You have just been to the dentist to get a dental procedure and now your teeth are slightly sensitive. Surely you cannot eat popcorn or chew on hard candy right now. Instead, you need a soft food diet.
Eating only soft foods helps to limit the damage and pain after dental work such as extraction, surgery and implant.
Moreover, they can ensure that your treated site heals properly rather than resulting in new damage to the crown, tooth or prosthetic work.
This article discusses what soft food diet you will need after certain procedures. Keep reading below to know what you need to cook after returning from the dentist’s office.
Importance of a Soft Food Diet
Right after you get a dental surgery or extraction, you want to avoid using the affected tooth.
However, if you bite hard food then it can interrupt wound healing and cause immense pain on the treatment site.
Therefore, you need to stick to softer foods because it will reduce irritation on the treatment site and prevent you from biting with the open wound.
Moreover, your jaw and overall mouth are usually sore after extensive treatment such as oral surgery.
Plus, what you eat also helps you to heal properly.
For instance, you should eat more proteins because it can encourage healing by repairing and building muscle, tissue and skin.
Other than that, foods such as avocado provide fats and kiwi or peaches enrich you with Vitamin C that also repairs tissues.
Hence, eating a good diet is extremely crucial during the time of wound healing.
You may have to eat this diet if you are:
- getting braces or other orthodontic treatments
- have a dry mouth
- suffer from canker sores
- got an oral surgery
- recently got implants
- face difficulty while chewing and swallowing food
Now that you know why eating soft foods is important, let’s find out what kind of diet can you eat daily till you feel better.
Soft Food Diet for Dry Mouth
A dry mouth decreases the amount of saliva in your mouth.
The saliva helps to wash away food particles that the oral bacteria feed on to cause cavities, form plaque and later gum disease.
If there is a lack of saliva, you know what’s going to happen.
Not only will your teeth have cavities and plaque, but they will also become sensitive.
Hence, if you suffer from a dry mouth, you need to adopt a diet of foods and refrain from eating certain unhealthy foods.
Adopt
- Sucking on sugar-free chewing gum sugarless candy in order to keep stimulating salivary flow.
- Moistening any dry food with broth or soup since the mouth is already dry. You can also use margarine or butter to soften it. You can dip the food in what you are drinking.
- Keep drinking water throughout the day. Drinking 8 glasses of water are mandatory but more is recommended for people suffering from a dry mouth. Don’t forget to drink between meals.
Avoid
- Caffeine drinks. These include coffee, tea, cola as they all can be drying the mouth.
- Salty and spicy foods. These can irritate an already dry mouth resulting in pain.
- Drinking alcohol, smoking or using any form of tobacco. These are harmful to your mouth in several ones, one of which is drying it out.
What to Eat with Canker Sores and Swallowing Problems?
Certain foods may trigger and irritate canker sores. Hence, you can avoid their recurrence by being mindful of what you eat or drink.
Usually, the food that irritates the mouth is acidic and spicy. Instead, go for a bland diet till the sores heal.
Food to Eat
- cereals with low-fat milk
- dairy products
- soup
- scrambled eggs
- shredded chicken or soft-cooked
- canned fruit and vegetables
- mashed potatoes
- cooked fruit and vegetables
- pudding
- cream peanut butter
- custard
If you eat any dry food, moisten it with a liquid such as soup or milk or mash/blend it.
Eat food that is at room temperature or is cool in order to not irritate the sores.
When drinking, use a straw so that it does not touch the sores.
Moreover, add protein in the form of dry milk or protein powder to smoothies in order to speed up healing.
On the other hand, if you have persistent swallowing problems then you need to follow a softer diet too.
Adopt
- Eating spoon thick liquids such as puddings, cereal or custard with a thicker but softer consistency.
- Nectar liquids such as milkshakes, juices and cream soup whereby the liquid drips off and coats a spoon.
- Thin liquids such as frozen yogurt, gelatin, ice cream and broth quickly dissolve in the mouth.
- Honey liquids that flow like a ribbon such as a yogurt, honey and tomatoes sauce.
Avoid
- spicy foods
- nuts
- celery
- sticky and dry foods
- popcorn
- hot drinks and food
- alcoholic drinks
- caffeine
- skins of fruit
- bran cereal
- cottage cheese
- crumbly food such as bread and cake
Refrain from eating these foods because they can result in choking.
