen or feel really sensitive. Brush your teeth carefully making sure to remove any food debris from the cavity so that harmful bacteria does not accumulate.

Pain

Your tooth may be sensitive after you lose your filing. This may be caused by exposed dentin tubules, which are tiny pathways of communication between the dentin and the pulp of your tooth. The dentin tubules provide a direct pathway from the inside of your mouth to your tooth. If you do feel pain, you can take an over-the-counter pain reliever such as ibuprofen, Advil or Tylenol.