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For a dental implant to be successful, you must avoid certain foods. Dairy is one of them. Let’s find out why.
Losing a tooth can be devastating. Thankfully, an expertly placed dental implant can fix all that by providing you with an almost like-for-like replacement that repairs your smile.
However, to ensure the procedure’s success, you will require some post-op care that allows your new dental crown or bridge to fully mesh with your jawbone. That care includes avoiding any dairy items. But why no dairy after a dental implant?
Well, dairy products, as nutritious as they are, can interfere with the healing process and in extreme cases even increase the risk of infection and prevent blood clotting.
It’s fine to be perplexed by what we just told you. But we hope you’ll give us the chance to explain, as we dive into all the reasons why dentists dissuade their patients from consuming dairy right after an implant.
For those of you unfamiliar with a dental implant, it’s basically a surgical procedure designed to seamlessly replace your missing teeth with a crown, denture or bridge that blends with your natural teeth.
The implant procedure itself consists of three parts, a post, abutment and custom crown. First, a post is inserted inside your jawbone, replacing your missing tooth’s roots. Once the post has settled into its place and your gums have completely healed, an abutment is screwed on top of the post. Thus, creating a platform for your custom crown, denture or bridge to sit on.
If all goes well, you’re left with a permanent solution for your missing teeth that’s going to be difficult for anyone to distinguish from your real teeth.
Consuming dairy products after implants can cause bacterial infections in your mouth. Basically, any dairy product when left at room temperature can become a breeding ground for harmful bacteria.
These harmful bacteria can then attack the gums surrounding your implant, weakening the tissues and potentially delaying the healing process.
Dairy products like milk or yogurt don’t directly impact clot formation. However, as we just mentioned they are liable to cause an infection which can in turn affect blood clotting.
Which will again impact the overall healing process and may even cause further complications.
Most dairy products, excluding yogurt and ice cream, need plenty of chewing before they can be ingested. This is exactly why they shouldn’t be consumed right after an implant. As they’re liable to evoke irritation and severe pain in your teeth.
That severe pain and discomfort can even cause the tissues surrounding your implant to swell. Additionally, tooth sensitivity is also something you may have to deal with.
Even if everything goes smoothly and you don’t notice any pain or swelling from chewing your favorite dairy snack, you still risk potential plaque buildup and oral hygiene issues.
Which is particularly important to avoid during the initial healing phase.
Besides dairy products, your dentist will probably give you an entire checklist of items that you shouldn’t consume right after your dental implant procedure.
The table below mentions some of them and explains the reasoning behind avoiding them.
Items to Avoid | Reasoning |
Spicy and Acidic Foods | Consuming spicy or acidic foods could aggravate the surgical site. While also causing irritation and discomfort to the sensitive tissues surrounding the implant area. |
Alcohol | Too much alcohol intake can thin your blood, which can interfere with the blood clotting process and extend the healing period. |
Crunchy Snacks | Crunchy snacks require plenty of chewing as well, which can again cause pain and irritation. Moreover, they may break off into smaller particles and chunks that can get lodged around the implant site. |
Tobacco Products | Extended tobacco use can weaken the immune system to infections. Additionally, it can also decrease the oxygen level in the blood, which can delay wound healing. |
All of this talk about what you can’t eat begs the question: What can you eat after a dental implant? Well, after consulting with our own highly experienced dentists, we’ve come up with a list of items that are definitely safe to consume during the recovery period.
You should know, however, that most of these items are liquids. So, you’ll have to sustain yourself on a liquid diet for some time, at least during the initial healing phase. The exact duration of this phase will depend on what your dentist recommends.
While a dental implant procedure itself is tricky and requires surgical expertise, it also requires expert post-op care to be completely successful. All in all, you need an expert who can both perform the procedure and provide precise post-op instructions tailored to your specific needs.
On that note, allow us to present Dr. Alex Dolgov and Dr. Thu Hoang, both of whom have successfully performed hundreds of dental implants without any complications. Each of their patients also reports little to no discomfort during the recovery stage as well because of the highly personalized post-op instructions they provide.
So, what are you waiting for? Visit us at our practice in Porter Ranch California outside of LA or get in touch with Dr Alex’s or Dr Thu’s team directly to book your first of many consultations.
Call now or fill out the form below and our office will contact you as soon as possible
Resources used for this article:
National Institutes of Health – Dental Implants
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