Persistent swallowing problems should be checked by a doctor.
Though if it is occasional, you can turn to a softer diet to aid in eating and getting enough nutrition. Avoid fast food.
Soft Food Diet for Teeth Braces
After getting teeth braces your doctor will guide you about the food you can and cannot eat.
Basically, biting anything hard can harm the braces brackets, and wires.
Hence, you are left with eating food that is soft enough to swallow. Or you can cut food into smaller pieces so that it is easy to eat without having to bite using the front teeth.
Not only is there a risk of harming the braces but usually your teeth will feel sore. Hence, stick with these foods till the soreness goes away.
Adopt
- meatloaf
- oatmeal
- smoothies and milkshakes
- tofu
- pasta
- avocado
- pancakes
- hummus
- softened and canned vegetables and fruits
- applesauce
- scrambled eggs
- mashed potatoes
- frozen yogurt
- custard
- cream soups
- custard and puddings
- soft cheese
- shredded chicken
- soft rice
- soft bread
- saltines
- tuna salad
- polenta
- baked apples
- protein shake
- tortillas
- frozen yogurt
- avocado
- mashed bananas
Avoid
- chewing on ice
- eating apple or pear
- hard candy
- nuts
- chewing gum
- raw vegetables such as carrots
- pizza crust
- hard pretzels and bread
- hard rolls
- ribs
- bagels
- caramel
- gummy bears
- chewing gum
- sticky candy
- corn on the cob
- popcorn
All of these foods can get stuck inside your braces or require hard chewing which can damage the brackets and wires.
Therefore, refrain from eating any of the hard foods in the beginning especially when your mouth is still sore.
Moreover, if you want to eat whole fruits and vegetables then cut them into small slices so that you don’t have to bite into them.
Biting hard foods is preparing yourself for damaging the braces.
Hence, avoid this trouble by only eating a sifter, moistened diet especially when you change braces during the first few days.
Eating After Implants or Oral Surgery
Usually, after such extensive procedures, the recovery time is longer.
During that, you need to have a special diet of soft foods depending on what your nutritional state was before the procedure and the impact the procedure left on your oral function.
You may require a liquid diet as well as eating soft foods that are rich in nutrients such as protein, zinc and Vitamin A and C.
While you are healing stick to foods such as:
- soup with soft vegetables
- tofu
- pudding
- meatloaf
- oatmeal
- custard
- ripe fruits cut into small pieces like apples and peaches
- chicken salad
- spinach souffle
- humus
- soft bread
- cooked vegetables such as carrot, spinach, green beans and squash
- soft peanut butter
- cooked fruit and vegetables
- canned fruit and vegetables
- saltines
- quinoa
- cooked rice
- applesauce
- avocado
- polenta
- mashed beans
- sorbet
- frozen yogurt
- soft cheese
- milkshakes and smoothies
- scrambled eggs
- mashed potatoes with powdered milk
- tortillas
- pasta
- baked apples
- pancakes
- macaroni and cheese
- yogurt
These foods are not only easy to eat but also full of nutrients that you need throughout your day and will help you heal soon.
You can eat many of these throughout the day by dividing them into a schedule of 3 meals.
Find out more about that below!
Soft Food Diet Schedule
Breakfast
Begin your day with a breakfast of low-sugar frozen yogurt.
Moreover, you can eat oatmeal, pancakes, soft peanut butter and jam on soft bread or scrambled eggs on other days.
Lunch
For lunch get a hearty meal full of nutrients such as protein and vitamins.
Thus go for a soup with soft cooked vegetables and broth with protein content.
You can also opt for butternut squash or making mashed potatoes with cream containing fortified milk powder.
Therefore, you are again fulfilling your nutrient intake without eating anything hard.
Dinner
This is time to get some steamed soft vegetables and shredded chicken.
Or you can replace the chicken with white fish containing light seasoning.
If you want something sweet throughout the day, eat pudding or custard.
Moreover, snacks can be small pieces of ripe fruits that are easy to eat rather than hard to bite.
After you feel better, ask your doctor when you can start eating crunchy foods again.
Nonetheless, keep up with the aftercare they recommend even if you start eating normally like before.
Finally,
You now know what a soft food diet after dental work or in oral health problems constitutes.
Makes sure you don’t eat anything hard or crunchy next time your mouth is healing.
