The vitamins and minerals, as well as other essential nutrients (such as protein), help your body to repair itself and can have you feeling normal in no time. But you need your mouth to eat, and it is going to be more sensitive following an oral procedure. Certain foods may cause you issues with healing.
Hard, Crunchy Foods
Eating anything that requires you to exert more force than necessary to bite through it and chew it may be troublesome. Not only that, but (crunchy foods in particular), can scratch the surgical site and cause bleeding. For these reasons, you should avoid anything hard or crunchy, such as raw vegetables, chips, crusty breads, and hard candies.
Chewy or Sticky Foods
Chewy and sticky foods make your jaw work overtime in order to break them up properly for good digestion. Your jaw needs to rest in order to heal, so making it work harder is going to have the opposite effect of what you want. Avoid chewy breads, tough cuts of meat, certain types of candy (such as caramels and taffy), and chewing gum.
Hot Food
While many foods need to be cooked, you should be wary of their temperature. Don't eat anything too hot, or you risk burns to sensitive tissue. Let your foods cool a bit to a more comfortable temperature so that they are still warm, but won't scald your skin.
Avoid Certain Spices
Certain flavors and spices of food are more detrimental to healing than others. Anything that is spicy, salty or acidic can harm sensitive tissue, and delay healing. Be wary of the seasonings you use for anything you eat.
Eating a nutritious diet will ensure a speedy, healthy recovery. But the texture, as well as the spices, that you eat can have a negative effect on your healing, despite the food's nutritional content. Contact our office for more information on what to eat for proper healing.
