Wondering what foods you should initially be avoiding while first wearing your dentures? Chances are you've already come across a couple that don't work well with your complete or partial dentures, but in case you haven't, here are the top five foods you should do your best to avoid initially if you want to keep your dentures looking their best and functioning the way they're supposed to.
While most of us associate dentures with older members of our society, the truth is that a lot of people who have some form of replacement teeth aren't as old as we are led to believe. As the majority of us will need some type of dentures or dental implants in the future due to the ravaging effects of Father Time, it's useful to know what exactly we'll initially be in for when the day finally arrives.
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5 Foods You Should Initially Avoid with Dentures
One of the biggest adjustments people with dentures come across after receiving their new false teeth is switching up the foods they eat. Complete dentures provide a beautiful smile for their wearers, but they aren't ideally suited for certain foods right off the bat. Here are the top five that you should initially avoid if you're a complete or partial denture wearer.
1. Popcorn
Whether you're at the movies or your favourite sporting event, the intoxicating smell of freshly popped popcorn is almost impossible to resist. But if you have complete dentures, you'll have to summon all your fortitude and avoid this salty staple as best as you can immediately after receiving your new dentures. All of us have been in the position where a kernel gets stuck somewhere annoying within our teeth. For those who are new to wearing dentures, this problem can be much more bothersome. Instead of getting stuck in your teeth, a kernel can get stuck underneath your dentures, causing you immense irritation until it can be removed.
2. Steak
This summertime favourite in Calgary can be extremely hard to pass by given our world-class beef. Unfortunately, a good steak requires a whole lot of chewing (unless you can get the kind which just melts in your mouth but those ones are pretty darn expensive). With all that chewing, your new dentures could cause you gum pain and put in jeopardy the structural integrity of the teeth in your dentures. In a worst-case scenario, they could even dislodge your teeth entirely from your prosthetic. If the smell of steak on the barbecue is too much to resist, just be sure to cut yours up into very small pieces to lower your risk of the above happening.
FOODS YOU CAN EAT SAFELY WITH DENTURES
3. Nuts
Some people go nuts over nuts. If you're one of those people and you're new to wearing dentures, then you probably know they're a no-no for you. While nuts have many health benefits for those who consume them, people who wear dentures are advised to stay away from these often-hard snack items, at least for the first few months. As denture wearers are supposed to use both sides of their mouth while chewing to stop the dentures from popping off on either side, nuts present a unique challenge in the sense that most of us eat them on one side of our mouth in the very back. This makes them a food you should absolutely avoid if you're new to wearing dentures.
4. Sticky candy
If you've got a sweet tooth and love sticky candy like caramel, toffee, gummies, or brittle, then wearing dentures for the first time and avoiding these treats is going to be tough. All of us know how difficult it can be to get these sugary sweets off of our natural teeth. It's even harder to remove them from complete or partial dentures. But all is not lost for sweet tooth denture wearers. You'll just have to change things up and opt for more denture-friendly treats such as cupcakes or lemon loaf.
5. Coffee
Alright, coffee isn't a food. You caught us. But this energizing liquid is worth mentioning simply for the staining effect it can have on dentures. Those with natural teeth know that their daily cup (or two, or three, or four...) of coffee is one of the main culprits when it comes to the semi-annual lecture they receive at their dentist office. For those with complete or partial dentures, the stains will be even worse and appear much quicker. That lands coffee squarely in the no-go zone for people with dentures. Other staining liquids those with dentures should avoid include black tea and red wine. Those ones are even worse than coffee.
While it can be extremely tough to forego the above foods once you've received and begun wearing your new dentures, it's important to follow these guidelines quite closely if you want to protect your investment from degradation and destruction early on. The good news is that after a while you should be able to return to enjoying these foods once your gums get acclimated to your new dentures.
If living without these foods, even for only a few months, just doesn't seem feasible, there is one other tooth replacement option available to you. Dental implants are an attractive and longer lasting alternative to complete and partial dentures. They function just like your remaining natural teeth do, allowing you to indulge in all the glorious food we've discussed above.
Call Us Today
If you're looking to get dental implants Calgary or would like to know more about our complete and partial dentures, get in touch with our helpful team at Future Smiles Denture Clinic by calling 403-475-0016 or by booking a FREE consultation today.
