While dental implants do allow you to eat virtually any kind of food without issue, that’s only after the final crown, bridge, or denture has been placed. In the days following your dental implant surgery, you’ll need to stay away from certain foods until your mouth has healed enough to handle them. Your dentist is here to explain what foods you should avoid immediately after dental implants – as well as what foods are okay to include in your diet.
Foods to Stay Away from After Getting Dental Implants
It will take time for your mouth to fully recover after dental implant surgery. Until it does, make sure that your meals don’t contain any of the following:
- Overly Hard Foods: You need to avoid putting too much pressure on your dental implants to minimize the risk of them failing. As such, hard foods should be avoided for the time being.
- Crunchy Foods: Many crunchy snacks such as seeds could easily become trapped in the surgical site, which could irritate your gums.
- Sticky Foods: Sticky treats like caramel could pull your dental implant posts loose if you try to chew them.
- Acidic Foods and Beverages: Citrus fruits, sodas, and anything else acidic might damage your implant posts as well as the bone around them.
- Spicy Foods: When your mouth is trying to heal, one of the last things you want to do is eat spicy foods that could make existing inflammation worse.
- Alcohol: Drinking alcohol right after dental implant surgery could have an adverse effect on the healing process, causing it to take longer than normal. On top of that, there’s a chance that alcohol could interact badly with any post-op pain medications that you were prescribed.
Foods That Are Okay to Eat After Getting Dental Implants
With so many limitations on your diet following dental implant surgery, it’s important to have a solid grasp on what you are able to eat. During the first couple of days, you should stick to an all-liquid diet; this can include applesauce, cold soups, and smoothies. After that, you’ll be able to start enjoying a variety of soft foods. Some good choices include:
- Scrambled eggs and omelets.
- Certain dairy products like cheese and yogurt.
- Mashed potatoes.
- Soft fruits like bananas and peaches.
- Pasta.
- Oatmeal.
- Soft bread.
One of the most important things to keep in mind is that you still need to eat as many different kinds of foods as possible. This is to help ensure that your body gets the nutrients it needs for a successful recovery process.
Be sure to speak to your oral surgeon before you have dental implant surgery performed. They can give you more details about what you should and shouldn’t eat after your procedure as well as other steps you can take to protect your mouth while it’s healing.
About the Author
Dr. James Mularczyk has nearly 20 years of dental experience and greatly appreciates the opportunity to form meaningful relationships with his patients. His practice, Advanced Dentistry of Dayton, offers various kinds of oral surgery. When it comes to dental implant placement, he partners with local oral surgeons to ensure that you get the best possible results. To schedule a consultation with Dr. Mularczyk, visit his website or call (937) 848-5986.