How To Live Your Best Life With Dentures

If you’ve lived with several missing teeth or were completely edentulous (toothless) for a time, dentures will be a revelation. Dentures will give you a new lease on life, as long as you care for your dentures — and your mouth — properly. Here are some key guidelines to follow.

Don’t wear your dentures to bed

Your mouth, gums and dentures alike all need a break overnight. Wearing your dentures as you sleep will increase the risk of developing denture plaque, inflamed gums, thrush, oral yeast infections, denture stomatitis and angular cheilitis. You should remove your dentures in Red Deer for six to eight hours every night and keep them wet while out of your mouth. Your dentist in Red Deer will provide you detailed instructions about cleaning, soaking and disinfecting your dentures when you take them out at the end of the day and overnight.

Be careful not to damage your dentures

Sturdy and durable as your dentures are, they are vulnerable to damage if treated roughly or carelessly. When you are cleaning them with wet hands, be sure to do so over a towel or basin of water in case they slip out of your hand. When cleaning them, use only specialized cleaners intended for dentures near you and nothing too harsh abrasive. Does it go without saying that you should keep them away from young children and pets? Ok. We won’t say it, then.

Clean your dentures every day

You won’t need to brush your dentures as often as one brushes one’s teeth, but you do need to clean your dentures daily. Plaque, tartar, stains and even odours will accumulate on dentures if they’re not cleaned thoroughly. The accumulation of plaque, tartar, stains and odours will cause your dentures to look a lot less like healthy and clean natural teeth and a lot more like dirty dentures.

To clean your dentures, use a soft-bristled toothbrush (that you reserve just for cleaning your dentures) or a specially designed denture brush. You can clean your dentures with specialized products you can buy at drugstores in Red Deer or mild and unscented hand soap, dishwashing soap, toothpaste and dental paste.

You may have fewer natural teeth, but still…

Even if you have no natural teeth left (because you wear full sets of dentures), you still have gums that are vulnerable to gum disease that can affect your oral and general health (not to mention your ability to wear dentures and how the dentures fit). Care for your gums by rinsing your mouth thoroughly and massaging your gums gently with a soft toothbrush every time you take out your dentures. If you still have some natural teeth, brush those teeth at least twice a day and floss them daily in addition to caring for your gums.

Yes, you should still see your dentist regularly

Every dentist near you is interested in and committed to the health of much more than just your teeth. Even with dentures, you should see your dentist at least annually. Your dentist will monitor the health of your gums, the fit of your dentures, the health of any remaining natural teeth and screen you for health conditions such as oral cancer.

If you experience changes in the way your dentures feel and fit between those appointments, let your dentist know right away. Over time, the way your dentures fit and feel will change due to the predictable and natural changes to the shape and size of your gums and the bones in your jaw. Wearing dentures that no longer fit properly will cause sores on your gums, pain, abdominal gas and gum disease. They’ll also gradually become looser and less secure and reliable when you eat, speak and laugh.

Changes to the fit of your dentures can be addressed by adjusting or relining those dentures until, as will occur every seven to 10 years or so, they need to be replaced.

Wherever you are in your dentures journey, contact a dentist in Red Deer to get answers to all your questions and to get the benefit of the dentist’s experience and expertise.

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