Nutrition & Oral Surgery: Knowing Which Foods To Eat and Avoid While You Are Recovering

May 18th, 2014 by Dr. Patel

If you’re in need of a visit to an oral and maxillofacial surgeon, you’ve most likely got some form of surgical procedure coming up in the near future. As with any surgery, there will be a recovery period and during this time you’ll most likely be asked to stay away from certain foods to avoid potential complications that can slow down the healing process. Let’s take a look at a few foods that you can eat and a few that you’ll need to avoid when recovering from oral surgery.

As you can likely imagine, having surgery that involves your teeth will limit your ability to chew. Soft and liquid foods are typically approved, and of these few are as nutritious as soup. If you want to try putting your chef’s hat on,consider downloading a few recipes for scratch-made soups and giving those a shot. For most soups all you’ll need are the ingredients and a blender; at most you’ll find an hour or so of prep work getting everything together before blending the ingredients and cooking up a delicious new soup.

While you’ve probably had mashed potatoes at least a few times in your life – okay, who are we kidding… a few hundred! – you may not have considered mashing up other vegetables such as carrots, peas or other fruits or vegetables. The internet is loaded with recipes for mashed turnips, mashed cauliflower and other mashed foods that can be grilled first for a bit of extra flavor. If you’re up for it you can even mash up pasta and eat it with a bit of sauce. Try ‘fideo’ noodles as opposed to spaghetti noodles as they’re much thinner.

Of course, you’ll need to avoid quite a few foods and some are likely very obvious to you. Popcorn and other foods that have kernels and shells are out, as pieces tend to get stuck between your teeth and in your gums. Nuts, seeds, granola and other crunchy items that break down into small, brittle pieces are also a no-go as you can’t have these getting stuck inside of your teeth. Finally you’ll want to avoid foods that are too chewy or sticky as they tend to clog up the inside of your mouth and you need to keep your teeth as clean and debris-free as possible during your recovery.

Whether you’ve had a relatively simple procedure like a wisdom teeth removal or a complex one such as having dental implants installed, the recovery process can seem like it takes forever. Once you’re through the first few days, time will start to fly by and before you know it you’ll be back to enjoying the same foods as you normally would. Be sure to stick to the instructions that we provide you and if you have any questions, contact the Lorton Oral Surgery offices at your convenience to speak with one of our professional staff or visit:  www.LortonOralSurgery.com

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