Eating With Dentures – What Foods You Can Enjoy & Should Avoid With Dentures

If you are new to wearing false teeth, it can be hard to know what foods to avoid with dentures. Just because you now have to wear partial or complete dentures doesn’t mean you have to go on a diet. However, because your dentures are not the same as your natural teeth were, when considering eating with dentures there are some foods that would be best to remove from your daily eating habits.

In this article, we will take a closer look at foods to avoid with dentures and what to eat after getting dentures.

After You First Get Your Dentures

Soft foods that do not require a great deal of chewing are best as soon as you receive your dentures. This is partly to reduce the stress that gum tissue will experience with pressure coming from your new denture plates pressing down onto them. This will eventually change once your gums and mouth get used to having false teeth.

By reducing the amount of chewing at first, you can eliminate the risk of swelling and pain. To do this, you should shift your eating habits to something known as a mechanical soft diet.

A mechanical soft diet includes foods that can be mashed or processed in such a manner that there are no large pieces to bite into and have to chew to digest. Examples of foods that make up a mechanical soft diet include apple sauce, scrambled eggs, mashed potatoes, puddings, and cooked cereals.

It is important to keep nutritional value high while reducing the amount of chewing necessary to complete a meal when you first start eating with dentures. Also, ensure that the soft foods you eat are not too hot as your dentures will make judging heat a bit more difficult.

As you get used to wearing false teeth, be careful when drinking liquids. It is important to avoid holding any drink in your mouth for too long. The reason for this is that you could loosen bottom dentures by doing so. Again, this is an action that will take some getting used to so don’t be too alarmed if your lowers do shift when drinking liquids.

Also, as you get accustomed to how to eat with dentures, it is best to avoid spicy foods for now. That is because they can irritate sores that may exist underneath the false teeth on your gums.

When You Can Eat Solid Foods

As you get used to wearing your false teeth you will get to a point where you will be able to switch from soft foods to solids. However, you can’t just go back to the way you used to eat. There are a few things you have to do to build strength in your mouth and jaw to accommodate the dentures and how you will have to eat with them.

At first, you should cut foods into small pieces that are smaller than bite-size. Pay attention to how fast you eat and slow that down to permit thorough chewing before swallowing. And don’t forget to chew on both sides of your mouth.

Because eating with dentures is different, you will want to allow yourself more time to finish a meal. In other words, eating on the run is something you will have to learn to avoid.

Be sure to always have something to drink with each meal. Liquids will help you to swallow foods that you may have difficulty swallowing on their own with false teeth.

Also, find a denture adhesive that works at holding your false teeth firmly in place when you eat. This is something you will have to experiment with and figure out over time.

Food To Avoid With Dentures

Now that you have gotten used to wearing dentures, you will probably have encountered some foods that don’t seem to agree well with your false teeth. Those are the types of food denture wearers should avoid.

The list is not very long but may include a few items that you once enjoyed a great deal. With false teeth, you will have to find alternatives to replace these foods. They include the following:

Coffee

If you rely on the kickstart that comes from a hot cup of coffee in the morning, you will have to change this habit. The reason for this is that not only can you burn your mouth by drinking coffee that is too hot, but the beverage will change the look of your dentures over time.

Coffee is a notorious culprit that will stain and discolor your false teeth with each cup you consume. This will not only impact the way your smile looks but will add to the time and cost associated with keeping your dentures bright and clean.

However, if you simply can’t do without your coffee or wine fix, then you may want to check out this article on how to whiten dentures.

Nuts

As you chew nuts, tiny bits of them can work their way under your dentures. When this happens, your mouth and gums can become irritated. Also, as most people chew nuts on one side of their mouth, denture wearers risk loosening their false teeth or flipping them up.

It is best to just avoid nuts when eating with dentures to reduce the risk of any of these issues developing.

Peanut Butter

Peanut butter is a sticky food that is extremely difficult to remove from the mouth when you wear dentures. This is the same with any other nut butter.

In addition to being difficult to clean from dentures, peanut butter can get under dentures causing irritations and can possibly loosen plates as well.

Popcorn

Popcorn presents an interesting set of problems for denture wearers. Not only can kernels get lodged between teeth making it difficult to clean to remove them, but bits of popcorn can work their way under dentures. This can cause irritation and pain.

Raw Fruits/Vegetables

While eating fruit and vegetables is generally a good thing, eating raw apples or carrots can exert excessive pressure on the incisors and loosen dentures.

Seeded Crackers/Bread

Just like nuts, the seeds from crackers and bread can end up under dentures making chewing painful and uncomfortable.

Steak

The amount of chewing required for a single bite of steak can make gums sore, destabilize the teeth in your dentures, and may even dislodge them causing damage to your false teeth.

Sticky Candy

This may be obvious to some, but sticky candy and any other sticky food can easily dislodge dentures when chewed.

Foods To Eat With Dentures

Instead of Coffee

To prevent false teeth from getting stained, you can still get your hot beverage kickstart by drinking light-colored hot beverages like green tea.

Instead of Nuts

Pitted olives are a good alternative to nuts as they are softer and contain the heart-healthy fats that are in nuts.

Instead of Peanut Butter

You could change peanut butter to hummus, tapenade, or cottage cheese.

Instead of Popcorn

Try air-puffed veggie crisps to satisfy that salt craving.

Instead of Raw Fruits/Vegetables

You can still enjoy fruits and vegetables, by blending them into smoothies that you can drink.

Instead of Seeded Crackers/Bread

Whole-grain bread and crackers with the grains baked into the products will be easier to chew.

Instead of Steak

You can still enjoy steak when eating with dentures if you cut it up into tiny pieces, much like you were doing when you first started eating solid foods with your new dentures.

Instead of Sticky Candy

Chewing gum for dentures is the best alternative to eating sticky candy. Just be sure to choose sugar-free gum.

Other Food Options When Eating With Dentures

So, what other foods can you eat with dentures? Well, there are plenty. They fall under a handful of different categories. Here is a closer look at them.

Slow-Cooked Meals

Even if you do not have a slow cooker, the general rule of thumb here is that the longer a meal is cooked, the more tender it becomes. This means that the food will be softer and that makes the meal easier to chew if you have dentures.

Ground Meats

When the meat is ground, most of the toughness is removed which makes ground meat easy to eat with dentures. Plus, ground meats can be used in many different recipes allowing you to enjoy various meals.

Non-Nut Protein Spreads

There are many alternative spreads available that do not contain nuts. An example is hummus which is made from chickpeas.

Chocolate

Chocolate is actually good for you! Just don’t eat it often and stay away from candy bars that contain nuts or toffee and you should be able to eat something sweet that won’t hurt your mouth or damage your dentures.

Ripe Fruits

Soft fruit is typically ripe fruit. Most soft fruit varieties can be eaten with dentures including peaches, mangos, and bananas.

Cooked Vegetables

When vegetables are cooked, they become softer. This makes them far easier to eat for denture wearers.

In Conclusion

There are only a few foods you should avoid eating when you get dentures. This is to reduce the risk of irritation and pain in your mouth. Fortunately, there are many alternatives to these foods that you will be able to enjoy. In addition, changing your food preparation methods can keep some of your favorites in your daily diet.

So if you have only just received a new pair of false teeth and are wondering about eating with dentures, while there are definitely certain foods to avoid with dentures, there are still plenty of options available. It may take a little extra work, especially in the beginning, but over time, you will learn what are the best foods to eat with dentures.