If you are considering All-On-4 Dental Implants, you may be looking forward to eating some juicy steak again as soon as possible. And you will eat that amazing steak, the apple, and corn on the cob with confidence! But first, your bone and implants need to heal together for the first 3-4 months. So what can you eat during the healing period?
First, the food should be soft and easy to chew and swallow – like for a baby who can’t chew well. The foods should be mushy and broken down with a fork, and shouldn’t have anything that you have to bite to eat. This is because excess pressure on the healing implants can break your first set of teeth or even make the implants get rejected by your bone, which means we may have to spend months or even years to get back to this point. But you can’t possibly drink Ensure every meal either. So we made a list of some suggestions:
Fruits and Vegetables:
You should still try to have fruits and vegetables. Juices are obviously the easiest way to have them, but you could also make shakes and smoothies as well. Some guidelines of fruits and vegetables include:
- Soft fruits without seeds or hard skin. No crunchy apples – think apple juice, apple cider, apple sauce, apple jam, or canned fruits without skin or seeds. Ripe bananas, soft peaches without skin work too.
- Well-cooked or steamed vegetables. No crunchy carrots – instead consider steamed with a slow cooker, Instant Pot (our favorite!), or just on the stovetop.
Quick on-the-go:
Sometimes you need the shakes to get through the busy days and the soft food options are not readily available.
- Protein shakes
- Meal replacement shakes
Protein Sources:
Steak is not in the picture yet, but our bodies still need protein. Following are some suggestions of the many soft sources of protein:
- Broiled, cooked fish
- Roasted or stewed chicken
- Soups with no hard pieces
- Tofu, soft tofu soups (my favorite)
- Chili (very easy to make with an Instant Pot!)
- Scrambled eggs
Carbohydrates:
Good news: there are many ways to still have carbs in soft consistencies. Bad news: there are many ways to still have carbs in soft consistencies!
- Soft bread
- Pancakes (blueberry pancakes at the Original Pancake House in town is hard to beat)
- Rice, rice porridge, and rice and beans
- Ramen (many types you can choose from in Asian markets if you like spicy foods)
- Pasta cooked well, and easier if cut into smaller pieces
- Mac and cheese
- Oatmeal
- Mashed potatoes
Desert:
You don’t have to work very hard for sweet and soft desserts! Some of our favorites include:
- Yogurts, Puddings, Jell-O
- Ice Cream, Sorbet (not frozen rock hard)
- Cheesecake, Chocolate cake, Lava cake, any soft cake
- Milkshakes
The one most important, and perhaps challenging part of maintenance during the first 3-4 months of All-On-4 Dental Implants is making sure you stick to the diet of soft foods. You may be surprised to find the many options available across different cuisines. Whatever you do, make sure not to put pressure on the healing bone and implants as much as possible.
If you have any suggestions for a favorite soft food, let us know! Email us at info@bloomingfamilydental.com. This blogpost will be periodically updated with more ideas. And we promise you will be able to eat whatever you want when the healing is done for the rest of your life with your new smile.
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We are always here to help. We look forward to hearing from you soon!
