Warm Eats, Cool Treats: Enjoy Summer Foods with Dental Implants
It’s finally summertime! As a child, you loved this time of year and all the delicious foods that come with it. Your mouth still waters when the temperature rises and you smell a grill getting fired up, but if you’re missing teeth, you may find eating more challenging nowadays. Dental implants can help you regain the freedom you enjoyed when you were younger and partake of your favorite summer foods. Read on to learn more about which foods you can have with implants and which you should avoid.
Soon After Implant Placement
In the immediate aftermath of placement surgery, you do need to be a little more cautious with your replacement teeth. They need time to become stabilized by and integrated with the jawbone. As a result, you’ll need to stick to softer foods for at least a couple of days following implant placement. These foods can include some summer favorites like ice cream, pudding, and watermelon. Just be sure you avoid using a straw to allow the site to heal properly. When enough time has passed, usually a few days, you can slowly reintroduce normal foods back into your diet.
After Implant Restoration
Once your implants have received the custom restoration, you are then free to eat basically anything you can eat with natural teeth! Unlike with dentures, with implants you have a much stronger and more stable bite. That means steak, barbecue ribs, crunchy carrots, and many other foods that are tough to eat with traditional dentures are now within your ability to enjoy again.
Caveats for Implants
Just because your new replacement teeth are strong, it doesn’t mean that they’re indestructible. Habits like chewing on ice can cause premature implant failure and damage your restorations. It’s also important to note that you should be careful with certain foods if you want your dental implants to last as long as possible. For instance, although you’ll be able to eat corn directly from the cob with implants, the kernels can become stuck between your implant and gums. It may simply be safer to simply cut the corn off the cob first.
When frequently consumed, sugary, fatty, or starchy foods/drinks (even summer favorites like lemonade or hot dogs) can also lead to trouble for your replacement teeth by encouraging harmful bacteria that cause gum disease and inflammation. That’s why you should only have these sparingly.
Ultimately, your dental implants function a lot like real teeth. You can use them to enjoy your food, but you also need to exercise caution and care so that your smile stays strong. That way, you can have many more summers of yummy food and fun memories ahead!