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What Can You Eat After a Tooth Extraction?

Complete Health Dentistry • Jul 13, 2020
what can you eat after a tooth extraction

What can you eat after a tooth extraction? To ensure the highest level of healing for your dental procedure, explore the safest soft foods to consume.

Dentists and oral surgeons extract 10 million wisdom teeth every year. Many more tooth extractions are necessary due to tooth decay, infection, overcrowding, or to make way for shifting teeth before fitting braces.

While these tooth extractions can help reduce or prevent pain, your gums will feel very tender after the surgery. No problem, you can just eat ice cream until the pain subsides, right? Wrong! Your post-surgery diet needs to be full of nutritious foods to help cut the risk of complications and promote fast healing. 

So what can you eat after a tooth extraction? Keep reading to find out!

Foods to Eat After Tooth Extraction

You should focus on finding soft foods to eat after wisdom tooth removal. These will be easier to chew and less likely to get stuck in your healing gums. But these foods should also be as nutritious as possible, with plenty of vitamins, minerals, protein, and energy to make sure your mouth heals fast. Here's a list of soft foods to eat after wisdom teeth removal to help guide you:

Smoothies

If you're wondering, 'what can I eat after tooth extraction?', smoothies are a great way to boost your intake of vital nutrients while you're struggling to eat a solid meal.

What's more, you can add almost anything into the mix as a way to meet your nutrition goals. For example, berries can provide antioxidants to reduce inflammation and boost immunity while peanut butter or a scoop of protein powder can provide a boost of protein to aid in the recovery process. 

You can also add vegetables such as spinach or kale into your smoothies. These leafy greens are high in vitamin C, which is essential for wound healing. They also contain folate, magnesium, and provitamin A, all of which help boost your immune system for a faster recovery.

Eggs

Looking for soft foods to eat that are also rich in protein? While meat, nuts, and other hard or chewy protein-rich foods are likely off-limits for a week or so, eggs are easy-to-eat and an excellent source of protein.

Eggs also contain a wide range of vitamins, and minerals, making them perfect for providing energy and supporting fast healing. Try them scrambled, poached, or soft-boiled as a snack or for breakfast. Although, you'll have to skip the toast as the crunchy texture could hurt your sore gums. 

Bone Broth

If you're looking for nutritious foods to eat after wisdom tooth removal, you can't beat the health benefits of bone broth.
The liquid texture of bone broth, which is made by simmering animal bones in stock, makes it super easy to eat and a great way to stay hydrated if you find it difficult to drink enough water. Bone broth is also full of vitamins and minerals, making it a nutritious option for lunch or dinner while your mouth is recovering. 

It's also likely that bone broth has anti-inflammatory benefits, meaning that it may play a role in supporting healing. Although, you should make sure you serve your broth lukewarm as anything too hot could irritate your wound. 

Blended Soups

Blended vegetable-based soups are one of the best foods to eat after wisdom teeth removal. Their smooth texture means that they don't contain irritating bits and lumps. And, during the first weeks or so after surgery, soups are a great way to enjoy the health benefits of vegetables at a time when eating whole veggies isn't always possible. 

However, it's always best to go for homemade soups if you can. Canned soups tend to be high in sodium, which can irritate your sensitive gums.

Avocado

Soft foods don't come much more nutritious than avocados. They contain vitamin C, vitamin K, and potassium, and they're also a rich source of healthy fats, which help to reduce inflammation. And, animal studies even show that avocados may help speed up wound healing. 

As well as being full of goodness, avocados are also versatile and delicious. Plus, the creamy, smooth texture of avocados makes them ideal for eating when chewing is out of the question. 

Mashed Potatoes

As well as being everyone's favorite comfort food, mashed potatoes are also one of the best foods to eat after wisdom tooth removal. 
Potatoes are a rich source of carbohydrates, making them perfect following surgery when your energy levels are low. And, unlike fries or chips, soft foods like mashed potatoes won't get stuck in your gums or cause discomfort.    

Greek Yogurt

It can be difficult to know what to eat after a tooth extraction if you're in pain and finding it difficult to chew. Although it's tempting to reach for ice cream, this high-sugar food is far from a good choice when your teeth are sensitive and your body is trying to heal. 

Instead, you should reach for Greek yogurt. The smooth and creamy texture makes it a good substitute for the soothing sensation of ice cream. But, unlike ice cream, Greek yogurt is rich in B vitamins, probiotics, iodine, calcium, zinc, and protein. As well as supporting good health, these nutrients, and especially protein and zinc, can help support the recovery process and promote wound healing.  

Cottage Cheese

Not sure what to eat after wisdom tooth removal? Thanks to its high levels of protein and soft and creamy texture, cottage cheese is one of the best soft foods to eat following a tooth extraction. Cottage cheese is also easy to mix into other foods on this list, such as scrambled eggs and smoothies, as a way to provide an extra boost of vitamins and minerals. 

What Can You Eat After a Tooth Extraction?

It's common to wonder, 'what can you eat after a tooth extraction?' when your gums are too sore to face the thought of anything hard, chewy, or crunchy. 

But, as this list of soft foods to eat after wisdom teeth removal shows, there are plenty of nutritious foods that are easy to eat following tooth extraction surgery. 

For more information, feel free to contact us today! 
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