Nobody warns you about week six.

The first few days after All-on-4 surgery, you are not thinking about food. By week six you are healing well, you feel completely normal, and you are still on soft food with three more months to go. That is the part people find hard, and it is a planning problem more than a clinical one.

So here is an actual food guide: what to eat at each stage, real meals rather than lists of textures, and how to avoid losing weight or getting bored into a bad decision.

Why the restriction lasts so long

Worth understanding, because it is what makes it bearable.

The implants feel solid immediately. They are not. For the first months they are held by friction and early bone growth while the bone fuses around them, and that fusion is interrupted by movement far too small for you to feel.

Biting into something hard does not hurt. It does not feel like anything. That is exactly the problem — you get no warning signal, which is why the rule is a rule rather than a matter of judgement.

Days 1 to 3: liquids

You will not be hungry. Aim for fluids and calories rather than meals.

Good: smooth soups at lukewarm temperature, broth, yoghurt, smoothies, milk, meal-replacement drinks, thin porridge, apple sauce, custard.

Not: anything hot (heat increases bleeding and swelling), anything acidic, alcohol, and no straws — the suction can disturb the healing sites.

Practical: a smoothie with Greek yoghurt, banana, milk and a scoop of protein powder is probably the most useful single thing you can make in the first three days. It goes down easily and carries real nutrition.

Days 4 to 14: purées and very soft

Swelling subsides and appetite returns. Now you can build actual meals.

Breakfast: scrambled eggs, soft porridge, Greek yoghurt with mashed banana, smooth nut butter thinned with milk.

Lunch and dinner: mashed potato with gravy, well-cooked pasta in a smooth sauce, shepherd's pie, macaroni cheese, risotto cooked soft, dhal and lentil soups, blended vegetable soups with cream, soft polenta.

Protein: this is where people start falling behind. Flaked white fish, tinned salmon or tuna mashed with mayonnaise, soft scrambled tofu, cottage cheese, ricotta, refried beans, minced meat cooked long and soft in sauce.

Snacks: yoghurt, smooth hummus, avocado, tinned peaches, jelly, ice cream, milkshakes.

Still lukewarm rather than hot. Still no straws until after the two-week check.

Weeks 2 to 12: soft solids

The long stretch. You feel entirely normal and you are still restricted, which is the real test.

The fork test: if the side of a fork cuts it without pressure, eat it. If you need to saw at it or bite decisively, do not.

Now fine: flaked fish, chicken thigh cooked until it falls apart, slow-cooked stews and curries, meatballs in sauce, lasagne, soft omelettes, well-cooked vegetables, soft cheeses, ripe pear and banana, tinned fruit, bread without crusts, pancakes, soft noodles.

Still off the list, for the whole three months:

• Nuts and seeds — including seeded bread and granola
• Popcorn, crisps, crackers
• Crusty bread, baguettes, pizza crusts, bagels
• Raw carrot, celery, apples, corn on the cob
• Steak, jerky, anything requiring tearing
• Toffee, caramel, chewy sweets, ice cubes

The items that catch people out are granola, seeded bread, and pizza crust — all of which feel innocuous.

Keeping your nutrition up

Two things go wrong over three months of soft food: too little protein, and too many refined carbohydrates because mashed things are mostly starch.

Protein at every meal. Eggs, dairy, fish, pulses, tofu, slow-cooked meat, protein powder in smoothies. Your body is rebuilding bone; this is not the time to be short.

Do not live on mashed potato. Blended vegetable soups, dhal, avocado, ripe fruit, and well-cooked greens keep some variety and fibre in the diet.

Watch your weight. Some loss is common and usually fine. More than a few kilos over the first month is worth mentioning — it generally means the calories are not going in, and meal-replacement drinks are an easy fix.

Keep drinking water. Easy to forget when you are not eating normally.

Shop before surgery

The single most useful piece of preparation. Have in the house before you go in:

• Greek yoghurt, milk, eggs, soft cheese, cottage cheese
• Bananas, avocados, tinned peaches and pears
• Soups — several kinds, or ingredients to blend your own
• Protein powder or meal-replacement drinks
• Oats, mashed potato, pasta, rice
• Tinned fish and beans
• Ice cream, jelly, custard

A blender or stick blender earns its keep. So does cooking a few stews and soups in advance and freezing them in portions.

The first proper meal

After the final bridge is fitted, you can eat normally. People tend to have something specific in mind — an apple, a steak, toast — and that moment is reported back to us more often than almost anything else about the treatment.

Start gently in the first few days as you learn the new bite, then eat what you like.

If you are planning treatment

Knowing what the months look like practically is part of deciding whether now is the right time. Book a consultation and we will go through your timeline — including when the restrictions lift.

Common questions

How long really, before I can eat normally?

Around three months, sometimes longer for an upper jaw. You will feel ready much sooner, which is exactly why the rule exists.

What if I bite something hard by mistake?

Tell us. One incident is usually fine, but we would rather check the implants than assume.

Can I drink coffee?

After the first few days, warm rather than hot. Avoid it while healing is at its earliest and hold off on staining drinks if you have a temporary acrylic bridge.

When can I use a straw?

After two weeks.

Alcohol?

Avoid it for the first week — it interferes with healing and with painkillers. After that, in moderation.

Will I lose weight?

Often a little. If it is more than a few kilos in the first month, add meal-replacement drinks and let us know.

Can I eat with the temporary bridge at all?

Yes — it is designed for soft food. It is deliberately lighter than the final bridge and will not tolerate hard biting.

Is there anything that speeds healing?

Adequate protein, staying hydrated, not smoking, and not chewing too early. There is no supplement that meaningfully outperforms those four.