Avoid hot foods and drinks for 4 hours after teeth cleaning. Hot food and drink can dissolve the fluoride before it has a chance to set permanently.
The good news is you don't have to wait long. You can eat as soon as you feel ready to do so. But this is if you only had a deep dental cleaning. If your dentist did a cleaning and a fluoride treatment, you'll have to wait for at least thirty minutes.
If your cleaning included a fluoride treatment or air polishing, you need to wait 30 minutes to eat. If you didn't have a fluoride treatment or air polishing, there's no need to wait. We do recommend avoiding foods that could stain or discolor your teeth for at least 6 hours after a cleaning.
Avoid highly acidic foods, like oranges and tomatoes, for at least 48 hours post-treatment. Avoid spicy foods and alcoholic beverages for at least 48 hours to promote healing.
Understanding the cleaning process
The fluoride treatment will require time to settle into your teeth and provide the protection they require. A general rule of thumb is to wait for at least 30 to 60 minutes after your teeth cleaning to consume any food or drinks, but you should avoid drinking coffee for a few hours.
You can brush your teeth later in the evening after the cleaning is complete. Wait a few hours to let your teeth recover, as the stress in the area from a deep cleaning will take a bit for the area to recover.
To reduce tenderness and promote healing, every two to three hours, rinse with warm salt water: ½ teaspoon salt in a 4 ounce glass of water. 2. Avoid brushing or flossing the treated area(s) for 12 hours. However, after 12 hours it is very important that you continue to brush very well.
Ice cream
That said, ice cream is the perfect dessert to have after dental work. This is because the cold helps to soothe pain and minimize any swelling that might be occurring. Plus, it is soft, so you do not have to chew it at all!
After cleaning, the gums will go loose around the teeth' edge, which will lead to cold sensitivity. Once they heal and tighten, the sensitivity problem after teeth cleaning will disappear. However, the whole process is not that fast, and your tissues will take their due time to recover, which may take weeks.
You should ideally wait at least an hour before drinking coffee after a teeth cleaning, but if you want your teeth to stay bright as long as possible, it may be worth waiting as much as four hours to allow your teeth sufficient time to heal.
Once you get your teeth professionally cleaned and polished, you may wonder about the advisability of eating food or even drinking a cola. While some foods can be eaten easily, a cleaning can increase sensitivity. Therefore, some foods or drinks should be avoided.
Myth 3: Cleaning causes gaps between the teeth.
Scaling doesn't create new spaces or gaps among teeth.
Avoid any dark staining drinks like Tea, Coffee, Red Wine, colored soft or alcoholic drinks and fruit juice. Avoid all dark staining foods like bolognese, soy sauce, red meat, chocolate and all fruit except bananas. Avoid any foods or drinks that would leave a stain on a white shirt.
Within a week the gums will start to heal and reattach to the roots of the teeth. The initial discomfort should be gone. Full recovery and reattachment can take up to 6 or 8 weeks, but patients are usually back to normal eating, drinking, brushing, and flossing within the first week.
You may notice the teeth feel 'sharp' after cleaning. This usually is because the tongue has been accustomed to the feeling of the plaque or tartar filling the gaps between the teeth. You may notice 'black triangles' or gaps between the teeth. This will be more evident if you have gum recession or bone loss.
We recommend you avoid eating or drinking anything for at least 30 – 60 minutes after your cleaning. The timing should be enough to ensure your teeth can recover from the procedure and keep from feeling sensitive.
General guidelines state that patients should make an appointment for a professional dental cleaning every six months. While this is ideal for most people, some will need to come in every three months and others will only need to come in every nine or 12 months.
You can eat before your dental appointment if it's a routine checkup and cleaning. As long as you brush your teeth afterward, you can go about your daily dietary schedule. Brushing and flossing after eating help eliminate food particles stuck between teeth, which makes your local dentist's job easier.
Deep scaling is only done when gum disease is present. Typically in the early stages of gum disease, damage can be reversed with a professional deep cleaning. The goal of deep scaling and root planning is to treat periodontitis, or gum disease, causing the disease to go into remission.