Eating is challenging when you’re missing teeth, especially in the summer. Despite the seasonal foods available for vacations and holidays, your diet is limited by a broken smile. Even with dentures or bridges, you’re better off with meals that are easy to chew and swallow. However, dental implants in San Diego could solve this problem. By restoring more of your bite force, they’d allow you to eat many of your favorites again. To prove it, here’s a summary of three summer foods you can enjoy with dental implants.
Crunchy Fruits & Veggies
When cooling off from fun in the sun, many like to have crunchy fruits and vegetables. Carrots, celery, apples — such things can be oddly satisfying after working up a sweat. Thankfully, implants could put them “back on the menu,” so to speak.
As an added benefit, these items are also good for oral health. For one thing, they act as natural toothbrushes that scrub your smile of leftover food. Plus, they stimulate saliva flow and thus reduce the growth of harmful mouth bacteria.
Corn on the Cob
Unlike dentures or bridges, implants would let you reliably eat corn on the cob. However, you’d still need to be careful with the dish.
You see, kernels can often get stuck in between your implant and your gums. Left to themselves, these food bits could cause bad breath, bacterial growth, and infection. That said, you might want to cut the corn off of the cob first to make it easier to consume.
Steaks & BBQ
Yes, you can chew summertime burgers, hot dogs, steaks, and other barbeque items with implants. What used to be a difficult, sometimes uncomfortable experience will feel natural once more!
Still, try to eat softer meats while you’re getting used to chewing with your new smile. After all, better to be safe than sorry. For example, cook your steaks and other meat dishes to around medium-rare to keep them from getting too tough.
Dental implants give you more freedom to eat summery foods as you please. If you take good care of them, they can also last for many of your future summers. Therefore, feel free to talk to your dentist to see if implant treatment is right for you!
About the Author
Dr. Peter F. Johnson is a prosthodontist based in La Mesa, CA, having received his DDM from the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Dental Medicine. As part of his post-graduate training, he also earned a Prosthodontic Certificate from the University of Southern California’s School of Dentistry. He later served as a president of the American College of Prosthodontists. Dr. Johnson currently practices at San Diego Denture & Implant Specialists and is reachable at his website or by phone at (619)-463-3737.
