Having a tooth extracted is a common procedure, and proper post-operative care, including dietary considerations, is crucial for optimal healing. Your diet plays a significant role in the recovery process, influencing your comfort and the speed of tissue repair. Following a tooth extraction, the surgical site is sensitive and vulnerable to irritation or infection. This article provides a detailed guide on what to eat and what to avoid after a tooth extraction to promote healing and minimize complications.
Understanding the Tooth Extraction Healing Process
The healing process after tooth extraction is crucial to your oral health. It typically starts with a blood clot forming at the extraction site, which protects the underlying bone and nerve endings. This clot is delicate and can be easily dislodged by eating hard or crunchy foods too soon, leading to complications like dry socket. Therefore, it's essential to follow post-extraction dietary guidelines to ensure optimal healing. Your body requires essential nutrients to repair tissues and fight off potential infections. Opting for soft, easily digestible foods minimizes the risk of disrupting the blood clot formation at the extraction site, which is crucial for proper healing. These foods also reduce the strain on your jaw and teeth, allowing for a more comfortable recovery. Like any kind of dental procedure, you should stick to soft foods and liquids so as not to irritate the extraction site.
Initial Post-Extraction Diet: Days 0-2 (Stick to Liquids and Foods That Require No Chewing)
In the initial 24-48 hours after your appointment, you can eat as soon as your mouth no longer feels numb. We don’t recommend eating when your mouth is numb, since you could bite yourself accidentally or burn yourself with hot food. During this period, it's best to stick to liquids and foods that require no chewing. Your mouth will likely be tender and stiff during this time, so this is the easiest way to get the nutrition you need as you recover.
Recommended Foods:
- Jello and pudding: These require no chewing and are easy to swallow.
- Smoothies and milkshakes: These provide essential nutrients and are gentle on the extraction site. Protein shakes and smoothies made with milk or juice and some protein powder can provide nutrition.
- Ice cream: A soothing and comforting option (avoid flavors with chunks or nuts). Regular ice cream, or banana ice cream.
- Yogurt (no crunchy bits or toppings): A good source of protein and probiotics.
- Liquid soups like tomato soup or potato soup: These are easy to consume and provide essential nutrients. Blended soups are easy to eat, hydrating, and rich in nutrients.
- Broth: Filled with minerals and essential vitamins to help you recover. Broths provide hydration and essential nutrients without putting stress on the extraction site.
- Soft scrambled eggs: A good source of protein.
- Applesauce: Easy to swallow and digest.
Foods to Avoid:
- Hot foods: Immediately following surgery no hot foods should be consumed as your face will still be numb and you may burn yourself. Avoid hot foods and drinks as they can dissolve the blood clot.
- Using a straw: Avoid using a straw for at least the first 24-48 hours after a tooth extraction. Since you’ll likely be consuming more liquids than solids following the procedure, it might be tempting to use a drinking straw. The suction created by using a straw can dislodge the blood clot that forms at the extraction site, causing a painful complication called “dry socket.” This clot is vital for healing and preventing infection.
Transitioning to Soft and Easily Chewable Foods: Days 2-5
After a few days, you’ll be able to eat foods that require a bit more chewing. You can continue to eat liquid foods and foods that require no chewing, but you can also introduce foods that require a bit more chewing. It’s important to try to stick with easy-to-chew foods for the first few days.
Recommended Foods:
- Soft bread: Easy to chew and swallow.
- Chicken: Soft and easily digestible, especially when shredded or cut into small pieces.
- Ground meats: Easier to chew than tougher cuts of meat.
- Cheese: Soft cheeses are a good source of protein and calcium.
- Soups with chunks of meat and vegetables: Provides a variety of nutrients.
- Pasta and mac and cheese: Soft and easy to chew. Macaroni and cheese toast.
- Rice: Cooked until soft and tender.
- Mashed potatoes: Smooth and easy to swallow. Potatoes (mashed, sweet, or regular). Pureed or mashed vegetables such as squash or carrots.
- Pancakes and waffles: Soft and easy to chew.
- Bananas: Soft and easy to digest. Seedless, pureed fruit.
- Instant oatmeal: As you start healing, gradually reintroduce more regular, semi-soft foods such as instant oatmeal.
