List of Soft Foods to Eat After a Tooth Extraction

After a tooth extraction, you will have to stick to a diet of liquids and soft foods for the next day or two, leaving alone spicy foods, hot foods and carbonated drinks to avoid irritation and further pain. Fortunately, you have plenty of food options open to you after a tooth extraction, and you need not starve.

Meat, Seafood, and Meat Alternatives

You have plenty of protein options open to you after a tooth extraction. Tofu, cooked in any way, is a soft food that you can eat with little difficulty. Likewise, many kinds of white fish, as well as fish soups, fish loaves and fish sticks, are relatively easy to chew. Certain kinds of meat will be possible to eat. Meatballs are relatively soft and can be cut into small pieces, as can chicken nuggets and meatloaf.

Dairy

After your tooth extraction, you will be able to eat most kinds of cheese, especially the soft ones such as blue cheese and brie. Yogurt, milkshakes and yogurt-based drinks such as kefir, will be relatively simple. Yogurt in a tube makes for a good snack and can be frozen, providing the additional benefit of numbing any pain in your gums. Ice cream, too, is easy to eat and numbs your mouth.

Breads and Grains

Soft breads without chunks of grains or seeds are your best bet after a tooth extraction. If necessary, remove the crusts and tear your bread into small pieces. Pancakes, soft muffins and tortillas are easiest. Numerous grains, for their small size and relative softness, are a good source of nutrition after a tooth extraction. They include rice, pasta, kasha, grits, risotto and polenta. A meal of pasta with pasta sauce on top will be relatively easy to eat and will provide you with vitamin C, lycopene, some fiber and carbohydrates.

Vegetables and Fruits

Vegetables and fruits, perhaps, for their relative resilience, may be the most difficult foods to eat after a tooth extraction. However, you can steam vegetables until they are soft and cut them into little pieces. This approach works for most kinds of vegetables, especially carrots and other root vegetables. You can mash potatoes; eat avocados, which are soft anyway; and eat hummus on small pieces of bread. For fruit, applesauce or mashed bananas are your best bet; fruit juice is a quick source of energy, but lacks the fiber that makes fruits so important. Because it will be more difficult to eat fruit after a tooth extraction, consider supplementing your diet with extra vitamin C.