Satisfying & healthy soft foods for those with dental problems?
Help! Last night I underwent crown lengthening surgery. Basically my dentist carved away some jaw bone around one of my molars. Unfortunately, this means I can only eat soft foods for 7 days. This has proven much more difficult than expected! What are some reliably satisfying, tasty, relatively healthy "soft foods?" I can't look at another bowl of soup, yogurt or mashed potatoes.
Add a comment:
Previewing your comment:
HTML Hints
Some HTML is OK: <a href="URL">link</a>, <strong>strong</strong>, <em>em</em>
Comment Guidelines
Post whatever you want, just keep it seriously about eats, seriously. We reserve the right to delete off-topic or inflammatory comments. Learn more at our Comment Policy page.
If you see something not so nice, please, report an inappropriate comment.
Start Talking!
Need a question answered? Have advice to share? Start a Talk topic now!
Sign up to get your questions answered and share advice.
16 Comments:
Smoothies with fruit, yogurt and a shot of protein powder - you can also add spinch in with the fruit, you can't taste it and you get more vitamins. The green color is a little strange though, haha!
Milk shakes
Ripe avocados
Very ripe papayas can be soft
Scrambled eggs perhaps
Hummus or Peanut Butter - skip the pita and bread
Risotto maybe?
My husband had his jaw wired shut for 6 weeks, couldn't open his mouth at all, so I am sympathetic to your problem. Wish you speedy healing!
erinlovestoeat at 4:20PM on 09/06/07
Thanks so much Erin! I had a very ripe papaya for breakfast (drizzled with fresh lime juice), and it was yummy -- but borderline challenging for my sore jaw.
Risotto is a good call. I know what I'm having for dinner!
AndreSala at 4:30PM on 09/06/07
My mother in law has a disease called myastenia gravis, which has inhibited her ability to swallow. She purees everything in the food processor, including chicken. You can make all forms of pesto, and mix it in things. Puree cooked salmon, and make a salmon salad with some herbs, or veggies thrown in. Oatmeal with whatever you like can be healthy and taste good. It'll take some experimenting, but you can do it! Good luck
Mich23 at 4:36PM on 09/06/07
If you are into cooking, souffles would be a good special treat - both sweet and savory - cheese, spinach, chocolate, coffee, etc.
Other vegetables are excellent mashed - squash, carrots, parsnips. chestnuts. etc. Stewed tomatoes can be served with all types of flavorings - basil, southwestren chili, Provencal, etc.
If you can chew lightly floured and fried food, you can then add croquettes (with the chicken pureed rather than ground).
CapeCodBob at 5:21PM on 09/06/07
roast a butternut squash
nelson5757 at 5:46PM on 09/06/07
Some ideas:
loose polenta with smooth tomato sauce
grits with smoked gouda
paté
salmon mousse
rice porridge (congee or okayu)
change up your mashed potatoes for sweet potatoes
savory or sweet bread puddings
quiche
Hope these are helpful...get well soon!
Dominic
the zen kitchen
dvchurch at 7:14PM on 09/06/07
What about pudding or cream of wheat? The latter is less chunky than oatmeal, and pudding could satisfy a sweet tooth with very little chewing or movement required. I'm trying to think back to when I had my wisdom teeth out...
kmnola at 10:11PM on 09/06/07
Just a few more...yogurt is a good source of protein, calcium, sugar - depending on what kind you get and I do think sugar, in VERY small amounts, can be beneficial especially for healing, plus fat. This is the same combination that studies have shown allows endurance athletes to recover faster after a workout. And yogurt has beneficial gut bacteria, which will be important because - how to put it delicately - your digestion is going to be f***ed up for a bit because you are only eating soft foods.
Low fat chocolate milk - same reasons as above
Tapioca pudding
Ensure shakes
Baby food - sounds weird, but have you tried baby food bananas or pears? Yummy!
Again, best wishes for a speedy recovery.
erinlovestoeat at 11:26PM on 09/06/07
flan, rice pudding, pastina (with cheese and butter)
JerzeeTomato at 4:12AM on 09/07/07
my husband has had to have all but 6 teeth removed, all on the bottom. Ive been making things like homemade soups and stews with all the ingredients put through the food processor. but he's found that a quiche with the ingredients whizzed to subatomic particles, works well for him. Good luck! the most important thing, i think, is to make sure you get PLENTY of fluids. a good whey protein powder shake makes a satisfying meal. and lots of flavors to choose from too.
huney_bumper at 9:03AM on 09/07/07
Hey Andre. I had a load of dental surgery this year and can definitely empathize with you. Since mine was in the front, I couldn't use a straw. Everything was spooned. I survived on fat-free yogurt from Cascade Fresh (indeed the best I've tasted--sorry you're sick of it already), scrambled eggs, really wet oatmeal, very mashed up tuna and other fish, mashed bananas and peaches, mashed lentils, and whatever veggies I could soften and mash.
My sympathies. And best pain reliever: ice. I held ice water in my mouth as long as I could stand it, and it really brought the swelling down. Also, took more vitamin C than usual. Good luck and swift recovery.
hereandthe at 9:28AM on 09/07/07
Awww, thanks so much! Great suggestions.
AndreSala at 9:42AM on 09/07/07
You can't go wrong with the fruit smoothie idea! Also any pureed vegetables can probably be made into a good soup. Have a speedy recovery!
Chew on That at 11:27AM on 09/07/07
I hope you feel better soon! When my hubsand had his wisdom teeth taken out, I kept him healthy and fed with rice porridge, rice pudding, really overcooked noodles in broth, vitamin water, fresh blended smoothies, chocolate pudding ..
mrsbao at 4:47PM on 09/07/07
When I had a double dose of root canal and wasn't allowed to chew for 2 days, I had mashed potatoes, pureed cauliflower, scrambled eggs. And my real find: Crab cakes. (Whole Foods makes great ones.)
My sympathies.
Dee at 5:05PM on 09/07/07
Feel better soon! You might try the Ruth Reichl watercress puree recipe just posted- it seems so fortuitous!
Christina at 12:30AM on 09/08/07