Denture Care
Your Dentures require regular cleaning and maintenance. This will prolong the life of the denture and how if functions. When not in your mouth, dentures should be kept in a container of room temperature water to keep them moist – otherwise they can dry out and become brittle. Remember to also brush your gums, tongue and palate with a soft-bristled regular toothbrush to remove plaque and stimulate the nerves and promote blood circulation. Here are some additional tips:
Cleaning
- To remove food debris and bacterial plaque from your denture, brush thoroughly with a stiff denture brush. Use either liquid soap and cold water, or a commercially available denture cleaning agent. Wash your denture over a sink of water or a cloth. If they are dropped on a hard surface, the acrylic portion may fracture and any metal may bend.
- Take the dentures out for the night. This will allow the gums to rest, and promote blood flow. If this causes the jaw joints to hurt replace the dentures and use your best judgment for a comfortable night sleep.
- Never use toothpaste, baking soda or bleach to clean your dentures. Dish soap, hand soap or denture cream is the best cleaner to use on your dentures. Brush your dentures at least twice a day.
Renew (Denture Cleaner)
- Brush your dentures before using the cleaner.
- Use one tsp in your denture bath for each cleaning and just enough hot water to cover your dentures.
- Leave your dentures to soak for no more than 20 minutes.
- Rinse under water after each soaking.
- Use RENEW two to three times a week or as needed.
Recall
- Post delivery follow-up usually requires one visit. More are available as needed. After the first year, annual recall visits are useful to monitor changes in the shape of the ridges, wear of the teeth and general oral health.
- If there are problems with pain, chewing, or with wear or breakage of the base or teeth, please make an appointment with the office at your earliest opportunity.
Getting Used to your New Dentures
Wearing new dentures requires some time and patience. With new dentures there is an adjustment period where your usual mouth functions may need to be relearned. Here are some tips you can follow to get back to a healthy and happy lifestyle.
Discomfort
- You should wear the dentures overnight for the first few days, by doing this your gums will have some time to get used to them. After that, it's best to keep them out for the night, that way your gums can breathe and relax, and are not under constant pressure from the dentures. When you're not wearing your dentures, to avoid them from warping or getting brittle, store them in room temperature water at all times.
- It is common to get sore spots from a new denture, if these spots are so uncomfortable that you can't wear them, remove them and massage the painful area with your finger. A teaspoon of salt and a cup of warm water may help relieve pain. Let the gums rest and then replace the denture. Try to persist for three hours or so before your next appointment. This will help us to locate sore spots. If you fail to wear the denture, no sore will be visible and precise adjustments will be very difficult.
- The lower denture always feels much looser than the upper. Try to hold it down when you eat by spreading your tongue out at the back.
Chewing
- Avoid pain by starting with easy but nutritious food to eat (eggs, fish, cooked potatoes, soft bread, oranges, apple sauce, cottage cheese, etc).
- Try not to bite with the front teeth as this may cause the back end of the denture to move off the gums. Biting with the side teeth will give better stability.
- Try to chew with food on both sides of your mouth at the same time. If food is bilaterally placed, the denture will be less likely to tip.
- Holding the top denture up with the tongue while chewing requires talent but this habit can be very useful.
- When eating take small mouthfuls of food at first and cut the food into small pieces so that you don’t bite with your front teeth. Wait until you are used to your dentures to use the front teeth.
Saliva
- With the stimulus of new dentures your mouth may have more or less saliva for a few days. Be patient and the flow will return to normal.
Speech
- If speech does not sound right to you don’t worry about it, give it some time and normal body adaptation will resolve your concerns. This will correct itself within several weeks. Practice reading aloud. Do not focus undue attention on the process.
