If you have ever had a tooth extracted, or are in need of one, you may have heard of what NOT to do after the extraction. Things like: No smoking, spitting, or sucking through straws to prevent dry sockets. Avoiding small, grainy, or crunchy foods that can get stuck in the holes where the teeth were that inhibit healing. All of these precautions are taken to help the extraction site heal up quickly and cleanly.

So you know what not to do in order to promote healing, now what about this pineapple?

Post-extraction, eating some pineapple is good for a few reasons: It’s not grainy, so it theoretically would be harder to get stuck in the extraction sites. It’s easy to chew, so disturbing the extraction socket may not occur as easily. It’s delicious, that’s my favorite part.

More importantly raw Pineapple has high levels of Bromelain and Vitamin C–Both of which are important for healing¹.

Bromelain: This is a proteolytic enzyme that has anti-inflammatory properties needed for healing wounds. This enzyme has been found to help with post-operative swelling in humans².

Vitamin-C: This vitamin helps with the synthesis of collagen which is a critical part of the wound healing process and can also help decrease bruising and swelling³.

Summary: Pineapple fits the bill perfectly for food to eat after extraction of a tooth. It’s soft, easy to eat, lower chance of getting stuck in extraction socket, and as noted–has great stuff inside of it for healing. Now the pineapple won’t naturally cure every discomfort post-extraction, but it’s certainly something you can munch on.

The Author of this post does not assume any liability for any injury and/or damage to persons or property as a matter of products liability, malpractice, negligence, or otherwise, or from any use or operation of any methods, instructions or ideas contained. The foregoing parties will not be liable for any direct, special, indirect, incidental, consequential, or punitive damages as a result of the reader’s use of this information.

1. Brown, S. A., Coimbra, M., Coberly, D. M., Chao, J. J., & Rohrich, R. J. (2004). Oral nutritional supplementation accelerates skin wound healing: a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-arm, crossover study. Plastic and reconstructive surgery, 114(1), 237–244. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.prs.0000128818.28425.52
2. Williams, J. Z., and Barbul, A. Nutrition and wound healing. Surg. Clin. North Am. 83: 571, 2003.
3. Jacob, R. A., and Sotoudeh, G. Vitamin C function and status in chronic disease. Nutr. Clin. Care 5: 66, 2002.