It is highly unlikely that you will be thinking about food immediately after having new dental implants installed. Your dental surgeon will probably advise you to avoid eating for a short time after the procedure, or until the anaesthesia wears off, at the very least. After a few hours you will probably feel comfortable eating softer foods.
Don’t worry though, as you don’t have to wait too long. Although you initially need to wait before eating, it’s not beneficial in the long run to avoid food though as your body needs those important nutrients. Particularly as you will still be healing after your surgery. However, it’s the type of food you choose to eat during the healing process that’s important, as some are more likely than others to help you feel less pain and discomfort and ultimately heal recover quicker.
What Food, Then, Can You Eat?
Ideally, liquids and soft food are the kinds of things you need to be eating initially to protect the area around your implants. Oatmeal, scrambled eggs and yoghurt are all great choices. Soups, cheesy pasta, soft bread and applesauce are also foods that you should consider so that you get the nutrients and food you need, while avoiding causing unnecessary pain, discomfort or increasing the healing time.
You won’t need to stick to this soft food diet for long, as it takes most people around 10 to 14 days to heal sufficiently enough to move onto foods with more texture and firmness. During that crucial period of the first few days after surgery however, it is best to avoid foods that need to be extensively chewed.
Foods You Can’t Eat
Now you have better idea of the foods you should be eating, let’s look at some of the foods you need to avoid, if you want to experience as little pain, discomfort and have as quick a recovery period as possible. As you’d imagine, if its soft foods and liquids you should be eating, you will want to avoid harder foods like nuts, tough meats, raw crunchy vegetables and anything that requires a lot of biting and chewing.
These kinds of motions place a lot of pressure on your teeth and gums. Pressure is one thing you want to avoid, particularly around the area of your dentures. You can follow the rough guideline above for the time period to allow before you ween yourself off the softer diet. However, it may suit you to be surgeon-led and wait for the all clear from the practitioner who installed your dentures to suggest it’s okay to start eating firmer and chewier food again.
Complications and Risks of Not Following Dietary Guidelines After Surgery
Although it may just seem like they are overexaggerating the risks and you may be tempted by some of your favourite, harder foods, it is important to heed the advice of the experts. Some food stuffs, particularly though that place a lot of pressure on your teeth and gums. That pressure will not just cause unnecessary amounts of pain but can also cause you to bleed more.
Another risk you may face is by choosing to drink through a straw. Rather than helping to alleviate pain, this could cause more complications, in the form of a dry socket resulting from a blood clot. This can extend the healing time you have, so it is better to stick to drinking directly from a glass.
As your dental surgeon will undoubtedly inform you, most implants are put in place and the site heals up with no other complications. It just takes a little bit of patience and time. By following the advice above about foods, you should and shouldn’t drink any other hints and tips the dental surgeon gives you, will help the process easier and quicker.