Food after getting dental implant?
March 13, 2021 7:23 AM   Subscribe

I am getting a dental implant on Wednesday. Please help me with a list of foods I will be allowed to eat after surgery.

The first 24 hours after surgery, I am supposed to have only cold and soft food. Over the next two or three days, the temperature of the food can gradually go up. I think I am supposed on soft food for a couple of weeks. Especially, there is to be no seeds, nuts, or any crispy or small enough to bother a wound.

These are the ideas I have so far:
Applesauce
Beans
Eggs
Fish?
Ice cream
Jello
Pasta
Potatoes, especially mashed
Pudding
Yogurt
posted by NotLost to Food & Drink (9 answers total) 4 users marked this as a favorite
 
Soup
Pasta
Orzo
Risotto
Other Rices
Lasagna
posted by DarlingBri at 7:36 AM on March 13, 2021


Creamy soups, like squash, tomato or lobster bisque
posted by chesty_a_arthur at 7:38 AM on March 13, 2021


I ate a lot of peanut butter milkshakes when I had my wisdom teeth out. They were quite filling.
posted by Ms Vegetable at 7:50 AM on March 13, 2021 [2 favorites]


Hummus. Guacamole (or just avocado.) Protein shakes - I bought a bunch in different flavors.
posted by gingerbeer at 8:46 AM on March 13, 2021 [1 favorite]


This is a similar question that may have some answers for you.
posted by aniola at 8:54 AM on March 13, 2021


Best answer: There's been a lot of these posts lately that you can mine for actual recipes, I think, but a pretty easy guideline is this: Can you mash it with a fork and moderate pressure? If so, you're pretty much in the clear, that's soft food for dental (but not GI) purposes.

So pizza is a no, but lasagna is a yes. Almost every casserole, as long as the protein is in small pieces - swap in ground meat if you're worried, and anywhere you're concerned about a too-firm vegetable just use frozen or canned so it'll be mush. Rice casseroles, pasta bakes, dressing/stuffing (if there's any time for some emergency Stove Top Stuffing, it's now) and other savory or sweet bread puddings. Soup, stew, mashed/pureed or soft-roasted vegetables with soft sauce/dressings. Fish, tofu, meat "pastes" like meatballs and meatloaves.

Use a smaller (or broken! you can shatter lasagna and other long noodles in a baggie before cooking, or use little shells or other small shapes) pasta or a larger shape overcooked a bit so it'll be mashable on the plate, and cut your vegetables smaller than you might normally for a casserole/soup/stew.

A bigger challenge is the temperature and palatability. Please confirm with your dentist/surgeon whether "cold" means "closer to 40 degrees F" or "colder than body temperature", because there's lots of savory things significantly more palatable at 75 degrees versus fridge-cold - and frankly a lot of them are softer at 75 degrees. I would not enjoy eating fridge-cold pasta bake or broccoli-rice casserole because that texture would be a challenge, but half-microwaved and well-stirred it'd be more like expected.

We've been through some dental adventures this year and my emergency supply is store-bought frozen lasagna. I've got both single-servings and the Stouffer's 3lb family version on hand, because by the time it's done cooking it's just delicious salty goo. Honestly the entire genre of frozen Italianish entrees is probably safe soft food if you want some no-effort options on hand.

Because you're going to want some actual fiber in your life, also stock steamer bags of the smaller-chopped broccoli, cauliflower rice (it just disappears into other food if you don't want to treat it like rice, like a hidden vegetable), and the short green beans (though I find canned significantly mushier). For fiber purposes you may want to pick up some flax meal and sneak a shake of it into other food - I often put it in eggs, but it can go in your pasta bake or rice casserole too.

Obviously there's a whole range of cold or cool soft desserts and breakfast items, but I have found cooking for people on soft food/swallow-safe diets that the most vicious cravings are for savory satisfying meal-feeling foods. Almost nobody wants to live on smoothies full-time.
posted by Lyn Never at 9:12 AM on March 13, 2021 [3 favorites]


I assume this relates to the abutments, and not the teeth. Thanks to an accident, I have 10 implants on 6 separate posts, done over 3 appointments during a 9 month timeframe. After the posts were put in, my Dr. warned about very hot, or very cold food items, and only for a few days. Mine all required stitches, which were removed after about 10 days. I was able to eat (sort of) normally after a couple of days...even while the stiches were in. As a data point, I am a big baby when it comes to dental work.
posted by lobstah at 9:29 AM on March 13, 2021


We've been through some dental adventures this year and my emergency supply is store-bought frozen lasagna

Same, my go-to is a lot of tortellinis or raviolis, cooked overly long with pasta sauce that doesn't have any little nubs in it. Other things that have been really good include basic beans and rice (add tomato sauce and/or cumin as you're cooking the rice, then mix in a bunch of shredded cheese when it's done cooking and stir until melted) which is pretty good for both calories and fiber. I also bought a lot of freezer bags of corn and green beans and steam them and add butter and/or parmesan and they're a great side for nearly anything. Tuna salad sandwiches (no celery) are very gummable and high in protein and definitely not warm. I also ate a lot of yogurt for breakfast and mixed in protein powder and sometimes bananas or other fruit. Overnight oats might fit the bill for you too.
posted by jessamyn at 10:34 AM on March 13, 2021 [1 favorite]


Response by poster: Thanks for all the advice. Tuna salad and ravioli are a couple of top suggestions.
posted by NotLost at 9:08 AM on March 14, 2021


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