5 Tips for Eating Soft Gluten Free and Vegan Foods After Dental Surgery

Since summer is one of the peak seasons for wisdom teeth removal and other dental surgeries, I thought now would be the perfect time to reflect on the lessons I learned about the best soft foods to eat when I had my wisdom teeth removed, followed by two gum graft surgeries years later.

In particular, I'm sharing five key takeaways that you can use to make your soft foods diet easier to prepare and more enjoyable to eat! These tips include specific soft gluten free and vegan foods you can eat, as well as kitchen appliances that are helpful to have on-hand. If my wisdom teeth removal and gum graft surgeries have taught me anything, it's the importance of preparation, so I hope this post gives you some guidance on how to prepare for your soft foods diet!

*As always, keep in mind that I am NOT a medical professional and am not qualified to give specific medical advice. ALWAYS consult with your individual doctor or treatment team to ensure that you are eating foods that they deem safe after your dental surgery.

Gluten Free and Vegan Soft Foods For Dental Surgery, Tip 1: blenders and food processors are your friends.

Many people have heard that soft foods like ice cream and mashed potatoes are king when it comes to eating after dental surgery, and those are two great options! In my personal experience, though, I found that using my blender and food processor regularly helped me:

• Increase the variety of soft foods that I was able to eat after my gum graft surgery.
• Chew less, recover more quickly and eat with less pain

So instead of just mashing a baked potato, for instance, I would make "whipped" potatoes using extra plant-based milk in my food processor. I also loved steaming and then pureeing vegetables like zucchini and broccoli - and I even threw cooked gluten free pasta in my food processor to make the noodles even easier to eat!

Gluten Free and Vegan Soft Foods For Dental Surgery, Tip 2: Make sure you have a balance of sweet and savory options.

I mentioned ice cream earlier...and that can definitely be part of a soft foods diet (as long as you don't have any problematic toppings or mix-ins). But even though I have a HUGE sweet tooth, ice cream, applesauce and other sweet, soft foods got old pretty fast.

As a result, I recommend preparing a mix of sweet AND savory options for you to choose from post-dental-procedure, such as:

• Hummus, soup, pureed vegetables and potatoes, over-cooked pasta, soft bread soaked in water or milk, etc
• Applesauce, porridge/oatmeal, pancakes, homemade protein mug cakes, smoothies, etc

Gluten Free and Vegan Soft Foods For Dental Surgery, Tip 3: Seasoning can help reduce the repetition and blandness of your diet.

Depending on how long your soft foods diet lasts, monotony can be a big challenge. Besides having varied food options on-hand, I've found that spices and seasoning can make eating gluten free and vegan soft foods a lot easier.

It's important to note that many procedures require patients to avoid spicy and acidic foods for a period of time afterward. However, if your doctor gives you the OK to use other seasonings, I especially loved:

• Curry powder (a TINY amount!) mixed with pureed potatoes
• Cinnamon in porridge or applesauce
• Oregano and thyme in homemade hummus

Gluten Free and Vegan Soft Foods For Dental Surgery, Tip 4: Don't forget about protein and calories.

When you can't eat your normal diet, it can be more challenging to get all the protein and calories you need. Personally, I got far too little of both after my first gum graft surgery and ended up losing an unhealthy amount of weight.

During my second gum graft surgery, I made sure to include more protein and calories overall through soft foods like:

• Nut butters
• Protein shakes (I love Koia and OWYN)
• Banana “ice cream” made with protein powder 
• Mug cakes with protein powder
• Legume-based pasta
• Thick black bean soup (mainly just canned back beans blended with spices and a little water) 
• Homemade and store-bought hummus
• Smoothies made with chia seed powder and hemp seeds 

Gluten Free and Vegan Soft Foods For Dental Surgery, Tip 5: You can be as healthy...or "unhealthy"...as you want during your recovery.

Related to the last point, you can also make a soft foods diet as healthy (or "unhealthy") as you want. You can focus on continuing to get plenty of fruits and vegetables through purees and smoothies - or even enjoy some "lighter" ice cream options like Halo Top and Arctic Zero. Or you can eat a soft foods diet that consists mainly of traditional ice cream.

Based on my personal experience, I find that a mix of "healthy" and "unhealthy" foods is key. It helped me feel a bit less restricted, even though I couldn't eat MANY of my favorite foods (like granola and chips). And it helped me take in enough calories to keep up with my busy daily schedule...minus real chewing.

Gluten Free and Vegan Soft Foods For Dental Surgery

I definitely know that undergoing any form of dental surgery and avoiding crunchy or chewy foods for weeks at a time is not easy...but preparing ahead of time and going in with an idea of what you CAN eat makes everything a lot easier!

For even more ideas for gluten free and vegan soft foods to eat after dental surgery, check out my two previous posts here and here.

And let me know in the comments if you have any other suggestions that could help people eating a soft foods diet!