If you are thinking about getting implants, a common question is “how long after dental implants can I eat normally?”
Usually, your dentist will give you more guidance about this. However, we are here to provide you with some more information to help the transition easier.
How Long After Dental Implants Can I Eat Normally?
Your dental implants require great care, especially during the first few weeks after implantation. During these first few weeks, your dentist will advise you to eat a soft diet.
Avoid Excessive Pressure
The most important thing is to avoid putting excessive pressure on your new implants. Putting too much pressure on the implant during the first few weeks can disturb the new bone growth. It can hinder the fusion between the implant and the natural bone.
Once the fusion gets disturbed, it will start to loosen the bond that’s forming between the implant and the bone that surrounds it. This causes implant failure. And it may cause you to go back for more sessions with your dentist.
After your dental implant surgery, you may feel some soreness, some minor swelling, and bleeding at the implant site. However, your dentist will prescribe some medications that will help manage these side effects.
Types of Food To Avoid
At this phase, you need to avoid sticky and grainy foods. You also need to drink a lot of fluids to help aid the healing process. More things to avoid are hot liquids such as tea, soup, and coffee, as well as using straws and chopsticks. With straws, you may accidentally poke or disturb the implant site which can cause further bleeding.
During the first week after your dental implants, you need to eat solely a soft diet. This can last up to two weeks until the implant site starts to heal.
However, you must still eat a well-balanced diet. A good and well-balanced diet can help you speed up the healing process. Avoid chewy and sticky foods. You also need to avoid chewing over the implant site.
The implant site, and the fusion of the implant with the bone usually takes up to six months to heal and fully integrate. It can take longer if your bone quality is not optimal, or if you are currently having some health issues that may slow down the healing process. In these cases, it can take up to a year for the osseointegration to complete.
During this process, it’s vital that you do not disturb the implant site as much as possible. While you can start eating normal food after the first few weeks, it’s still of utmost importance not to chew directly over the implant site.
Avoid crunchy and sharp foods during this process. As a rule of thumb, if your food makes noise when you chew it, do not chew directly over the implant site.
As soon as the osseointegration is complete, and the crown has been attached to your implants, you may slowly begin to resume your previous diet. Your new tooth, or teeth, will start to feel like your natural ones.
After the implants are complete, you may feel some discomfort, and it can take some time to get used to it, but you are now allowed to eat pretty much whatever you like.
