What Foods to Eat & Avoid After Getting Dental Implants?
Aug 01, 2023
Dental implants are excellent state-of-the-art solutions for missing teeth that function as permanent replacements. Dental implants impose no dietary restrictions on you after healing. However, following dental implant placement surgery, avoiding certain foods as a protective measure for the new implants becomes necessary.
What Are The Benefits of Getting Dental Implants?
Dental implants provide many benefits, and the specialist providing dental implants in Houston, TX, educates you about your procedure, including providing information about your recovery and food choices. The benefits you accrue after getting dental implants include the following:
- Natural-looking and feeling artificial teeth remain indistinguishable from your natural teeth.
- Easy maintenance because dental implants do not require removal for cleaning, enabling you to brush and floss them as usual as your natural teeth.
- Besides helping you replace missing teeth, dental implants support your jawbone to prevent deterioration because the implant represents your entire tooth structure, including the crown and the missing tooth root.
- Getting dental implants ensures you restore your smile and mouth functionality with a solution that remains with you for life with proper dental hygiene.
- The treatment also prevents misalignment in your mouth that occurs soon after missing a tooth or two and remains ongoing.
- The restoration also helps prevent periodontal disease when you close the void between your teeth, which becomes a breeding ground for bacteria and food particles to result in gum disease.
What Are The After-Care Tips Following Dental Implant Placement?
Following your surgery for receiving teeth implants in Hedwig Village, TX, you receive a comprehensive schedule for caring for the restorations to ensure you recover without complications.
Our dentist in 77024 suggests resting for at least 48 hours after your surgery to allow your body to recover. You must also practice dental hygiene after dental implant placement using a soft-bristled toothbrush and applying gentle strokes when cleaning your mouth. You can anticipate some bleeding and swelling in your mouth manageable by applying ice packs to your cheeks and using gauze to prevent bleeding.
What are The Dietary Choices After Dental Implant Placement?
During the first two days after getting dental implants near you, your gums to maintain and swollen. Therefore you must restrict yourself to a diet of soft foods or liquids. You must balance proteins, carbohydrates, and fats during your healing. The foods you can consider having include the following.
- Protein Shakes: protein shakes deliver the essential protein to help you recover while nourishing you.
- Bone Broths: broths are easy to swallow and do not require chewing. However, you must ensure you do not use bone broths with meat chunks as they can remain trapped between your teeth to cause infections.
- Scrambled Eggs: you will not face challenges eating scrambled eggs because they are soft and easy to swallow.
- Mashed Potatoes and Bananas: these vegetables and foods are easy to mash once ripe or boiled. They are also easy to swallow and healthy choices to nourish yourself after dental implant placement.
- Pudding: besides offering ease of swallowing, pudding keeps you nourished to help your recovery.
- Pureed Soup: soups pureed in a food processor help keep you nourished and hydrated because you need plenty of liquids during your recovery.
- Water: after dental implant placement remaining hydrated is essential, but drinking carbonated beverages or other liquids harms the dental implants. Therefore it is best to rely on water for hydration instead of other drinks.
What Foods Are Prohibited After Dental Implant Placement?
While your gums are tender and swollen from their tiny incisions, you must offer them protection by avoiding the following foods.
- Tomatoes and Oranges: Tomatoes and oranges are acidic and can create infections in your mouth, besides causing enamel erosion of your natural teeth.
- Crunchy Foods: Popcorn, chips, and nuts are crunchy and require biting and chewing before swallowing. Particles of these foods can remain trapped in the surgical site, creating infections harmful to the placements.
- Spicy Foods: It is best to avoid spicy foods like hot peppers and salsa during your recovery because they can irritate the mouth.
- Hot Beverages: Beverages like hot coffee, tea, and soups are also better avoided to prevent mouth discomfort and burning until the anesthesia you receive wears off.
- Sticky Foods: Foods like taffy and gum require intensive chewing and are better avoided to prevent damage to dental implants.
Your jaw and gums continue healing in the weeks following dental implant placement when you can start incorporating more solid foods with your diet, making healthy and balanced choices like eggs, ground beef, chicken, fish, turkey, cheese, yogurt, avocados, sweet potatoes, etcetera.
After undergoing an intensive procedure to receive dental implants as restorations for missing teeth, it helps if you support your recovery by following the guidelines of our dentist in Houston, TX and restricting yourself to the foods suggested by avoiding harmful foods to recover quickly without complications. The restrictions may seem challenging but are easy to overcome by looking forward to the freedom you achieve to have your favorite foods after your artificial teeth are mounted on the titanium post.
Lynn Alan Palmer, DDS, provides dental implants for replacing missing teeth advising patients on the foods to have or avoid immediately following dental implant placement. Following the provider’s guidelines helps you recover quickly to receive your artificial teeth and start enjoying your favorite foods. Therefore book your appointment today to replace your missing teeth remaining determined to follow the guidelines for optimal results.