Can I Eat Pizza After Dental Implants Treatment?
Missing teeth can have devastating effects. For instance, eating certain foods like pizza and steak can make it difficult, leading to malnutrition and ingestion problems. Tooth gaps can also make you feel embarrassed about your smile, affect your speech, and make you look older.
That’s why it’s always best to replace lost teeth as soon as possible. It will improve oral health, speech, bite function, and restore your beautiful smile. Dental implants provide the most stable and long-term solution if you’re considering tooth-replacing treatments, allowing you to smile confidently and eat your favorite foods normally.
After getting dental implants, you might wonder whether it’s okay to go back to eating your favorite foods immediately after the appointment. This guide highlights the foods you should and shouldn’t eat after implant placement.
Can I eat pizza after implant surgery?
After your implant surgery, our Somerset dentist will advise you to wait for some time before indulging in hard or chewy foods. Since placing dental implants requires surgical intervention, the surgical site is prone to infections, pain, bleeding, and swelling. Eating chewy or hard foods can disturb the area, causing these complications and increasing the risk of implant failure. Therefore, it’s highly essential to avoid any activities that can disturb the implant site. It helps you heal better and quicker.
Eating after dental implant surgery.
First, you should wait at least 1 hour after the procedure to remove the gauze from the implant site before eating. The gauze helps minimize bleeding after the surgery. Similarly, you should wait until the anesthesia wears off before eating. Eating when you’re numb increases your risk of burning or hurting yourself, especially around the implant site.
Foods to Eat
In the first 24-48 hours, stick to cool foods and beverages. When drinking, restrain from using straws or any kind of suction. Depending on your condition, the surgeon can recommend remaining on a soft diet for the next few weeks to let the implant heal properly.
During this healing phase, stick to soft foods that require no to minimal chewing. These can include
- scrambled eggs
- Soups
- Soft vegetables
- Fish
- Ground beef meals
- Mashed potatoes
- Bananas
- Oats
- Yogurt, protein shakes, cheese, and smoothies (do not use a straw)
- Water
Foods Not to Eat
During the healing phase, completely avoid the following foods:
- Hard and crunchy foods like hard candies, nuts, raw carrots, seeds, pizza, potato chips, and taco shells
- Acidic food items like apple cider vinegar, tomatoes, soda, and citrus fruits
- Sticky and chewy items like gum and caramels
- Hot and spicy foods and drinks like soups, coffee, tea, and peppers
Once the implant site has healed, you can re-introduce your regular diet. However, follow your surgeon’s diet guidelines strictly to avoid complications.
Dental Implants Aftercare Instructions
Apart from sticking to a soft diet, keep in mind the following aftercare instructions to prevent complications and promote faster healing:
- Take medication as prescribed. After surgery, you might experience minor side effects such as pain and swelling. The surgeon will likely prescribe medications to manage these symptoms and prevent infections, helping you heal faster.
- Wear the gauze for at least 1 hour. Following implant surgery, you might experience minor bleeding. Keep the gauze pad in place until the bleeding stops.
- Use ice packs. Placing ice packs on the cheek against the implant site can help alleviate pain and swelling. Use the ice pack for 15 minutes a couple of times.
- Oral hygiene. Follow the surgeon’s instructions when you can resume your regular hygiene routine.
When to call your surgeon
While rare, complications after implant surgery are possible. Visit our dental office or notify the surgeon immediately if you experience the following:
- Excessive bleeding
- Severe pain
- Persistent or worsening swelling
- Fever and bad breath
Conclusion
While dental implants will restore your bite function and allow you to eat normally, you have to wait for some time to enable the placement to heal before eating pizza and other favorite foods of yours. For more information about dental implants in Somerset, NJ, contact KK Dental – Somerset.