Anyone who has braces on their teeth might have spent the past few days after Halloween tempted by crunchy apples covered in sticky caramel and nuts, jawbreakers, popcorn balls, bubble gum and taffy, from the treats given to ghost and goblins.

But suckers, chewing gum, taffy, caramels, fruit chews and gummy bears all are on the “No” list that Akron., Ohio, orthodontist Michael Jack gives his patients.

Jack’s cardinal rules: Avoid foods that are sticky and foods that are hard. Sticky foods can pop wires or loosen the bands on molars, while hard items like candy or carrot sticks break brackets on front teeth, he said.

Jack says that emergency appointments jam his schedule every year after Halloween. Easter is a bad holiday, too.

Pamela Waterman knows. The Mesa, Ariz., author has spent almost 10 years with at least one of three daughters in braces. Last year, she and her daughter, Brenda, 14, released The Braces Cookbook, a book of 50 braces-friendly recipes.

Waterman, who has written art and science books for children, said the book was Brenda’s idea, when she was 11 and into her third of six years she would spend in orthodontia.

Brenda was craving a caramel apple, and decided to create a braces-friendly version by peeling and thinly slicing an apple and then dipping the slices into softened caramel dip. And then Brenda said there should be a whole cookbook.

The pair put together a collection of main dishes, breakfast fare, vegetable side dishes, drinks and desserts that are easy on the teeth, particularly on sore-mouth days after wires have been tightened.

Released in 2006, it includes cookies that stay soft after they cool and a crustless dinner quiche and a Three Corn Extravaganza casserole to substitute for corn on the cob.Pamela Waterman is already at work on another book, tentatively titled Braces, Business and Brown Bag Lunches, geared toward adults who wear braces.

The Braces Cookbook is $9.95 and available at www.bracescookbook.com.