Wondering which foods you should avoid when wearing dentures? When someone needs dentures to improve their good oral health, they must learn how to live with their new dentures so that they become a part of their everyday life. The first few weeks or so will require some necessary adjusting and accordingly, only soft foods should be eaten during this initial adjustment period.
Eating with dentures
After one has become used to wearing their dentures, a good deal of thought should go into their food choices to maintain the integrity and function of their dentures.
Even though denture wearers are not actually forbidden from eating certain foods, there is a list of foods that can potentially cause harm to your dentures. If you choose to eat foods that are known to break or damage dentures, then you are taking a big risk. It does not matter whether your dentures are full dentures or partial dentures, it is still necessary for you to understand how your food choices can affect them.
3 Foods to avoid when wearing dentures
The following is a list of foods that denture wearers should try to avoid eating when at all possible.
Hard foods
Hard foods have the potential to break dentures. Even though dentures are made to be super strong, it is possible for them to break just like natural teeth can. If someone’s dentures break due to eating hard foods, they will need to make an appointment with their dentist for denture repair. Examples of hard foods to avoid include nuts, hard taco shells, popcorn and beef jerky.
Sticky foods
Sticky foods are more apt to stick to dentures, which makes sense. When a food sticks to a part of someone’s dentures more often than not it will cause the dentures to become loose and even fall out of the mouth. A short list of sticky foods include caramels, toffee and candy.
Nut butter
Nut butter, like peanut butter and almond butter, is more difficult to eat when wearing dentures. When denture wearers eat nut butter, they are more likely to experience a slipping of their dentures, which is something every denture wearer wants to avoid. Instead, looking into other options like hummus or paté is recommended.
Denture-friendly foods
Soft foods are denture-friendly foods. But just because a food is soft does not mean that it is healthy to eat. This fact makes it essential for denture wearers to choose softer foods that are also going to give them the nutrition they need for good overall health. Examples include olives, grapes, seedless berries, bananas, yogurt, smoothies, soups, stews, chilis and casseroles.
Do you need new dentures?
When you have one or more bad teeth or are even missing just one tooth, your good oral health is in jeopardy. The sooner you make an appointment so you can find out what type of dentures are going to be right for you, the better.