Undergoing dental surgery like wisdom tooth extraction or implant placement can make eating challenging during recovery. Chewing and biting may be difficult or painful. Luckily, there are many nutritious and delicious foods that require minimal chewing to aid the healing process.
Why a Soft Food Diet is Crucial After Oral Surgery
Following any type of oral surgery we conduct for people at Novudentics Prosthodontics, we recommend to stick to soft foods that require little chewing. Attempting to eat hard, crunchy, or spicy foods can irritate the surgical site and delay healing. Soft foods allow the mouth to recover while still providing essential nutrients.
How to Prepare a Soft Food Diet
Stock up on soft, smooth foods before undergoing your oral surgery. This will make it easy to find suitable options during early recovery. Some items to have on hand include: applesauce, yogurt, pudding, ice cream, protein shakes, frozen mashed vegetables, canned soups, oatmeal, and macaroni and cheese.
10 Best Soft Foods to Eat After Dental Surgery
Here are some of the top soft food options to focus on as you recover from oral surgery:
- Creamy Soups: Go for blended, creamy soups without chunks of meat or vegetables. Tomato, potato, and carrot soups are great choices. The heat can be soothing.
- Mashed Potatoes: Well-mashed potatoes are an ideal recovery food. Hold off on adding butter or gravy until any swelling in your mouth subsides.
- Yogurt: Plain yogurt is cooling, smooth, and provides protein. Custards and puddings also provide protein in a soft form.
- Oatmeal: Cook oatmeal until very soft and stir in cinnamon and honey for added flavor. Avoid any fruits, nuts or seeds that need chewing.
- Protein Shakes: Pre-made protein shakes provide key nutrients without needing any chewing. They are available in a variety of flavors.
- Smoothies: Make smoothies in a blender with soft ingredients like bananas, avocados, milk, yogurt and protein powder.
- Applesauce: Applesauce is naturally smooth and rich in vitamin C and fiber. Choose unsweetened varieties without added texture.
- Ice Cream: Let the ice cream sit out for a little bit before you eat it. This will help soften it. Skip any mix-ins like cookies or candy that require chewing. While toppings are delicious, they are hard and can damage any sutures from surgery.
- Mashed Vegetables: Potatoes aren’t the only vegetable that can be mashed. Try mashed carrots, squash, sweet potatoes or steamed peas. We admit – mashed vegetables aren’t exactly enjoyed by everyone, but they are a great, healthy meal you can have post-oral surgery.
- Mac and Cheese: Extra creamy, cheese-heavy mac and cheese requires minimal chewing. Just be careful with hot temperatures.
Drink Lots of Water
Drink Plenty of Fluids Staying hydrated is also crucial after oral surgery. Sip on cool, non-carbonated beverages like water, juice, milk and smoothies. Avoid drinking through a straw, as the suction can dislodge blood clots.
What to Eat After Mouth Surgery
We highly recommend you eat only soft foods for a period of time designated by your prosthodontist or dentist. Most mouth surgeries are different from patient to patient, and your surgeon can give you the best instructions when it comes to food. As a general rule of thumb, make sure what you eat is very soft, and requires minimal chewing.
Are Dry Sockets Caused From Eating After Oral Surgery?
Dry socket (alveolar osteitis) is a common complication that can occur after tooth extraction. It happens when a blood clot fails to form properly in the empty tooth socket, leaving the underlying bone exposed. This exposes nerves and results in severe pain.
The major causes of dry sockets are:
- Smoking: Smoking cigarettes or other tobacco products increases risk significantly by inhibiting blood clot formation and healing
- Oral contraceptive: Birth control pills that contain estrogen can increase dry socket risk
- Trauma: Excessive trauma to the socket during extraction, such as bone fragments getting dislodged
- Excessive spitting/rinsing: Aggressive rinsing dislodges blood clots from sockets
Summary – What to Eat After Mouth Surgery
Follow these tips by Novudentics Prosthodontics to make eating as comfortable as possible during your recovery from dental surgery. Stick to soft, smooth foods and stay hydrated. Let your dentist know if you have any concerns about maintaining proper nutrition.
