Proper Denture Care and Your Health

Proper denture care is crucial to maintaining good fit and function and ensuring your oral and overall health. There are many reasons to invest time in taking good care of your dentures, including:

• Preventing infections or bad breath due to bacterial growth
• Prolonging the life of your dentures
• Preventing irritation and sore spots on the gums
• Maintaining proper denture fit
• Improving appearance

Denture Care and Hygiene

Taking care of your dentures properly depends on the type of denture and what products should be used to care for them.

Removable Dentures

These traditional dentures need cleaning at least once daily to remove bacteria, plaque, and food particles. Use a soft-bristled brush and a denture cleaner, brushing all surfaces and rinsing with cool water. Try to rinse your dentures after every meal to prevent debris from becoming stuck between the teeth.

When you remove your dentures for cleaning, remember to clean your gums and tongue. Use either a gauze pad or your toothbrush to gently clean your tongue, cheeks, and the roof of the mouth where bacteria can linger.

At night, make sure you soak your dentures in a denture cleaning solution or clear, cool water. This keeps them moist and prevents warping or cracking. Never use hot water, as this can damage them.

Visit our office regularly to have your dentures checked for any damage. Any time your dentures become loose or uncomfortable, have them professionally relined or repaired to avoid damage to the oral tissues and ensure a proper fit.

Removable Implant Dentures

Removable implant dentures combine the stability of dental implants and the convenience of removable dentures. Proper care involves removing the dentures at least once daily and cleaning the attachments or abutments that hold the denture in place. You should not sleep with removable dentures in place.

Clean the dentures after breakfast and before bed using a soft-bristled toothbrush. As with traditional dentures, you should soak your removable implant dentures in cool water or a cleaning solution when sleeping.

It is crucial to keep the abutments or attachment clips in the mouth clean to prevent infection and gum disease. Clean all sides of the abutments and the surrounding gums with a soft brush or moistened gauze pad. Floss carefully around the abutments every day.

Permanent Implant Dentures

Caring for permanent implant dentures is a bit different. You care for these dentures, which are permanently attached, much like you care for your natural teeth. Brush them twice daily with a soft-bristle toothbrush and floss in and around the replacement teeth.

For flossing, be sure to use a special dental floss designed for use on implant dentures. The floss, sometimes called bridge floss, is stiffer than traditional floss so that you can easily slide it beneath the denture to clear away debris and bacteria between the gums and the denture.

Helpful Tips

• Talk to your dentist about the best cleanser or toothpaste to care for your dentures.
• Ask us about the best type of dental floss for your style of dentures.
• Consider investing in a water flosser, which can make caring for your dentures and gums easier and more effective.
• Always clean your dentures after the last food you eat at the end of the day to avoid bacteria proliferation while you sleep.

How the Denture Center Can Help You Care for Your Dentures

Even with the best of care, dentures eventually wear down, slowly collapsing the bite, causing you to look older. Also, they may become damaged due to mishandling, dropping, or an accident. Over time, they may loosen or warp. The Denture Center offers complete maintenance and repair services to help you keep your dentures strong, attractive, and secure for as long as possible.

Denture Exams

Your gums change over time, which affects the fit of your dentures. A denture exam can indicate when your dentures need to be relined or adjusted for proper fit and function. We recommend having a denture exam/oral exam at our office at least once a year at which time we perform the oral cancer screening as well.

Denture Repairs and Relines

Dentures usually need to be relined every two years. Our in-office denture lab can reline your dentures for optimal fit to help prevent slipping or shifting. If your dentures are cracked or chipped, or if you need a denture tooth added or replaced, we can repair them While-U-Wait. Having our own laboratory allows us to offer same-day repairs and same-day relines to our patients.

Denture Replacements

If your dentures are damaged beyond repair or are worn down, our in-house laboratory means we have the ability to create a new set of custom dentures in a single day. This gives you the opportunity to see how your new teeth look in wax in your mouth during that process before the final insertion at the end of the day.