You may eat and drink 1 ½ hours after your surgery (use extra care to avoid trauma to the tissue from hard or hot foods while you are still numb). Foods should be soft and nutritious for the first several days. Add solid foods to your diet as soon as they are comfortable to chew.
Tips for First Time Denture Wearers
Choose liquids. You may feel a little uncomfortable chowing down on food, so go for soups, smoothies, puddings, applesauce and other liquefied food in those first few days. Take care with hot dishes. Hot liquid can burn your mouth.
Avoid certain foods in the beginning – When you're first learning to chew with your dentures, you should avoid eating foods that you have to bite into like pizzas and burgers. These types of foods can easily dislodge your dentures. Sticky foods might also be problematic for new denture wearers.
Your gums will probably look like they're completely healed after 2-4 weeks, but it's the bone underneath that heals so slowly. We want to wait for this to heal completely before proceeding with your final fit. The final step in the immediate denture process is a lab-processed hard re-fit.
Doughy foods, such as breads will stick to dentures and should be eaten with liquids. When trying to eat a sandwich, cookies or any other food that is generally bitten down on with the front teeth and torn off, the denture can dislodge.
Hard foods: Chewing hard foods require your jaw and dentures to apply uneven pressure. This can dislodge or damage your dentures, so avoid nuts, popcorn, apples, raw carrot sticks and corn on the cob. Tough meats: Foods that require a lot of chewing place unnecessary stress on your dentures and gums.
New dentures can take around two to four weeks to settle properly. It's not unusual to experience some tenderness or discomfort at first. Here's a guide on how to prevent prolonged discomfort, and why you may experience it.
However, there is an adjustment process that needs to take place. Dentures are foreign objects, and both the mouth and the brain need time to get used to the new sensations. Patients should try to take things slowly at first, eating foods that do not pose a particular challenge before trying to go back to old habits.
Give yourself at least 7 to 14 days to get used to wearing the dentures before progressing to more solid foods such as well-cooked meats and vegetables, eggs, spaghetti, and baked fish. Most people tend to chew more on one side of their mouth than the other.
Generally you should wear your dentures for at least 8 hours a day. This will give your gums and jawbone time to get used to the dentures and prevent sore spots from developing. It is best to take them out at night so that your gums can rest. You should also remove them for eating, drinking, brushing and flossing.
Always follow label instructions. Super Poligrip® adhesives help hold dentures for up to 12 hours. If you find your dentures loosening, talk to your dentist.
If you've just got your first denture, your gums are going to be a bit sore as they adjust so you should definitely stick to soft/liquid foods like mash and soups while you adjust to having dentures in your mouth. Also, avoid spicy things in the early stages, you definitely don't want to get chilli in any sore spots.
It's important that you don't remove your dentures during the first 24 hours so the gums have a chance to heal. Your full dentures act much like a bandaid during your first day, which is why you'll even need to wear your dentures to bed. After 24 hours, we highly recommend removing your dentures before going to sleep.
One of the risks of wearing dentures is the possibility that they may be swallowed. Though this may seem unusual, unintentional denture ingestion can be considered relatively common.
Because dentures rest on that gum ridge and are customized to fit its shape and size, dentures loosen as this happens, and for many patients, end up feeling too big for their mouths.
If you have these types of fittings on your denture you may find you can chew regular gum. If not, and your denture is slightly looser then Wrigley's make a chewing gum called Freedent, this is designed to be less sticky.
Don't Bite with Your Front Teeth
Biting with the teeth at the very front of your mouth might cause your dentures to become unstable and lead to gum irritation.
Soak dentures overnight.
Most types of dentures need to stay moist to keep their shape. Place the dentures in water or a mild denture-soaking solution overnight.