MECHANICAL SOFT (DENTAL SOFT) DIET

Description
The diet is a modification of the Regular Diet for the edentulous resident who has difficulty chewing or swallowing, or for the resident who has undergone temporomandibular joint (TMJ) surgery. For the greatest variety of foods, all foods that are easily masticated are included in the diet.

Indications
The Mechanical Soft Diet is indicated for the resident who has difficulty chewing or swallowing.

Nutritional Adequacy
The diet can be planned to meet the Dietary Reference Intakes as outlined in the Statement on Nutritional Adequacy.

How to Order the Diet
Order as “Mechanical Soft Diet” or “Dental Soft Diet.”

“Non-chewing Diet” or “TMJ Diet” needs to be indicated to identify this variation of the Mechanical Soft Diet.

Planning the Diet
The menu selection and the individual resident’s tolerances should be considered when planning a Mechanical Soft Diet.

SAMPLE MENU
Breakfast	Noon	Evening
Orange Juice Cream of Wheat Scrambled Egg Biscuit Margarine Jelly Milk Coffee Sugar Creamer	Honey Glazed Chicken, Chopped Buttered Potatoes Soft Cooked Broccoli Orange Mousse Dinner Roll Margarine Frosted Banana Cake Milk Tea Sugar	Braised Beef (chopped) and Noodles Seasoned Green Beans Peach Slices Dinner Roll Margarine Soft Cookie Iced Tea Sugar

FOOD GUIDE – MECHANICAL SOFT (DENTAL SOFT) DIET
FOOD GROUP	RECOMMENDED	AVOID
Beverages	All	None

Breads and Crackers	Soft breads, rolls	Breads with nuts, thick crusts
	Plain crackers softened in soup or beverage	Dry bread, toast, or tough bread
	Pancakes, plain muffins	Breads with raisins if not tolerated
	Biscuits	Hard crackers

Cereals and Grains	Cooked cereals	Cereals with raisins or nuts
	Dry cereals Pasta, noodles, rice Moist bread dressing	Granola-type cereals Coarse or dry cereals, such as shredded wheat or All Bran

Vegetables and Potatoes	Tender soft-cooked vegetables	Raw or cooked vegetables with
	Vegetable juices	tough skins or seeds; fried or raw
		vegetables; cooked corn

Fruits and Juices	Fruit juices	Fruit with tough skin if not tolerated
	Ripe banana, melon, peeled peaches, pears,	(e.g., raw apple, dried fruit)
	strawberries
	Cooked or frozen fruit; applesauce
	Citrus sections
	Stewed prunes; other tender stewed dried fruit
	Canned peaches, pears, apricots, pineapple,
	fruit cocktail

Meat, Meat Substitutes,	Tender meat, fish, or poultry	Tough fibrous meats (e.g., sausage casings)
Entrees	Soft cheese
	Chopped or ground meats, poultry	Fried eggs
	Soft casseroles	Yogurt with nuts or coconut
	Meat, fish, or egg salads
	Hard cooked or scrambled eggs
	Smooth peanut butter; liverwurst
	Yogurt without nuts or coconut

Fats	All except those to avoid	Fats with coarse, difficult-to-chew, or chunky additives

Soups	Most soups	Soups with tough meats or vegetables

Desserts	Cake, tender cookies	Desserts containing nuts, coarse
	Ice cream, sherbet, gelatin, custard, pudding, frozen yogurt	dried fruit, or tough fruit Deserts baked to a hard consistency
	Pie: cream, custard, pumpkin, soft fruit
	Flavored yogurt

Sugar and Sweets	Soft candy	Candy containing tough fruits or
	Jelly, smooth jams	nuts, hard candy
Diet following temporomandibular joint surgery: Foods such as breads, crackers, and cookies should be broken into small pieces before eating to avoid biting down or widely opening the mouth. Foods that may not be tolerated include: toast, unground meat, snack chips, foods containing coconut, and corn.