Check us out on YouTube as we talk teeth #watchyourmouthSpanish
Check us out on YouTube as we talk teeth #watchyourmouthSpanish

What You Can Do to Take Proper Care of Your Dentures

Cleaning dentures with a brush

Whether you have partial or complete dentures, it’s in your best interests to take care of them as well as you can. They can be a considerable investment that you don’t want to have to prematurely replace due to neglect.

While your dentist will provide you with clear care guidelines for your specific dentures, there are some general tips you can follow. If you have any additional questions, it’s always best to reach out to your dentist directly.

The Proper Way to Clean Your Dentures

Just as you need to clean your natural teeth properly, dentures require regular and methodical cleaning to avoid wear, damage, infections, and other issues. There are also some key differences between cleaning natural teeth and dentures.

Luckily, specific denture cleaning solutions can be used for the best possible cleaning. These solutions have been carefully designed to meet the unique cleaning requirements of dentures.

Whatever you do, you shouldn’t be using regular toothpaste to clean your dentures. While they might mimic the look and feel of natural teeth, your dentures aren’t made of the same material. Toothpaste is too abrasive and will cause serious wear over time.

The same goes for your toothbrush. There are special toothbrushes made specifically for dentures. These brushes have softer bristles that avoid scratching the dentures. In most cases, it’s recommended to brush dentures twice a day.

  • Along with brushing, dentures are taken care of best when they’re removed each night for more careful cleaning. Here are some key tips for nightly cleaning.
  • Always set your dentures on a soft towel when you take them out to prevent wear or damage due to contact with hard surfaces.
  • Avoid using hot water at any point, as the heat can damage your dentures and change their carefully fitted shape.
  • Rinse your dentures with warm water before you start dealing with the bulk of the food and other particles that have stuck to them.
  • Make sure to cover every surface by going over the dentures with a soft-bristled brush. Just like natural teeth, dentures have plenty of nooks and crannies.
  • Always leave your dentures in a specific denture solution or at least warm water when they aren’t in your mouth to avoid the damage that drying out can cause.

Cleaning is the most important part of caring for your dentures and should never be neglected. If you’re not cleaning your dentures regularly, you could be causing damage and allowing bacteria to build up in your mouth.

Getting the Most Out of Your Dentures

While specific dentures can vary based on a number of individual factors, most sets will last between seven and ten years. However, you can follow some tips to get the longest possible lifespan out of your dentures.

When possible, you should remove your dentures and rinse them off every time you eat. This will cut back on the number of food particles accumulating over the course of the day and help reduce wear in the long run.

You also should avoid sleeping with your dentures in. Your dentures provide a large surface for bacteria to grow on. If you leave your dentures in, the bacteria will multiply more effectively throughout the night and increase your risk of gum disease.

Wearing your dentures at night can also have a significant impact on bone loss. Over time, this will cause your dentures to not fit properly and reduce your ability to speak and eat naturally. Overall, there are only downsides to wearing dentures at night.

What to Do When Something Is Wrong with Your Dentures

Of course, reaching out to your dentist when something is wrong with your dentures is another big part of taking proper care of them. While it’s recommended that anyone with dentures have regular checkups, you should reach out sooner for some issues.

Slipping is one of the most important issues that you should deal with as soon as possible. It means that your dentures aren’t fitting right anymore, which could be causing additional damage. The same is true if your dentures are making odd noises.

You should also contact your dentist if you develop problems related to your dentures, like bleeding gums or mouth sores. These are clear indicators that something is wrong and needs to be addressed.

For All Your Denture Needs

At the Dental Implant and Aesthetic Specialists of Atlanta, our team provides custom dentures and denture repairs. Led by Dr. Brett Langston, we implement the latest tools and techniques to provide our patients with the very best. Contact us today for any denture services.