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What Foods Can You Eat After Getting Dental Implants? Getting dental implants can be a major event in someone’s life. After all, this amazing solution restores the look of your smile and the function of your mouth. As such, it’s critical to properly care for your implants after surgery. What you eat (and don’t eat) is of paramount importance. Foods to Eat Immediately After Getting Dental Implants As you are not permitted to eat six hours before your dental implant procedure, don’t be surprised if you wake up feeling hungry! However, you need to wait at least an hour before having your first snack post-surgery. This is because the gauze sponges placed on your surgery site need to remain in your mouth for the first hour after surgery. Once they are removed, go easy on yourself. The first 24-48 hours are crucial for your healing post-surgery. You may also be experiencing some discomfort and heightened sensitivity. Starting one hour after your dental surgery and continuing for the next 48 hours, stick to the following diet: First, you should only consume liquids. For example, we recommend drinking smooth cold soups (nothing chunky), broths, applesauce, meal replacement drinks, smoothies, protein drinks, and juices. If you choose fruit smoothies or juices, do so sparingly. Fruit may be high in vitamin C (which is good for your gums), but it’s also highly acidic, and too much can damage tooth enamel. Chewing will be difficult initially and can negatively impact your recovery. That’s why you must stick to liquids. Second, do not drink your liquids through a straw or water bottle. Doing so requires suction, which can then put pressure on your implant site and disrupt clotting. Third, all liquids must be cool. Avoid any hot foods or beverages. Soups may be a fantastic post-surgery meal; however, they must be served cold. Fourth, do not drink alcoholic beverages or smoke. Fifth, drink lots of water. Staying hydrated is an important part of your recovery. Furthermore, we recommend taking in more fluids after any procedure that uses general anesthesia. Foods to Eat in the Weeks After Dental Implant Surgery Once the first 48 hours are up, you can start introducing soft foods into your diet. The healing process has now started. However, you should still avoid chewing as much as possible. As your gums heal, you can introduce more solid foods that require some chewing. Every patient will have a slightly different healing journey. It’s important to monitor the sensitivity and tenderness of the surgical site in the days and weeks following your procedure. Most patients can start carefully chewing near the implant site at the end of their first-week post-surgery. A low level of discomfort is to be expected. However, pain is a sign that your mouth isn’t ready. You should wait to re-introduce chewier foods. If the pain continues, contact your dentist. That being said, we recommend that most patients stick to a soft-food diet for the first 10-14 days. Eating foods that are high in protein and vitamin C will help your mouth heal faster. Here are a few ideas: Cooked cereal grains are nutritious and easy to eat. For example, consider adding oatmeal or cream of wheat to your diet. Mashed, baked, boiled, or fried potatoes (or sweet potatoes) are also good choices during the first few weeks. Plus, they’re an easy way to add some variety to your diet. No crispy French fries though! Eggs such as scrambled, poached, or in an omelette are also great. They’re soft, high in protein, and rich in vitamin D. Dairy products like milk, yogurt, and soft cheeses offer valuable calcium, which is essential for strong teeth. Don’t forget about your greens. Cook leafy greens like kale and spinach until they’re soft and easy to chew. Initially, any meat you eat should be tender and soft. Soft-cooked fish like salmon, cod, or halibut are great options. Foods to Avoid After Getting Dental Implants Now that you know what you can eat (and when), it’s time to look into what you should avoid. Do not eat the following foods: Crunchy foods (chips, hardshell tacos) Chewy foods (gummies, dried fruit) Sticky foods (taffy, candy) Spicy foods (salsa, hot peppers) You should also avoid consuming large quantities of acidic foods even though, as we mentioned earlier, many acidic foods (like fruits) offer vital vitamin C.

