How Food Can Help or Hurt Your Dental Implants

Before you got your dental implants, you might remember being told you could eat “whatever you want” with these replacements. After all, they are embedded in the jawbone and are supposed to give you about 75 percent of your original biting strength back! However, while your implants are strong enough to handle most foods, it doesn’t mean you should go crazy without restraint.

If you aren’t careful with your diet, your teeth can start feel as though they are coming loose. You could experience implant failure and need salvage with an oral surgeon. Believe it or not, the foods you eat could have contributed to your current situation. Read on to learn how your diet can affect how long your implants last.

Foods That Could Cut Your Implants’ Lifespan Short

Although your implants cannot become decayed like real enamel, your gums and bone tissue can still get infected from harmful oral bacteria. These bacteria love sugar and carbohydrates, creating an acidic solution that inflames the gums and eventually deteriorates the jawbone. Without intervention, the infection can lead to loose implants and failure.

As a result, you should limit the following in your daily diet:

·       Candy

·       Sugary baked goods, such as cookies, brownies, and more

·       Chips and crackers

·       Food products with processed sugar or flour

·       Soda

·       Juice, tea, or coffee with added sugars

·       Sports drinks

Foods That Help Preserve Your Implants

Not all food is dangerous for your implants. In fact, there are many that actually help you hold onto your replacement teeth.

These implant-friendly foods include those that provide your bones with calcium, like milk, almonds, and cheese. Vitamin C is another important nutrient for fighting infections, and many fruits and vegetables have it!

Leafy greens not only contain necessary vitamins and minerals, but they also make your mouth salivate, which helps rinse away bits of food. Apples, watermelon, pears, cucumbers, and carrots are all fibrous, meaning they actually scrub your teeth as you chew them.

Of course, if you want to have a healthy mouth for your implants, you need to drink plenty of water. Water not only helps you stay hydrated; it also washes away bacteria and food debris from your mouth.

Making Your Implants Last

In addition to having a healthy diet of nutritious vegetables, fruits, and grains, you must take care of implants just as you would normal teeth. In fact, your replacement teeth need to be brushed and flossed every day to keep oral bacteria from accumulating at the gumline.

Also, you should see your dentist at least every six months for checkups and cleanings. These routine appointments are important because your dentist could identify a potential problem early on and help prevent dental implant failure. Although it’s possible to save failed implants or try again after failure with an oral surgeon, it’s much simpler, less expensive, and more comfortable to prevent failure from happening in the first place.

In the end, you may still be able to eat “whatever you want” with dental implants. It just takes some moderation, discipline, and smart choices. When you have a balanced diet, you can make sure your mouth is healthy and keep your implants for many years ahead!