Can I Eat Anything with Dental Implants?

According to the American Academy of Implant Dentistry (AAID), dentists treat more than a million people using dental implants annually (that’s about 2.5 million dental implants being placed every year). 

At Pioneer Dental Group, our esteemed dental implant specialist, Dr. Behzad Binafard, and talented team have more than two decades of experience customizing dental implants for the individual in our Norwalk, California, office. 

We often explain to our patients that dental implants are the next best thing to your own natural teeth. They allow you to eat normally again. To understand exactly what you can eat and how dental implants can offer this freedom, we need to delve into how dental implants work.

How dental implants help you chew and eat

With dental implants, you get new “tooth roots”: ultra-strong metal anchors that Dr. Binafard places within your jawbone. Over the next few months, the metal implant fuses with the bone in your jaw, a process called osseointegration. Essentially, the implant and your bone become a solid unit, which prevents the implant from shifting. 

Then, we attach a custom restoration (a crown or bridge) to the top of your implant. At Pioneer Dental Group, we make restorations here in our on-site dental lab. 

We use top-tier materials to make your restoration, including porcelain and ceramic. Our comprehensive quality control process ensures that every restoration we create is strong, durable, and perfectly matches your mouth impressions. 

Your dental implants and restorations are virtually as strong as your own teeth. In fact, studies show that the bite force of natural teeth is about 25 MPa, while the bite force of dental implants with prosthetic teeth is about 21 MPa. So, dental implants with crowns or bridges are more than 80% as strong as natural teeth.   

With such a strong new tooth “roots”, your replacement tooth is secure, and that offers some big benefits when it comes to eating. 

Foods you can eat with dental implants 

What are the foods you can eat with dental implants? Whatever you want, within reason. After you’ve healed from your dental implant procedure and we attach your new restoration, you can generally reclaim the same eating habits you had when you still had healthy teeth. 

Chewy, crunchy, soft, and hard foods are all fine to eat. If you could eat and enjoy it before you lost your teeth, you can eat and enjoy it now that you have dental implants in their place. 

But, what’s not okay to eat is things that aren’t food. For instance, chewing on ice is never wise, whether you have natural teeth or implants. Of course, we also recommend against chewing on pencils, opening bags with your teeth, or using your teeth in any way they’re not designed for. 

Your dental implants will last a lifetime with good care. We may need to swap out your crown or bridge every decade or so, but they may last longer, too. 

We check on your dental implants at each of your regular checkups, and we strongly recommend continuing twice-annual teeth cleaning too. This routine can help you keep your beautiful smile while eating the foods you enjoy. 

So, with dental implants you can eat not just anything but virtually everything. That’s one of the reasons why they’re the undisputed favorites for long-term tooth replacement today. 

Ready to learn more about dental implants? Phone our office at 562-684-6179 or connect with us online now.