The Best Foods to Eat After Wisdom Teeth Removal

After removing your wisdom teeth, you will be on a soft diet for about a week to minimize pain and promote healing. Eating foods that require chewing or that may irritate the incision sites can cause inflammation, pain, and infection. Although a soft diet may sound bland, it doesn’t have to be boring or tasteless.

General Guidelines

On the day of wisdom tooth removal, we recommend a liquid diet. Limit yourself to non-acidic juices (apple or grape juice is better than orange juice), clear broth, Jell-O, and tea or coffee without cream or milk. Do not use a straw to drink anything, as the suction can cause the blood clot protecting the empty tooth socket to loosen, leading to a painful dry socket.

On the second day, you can begin adding thicker liquids that you can eat without chewing, such as yogurt, milkshakes, smoothies, and pudding. Avoid very hot or cold foods – tepid is best to minimize discomfort until the area is adequately healed. Over the next three to five days, you can eat a wide range of soft foods that require little to no chewing. We suggest some of the following:

Scrambled eggs	Bananas	Mousse or pudding
Cottage cheese	Applesauce	Creamy soups
Refried beans	Mashed potatoes	Soft-cooked pasta
Mashed avocado	Tofu	Watermelon
Oatmeal	Pureed vegetables	Soft rice or risotto

 

Although spicy foods should be avoided, flavorful food is possible by adding seasonings and add-ins such as herbs, flavored vinegars, syrups, sauces, gravies, and melted butter. You can find many creative recipes online for soft food diets.

After the swelling has subsided and your pain is nearly gone (usually around day 5 to 7), you can slowly add firmer foods such as soft-cooked turkey or chicken, baked white fish, pancakes, waffles, casseroles, sweet potatoes, moist stuffing, soft peaches, buttered toast, soft bread, and macaroni and cheese. To add variety to your diet, consider poaching, steaming, or boiling vegetables and other foods to soften them. Within a week, you can eat most foods, although you should avoid chewing in the incision areas when possible.

Foods to Avoid After Wisdom Teeth Removal

For the first week following wisdom teeth removal, there are some foods you must avoid complications such as infection. These include:

• Spicy or acidic foods that can irritate delicate tissues.
• Alcoholic drinks, as they may interact with pain medications or aggravate the incision site.
• Any seeds or firm-cooked grains that could get stuck in the incisions.
• Any hard, crunchy, or tough foods such as nuts, jerky, chips, pretzels, and tough or stringy meats that could open stitches or cut into the gums.
• Smoking or vaping should also be avoided for the first week, as they inhibit healing and dramatically increase the risk of infection.

If you are unsure whether you can eat a specific food, a quick call to our office at Alaska Oral Surgery Group Phone Number 907-278-5678 can provide guidance. Healing from wisdom teeth removal will progress safely and quickly if you follow our soft diet guidelines.

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