If you plan to get dentures, you may be wondering how they will affect what you can eat. Initially, you'll probably need to restrict your diet because your mouth needs time to adjust to wearing the dentures. When you get used to having them in your mouth and you're familiar with chewing and eating with them in, you'll be able to broaden your diet. Still, these are a few things you'll want to limit or avoid.

Foods And Drinks That Dry Your Mouth

Your dentures can be uncomfortable if you don't have enough saliva in your mouth. You may want to limit foods that cause you to have a dry mouth if you are bothered by this condition. That would include beverages with caffeine and alcoholic drinks. If your mouth is dry, the situation is often made worse by eating salty crackers or other dry foods.

Hard Crunchy Foods

Nuts and seeds will be difficult for you to eat at first, and you may want to avoid them as much as possible even when you're used to wearing dentures. It takes a lot of force to grind up hard nuts, and that can cause your dentures to come loose since all the force is usually on one side. Softer nuts, such as walnuts, may be easier to chew. Other hard foods you should avoid crunching on include ice chips and hard candy.

These may actually crack a tooth in your dentures, so you want to eat them carefully. Also, you might even need to avoid biting into and crunching on hard raw vegetables if they cause your teeth to dislodge when you try to eat them. You can include them in smoothies or chop them into small pieces so you don't have to avoid them completely.

Tough And Sticky Foods

You may find it difficult to chew on meat when you have dentures, especially chewy meat such as a steak. If you can't give up steaks, be sure to cut the meat into small pieces so your dentures can grind it without dislodging. Sticky foods will give you problems too. This includes things such as taffy and other sticky candy and even chewing gum. If you love to chew gum, look for the kind that's sugarless and made for denture wearers so it doesn't stick to your teeth.

After the initial phase of getting used to wearing your dentures, you should be able to eat without having sore spots or discomfort. If you have ongoing difficulty with eating because your teeth always come loose or your gums get sore, be sure to let your dentist know. He or she can adjust the plates for a better fit so you can eat without irritation and frustration. Your local dentistry clinic can help.