Expanding Your Diet: Days 5-14
Every patient recovers differently. After about five days, you can begin expanding your diet and eating some harder foods, including veggies such as apples and carrots and tougher cuts of meat, such as steak and pork. At this point in time you will likely be starting to feel ready to test out your mouth on some different foods. Depending on how easily your teeth came out will depend on how easy eating harder foods will go. However, use your best judgment and listen to your mouth. If it hurts or is uncomfortable to eat a certain food, you should continue to avoid it.
Read also: The Hoxsey Diet
Foods to Avoid:
- Hard, sharp, and crunchy foods: It is advised to avoid eating hard, chewy, crunchy or brittle foods for about a week. Early on, sharp and crunchy foods like tortilla chips can damage your extraction site. And, even once it’s started to heal, shards of food can still poke and irritate the area. Often, patients find that they can start eating normal foods again about a week after having their teeth removed.
- Alcohol: You should avoid consuming alcoholic beverages for at least 24 hours following the surgery.
- Spicy Sauces and Seasonings: Spicy foods can irritate the extraction site and increase discomfort.
- Tomato-Based Sauces: Tomatoes are acidic and can cause discomfort when consumed in sauces or soups.
- Seeds: For the first several days, the extraction site will be vulnerable to infection. You will want to avoid foods that could inflame the area or cause complications, such as seeds.
- Grains (quinoa, rice): You will want to avoid foods that could inflame the area or cause complications, such as grains.
- Crunchy, tough, or crumbly foods (hamburgers, jerky, popcorn, pizza, etc.): You will want to avoid foods that could inflame the area or cause complications, such as crunchy, tough, or crumbly foods.
- Popcorn: You might love snacking on these foods but, you should avoid eating them until you have made a full recovery because they could get stuck in the wound and disrupt healing.
- Nuts: You might love snacking on these foods but, you should avoid eating them until you have made a full recovery because they could get stuck in the wound and disrupt healing.
- Chips: You might love snacking on these foods but, you should avoid eating them until you have made a full recovery because they could get stuck in the wound and disrupt healing.
You can start trying to eat these foods between 7-14 days after your surgery.
Resuming Normal Diet: After One Week
Generally, after one week, most patients can return to their normal diet. However, this can vary depending on the complexity of the extraction and individual healing rates. Always follow the advice of your dentist. If any discomfort arises while eating, revert back to softer foods and consult with them.
How to Eat After a Tooth Extraction
How you eat your food is equally as important as the types of foods you consume after an extraction. You should try to only chew on the opposite side of your mouth from the treated area.
Dangers of Prematurely Eating Hard Foods
Attempting to chew and swallow tough, crunchy solid foods too soon after having one or more extractions poses hazards for still-healing wounds. These rigid items can dislodge newly formed, protective blood clots sheltering exposed nerves and bone tissues trying to mend underneath. Additionally, jagged food particles may wedge forcefully into unsealed sockets, introducing bacteria, pain and infection. Without durable outer closures, underlying structures remain vulnerable to irritation and damage at this fragile stage.
If you suspect problems from resuming a normal diet prematurely, i.e. intensified throbbing, bleeding, or bad taste originating from the extraction site, refrain from additional chewing there. Use pain remedies as directed and revert to a liquid-based diet for a few more days until resolved. Call your dentist to schedule an urgent post-op check-up so they can assess if complications have set in, provide treatment if needed, and customize more conservative dietary guidance based on your unique healing progress. Don't wait with post-op concerns - we're always ready to assist your recovery!
Read also: Walnut Keto Guide
Additional Tips for a Smooth Recovery
- Maintain good oral hygiene: Gently rinse your mouth with warm salt water after meals to keep the extraction site clean.
- Follow your dentist’s instructions: Adhere to any specific dietary guidelines or recommendations provided by your dentist.
- Stay hydrated: Drink plenty of fluids to promote healing.
- Take medications as prescribed: Follow your dentist’s instructions for pain management and antibiotics.
- Let any hot foods cool before eating them, and keep the area clean based on your dentist’s recommendations.
Read also: Weight Loss with Low-FODMAP
tags: #diet #after #tooth #extraction