As for gum, I was *very* hesitant to chew it at first. The list of foods that were forbidden that my ortho gave me scared me into not relishing these once taken-for-granted delights.
But now, I'm chewing gum like the gum-chewing fiend I was before. Of coure, this time around it *is* sugar free. Freedent is an excellent brand. Never gets stuck on the hooks that I have on a few of my brackets.
I'm quite lucky in the fact that I've never had a cavity despite drinking copious amounts of diet Pepsi and gnawing on all sorts of sweets. However, I'm not sure how much longer that will last. I'm 21 now and I know that it's definitely at this point that most biological functions and resilience start going downhill. I'm trying to ween myself from the bottle. lol
NOTHING has happened so far as consequence of my diet. Just last night I ate a ground beef and mushroom pizza (YUM!). I looked at the crust, questioning myself if I should nibble at it or not. I did! Nothing happened, but I did have to work at it considerably slower as opposed to my days of before sans braces.
Just be careful with whatever you eat. You can do it!