The 7 Most Common Dental Emergencies And How To Prevent Them The 7 Most Common Dental Emergencies And How To Prevent Them Posted on March 15, 2022 by Bloor West Smiles • 0 Comments Tooth decay, gum disease, a chipped tooth: these are just some of the most common dental emergencies. While prevention with good dental care is the best way to preserve your oral health, knowing what to do when emergency strikes helps prevent long-term damage. What are the most common dental emergencies — and do you know how to deal with them? With fast, immediate response and the right first aid treatment, you can prevent long-term damage and restore good oral health. 7 Common Dental Emergencies 1. Toothache Pain is never a good sign: it can indicate several conditions, including tooth decay. And while some toothaches are manageable without emergency treatment, certain signs — like swelling — require urgent attention. Avoid turning to common remedies like taking aspirin or other painkillers because contact with the affected gums can burn the tissue. Instead, apply a cold compress to the outside of your cheek and call a dental clinic for emergency care. Once your treatment is done, your dentist won’t stress enough the importance of basic oral hygiene to prevent cavities, tooth decay and other worse dental problems. 2. Chipped or broken teeth Did you bite down on something a little too hard? A chipped or broken tooth doesn’t just ruin your perfect smile — it can also hurt. Rinse your mouth with warm water and apply a piece of gauze to the site of the bleeding. Then, apply a cold compress to the part of your face closest to the broken or chipped tooth to reduce swelling and relieve pain. While seeking emergency dental care, your dentist will advise you to be conscious of biting down on hard and crunchy foods, as well as sports and other activities that can cause teeth to break or chip. 3. Knocked-out tooth Similarly, as you’d handle a chipped or broken tooth, pick the tooth up by the crown (the exposed part in the mouth) and rinse off the root only if it is dirty. Otherwise, avoid scrubbing and removing attached tissue fragments. Depending on the injury, you may be able to put the tooth back in place but be careful not to push it into the socket. The sooner you can do this — ideally within the hour — the better your chances of saving a knocked-out tooth and restoring it in place. If you cannot reinsert the tooth, put it in a small cup with milk or water with a salt pinch. This will help preserve the tooth in time for emergency restoration at our dental clinic in Toronto. 4. Lost filling or crown Crowns and fillings restore previously damaged teeth back to optimal appearance and function. So when these break, you need to get them treated right away to avoid further damage or reinfection. Try this temporary fix while waiting for emergency dental care. Stick a piece of sugarless gum into the cavity, but do not fix the tooth yourself to avoid damaging it. You can also place the restoration in a zip-top bag and bring it to your dentist’s clinic to reapply or be fitted with a new crown. 5. Broken orthodontics Braces are tough — these metal wires and brackets are designed to withstand daily wear-and-tear with chewing, eating and even talking. But even then, they can break or stick out and poke your cheeks and gums. Not only does this cause discomfort, but it can slow down or even reverse progress in aligning and straightening teeth. When this happens, you can try pushing the broken wire into a more comfortable position. If this isn’t possible, cover the exposed end with orthodontic wax, a small cotton ball or a piece of gauze. No matter how bothersome, don’t cut the wire to avoid swallowing. 6. Abscess Infections in the mouth, especially near the root of a tooth or in the space between the teeth and gums, are serious. When untreated, these can spread to surrounding teeth and gum tissue, and even the rest of the body. Not sure if you have an abscess? Check your gums for a painful, pimple-like swollen spot. Call our dental clinic in Toronto right away for emergency treatment to avoid worse oral health problems. Rinse your mouth with a mild water solution and apply ice to the swollen area for temporary relief. 7. Bleeding and pain after a tooth extraction It’s normal to experience some post-op pain and bleeding but if these persist even an hour later, it’s time to call your dentist. In the meantime, place a thick gauze pad over the extraction site, and apply pressure by biting down on the gauze. Avoid rinsing, drinking and eating, as well as sucking, spitting and smoking.

How All-On-Four Implants Create a Winning Smile Tooth loss is an unfortunate reality for many people. Not only can this shake your confidence, but it also affects your ability to eat and speak. Fortunately, you can restore the look and function of your mouth with All-on-Four implants. What are All-on-Four dental implants? All-on-Four is an incredible implant solution that restores the look and function of your mouth. During this revolutionary dental procedure, the entire upper or lower dental plate is replaced in a single day. The replacement teeth are permanently anchored in the mouth by four dental implants, which are inserted into the jawbone.  Who is All-on-Four right for? An All-on-Four implant procedure is ideal for patients missing some or all of their teeth. Since an All-on-Four replacement is completed over the course of a single day, it’s much more manageable than going for multiple appointments to have several implants inserted. Anyone who struggles with conventional dentures should also consider All-on-Four implants. The All-on-Four Procedure First, your dentist performs a comprehensive examination of your condition. This includes reviewing your dental history, taking x-rays and digital 3D scans, and thoroughly examining your mouth. Then, a treatment plan is created based on the current state of your mouth and your goals. Measurements of the mouth are taken to plan the exact placement of the dental implants. These measurements also inform the shape and orientation of the replacement teeth. As a result, the new dental plate will fit perfectly, leading to optimum comfort and function. On the day of the procedure, your dentist measures and marks the distance between your top and bottom jaw. This distance will not change once you have your new dental plate. If it does, your facial structure and jaw can change position. Consequently, it is very important that your dentist marks the correct, natural distance. An All-on-Four procedure is typically performed with oral sedation and not general anesthesia. Once the procedure begins, your dentist extracts any existing teeth or remnants of lost teeth. Damaged gum tissue is also removed. The dental implants are inserted into the jawbone at precise angles for maximum strength and stability. Following placement, your dentist replaces the gum tissue around the implants and closes all incisions. The healing time for an All-on-Four procedure is around three weeks. It takes three to four months for the dental implants to integrate with the jawbone. After six months, the bonding is fully complete and you’re due back at your dentist to receive your final prosthesis.