Denture Care Guide: Tips to Take Better Care of Your Dentures

Dentures, whether they are partial or full, need to be cleaned and maintained on a routine basis in order to prevent the buildup of germs and stains. With the right maintenance, your natural teeth and your dentures can remain in healthy condition. These useful pointers will walk you through the proper procedures for cleaning, handling, and storing your dentures. 

How to Take Care of Your Dentures 

After consuming food be sure to remove and rinse dentures. If you are unable to clean your dentures after each meal, you should make sure to rinse and brush them with a cleaner made for dentures, mild dish soap, or liquid hand soap at least once a day. This will remove plaque, food, and other particles that may have accumulated on the dentures. 

When using a denture adhesive, make sure you remove any residue from your gums that the glue may have left behind. When doing this, you should not use a denture cleaner. Be sure to clean your tongue, cheeks, and the roof of your mouth in addition to brushing your natural teeth. Dentures should spend the night soaking in the solution. It is important to follow the directions, as both your dentist and the manufacturer of the solution may have their own suggestions. 

The following are some substances that should under no circumstances be used to clean dentures: 

Items used for cleaning that are abrasive. Brushes with stiff bristles, toothpastes and cleaners with abrasive ingredients, and harsh cleansers all have the potential to significantly harm dentures. 

Toothpaste designed to whiten. 

Toothpaste that claims to whiten teeth can sometimes be rather harsh. Dentures should not be cleaned with them in any way. 

Hot water. Your dentures will be sanitized by hot water, but it also has the potential to bend them. 

Inquire with your dental practitioner or prosthodontist on whether or not it is OK to use a bleach solution on your dentures. Dentures are considered to be false teeth, according to the American College of Prosthodontists “should not be bathed in bleach containing sodium hypochlorite or in products containing sodium hypochlorite for lengths of time that are more than ten minutes. Dentures run the risk of being damaged if they are submerged in sodium hypochlorite solutions for lengths of time that are more than ten minutes.”

Handling Dentures 

It is important to give your dentures a thorough cleaning before reinserting them, particularly if you have used a cleaning solution. Ingestion of the solution’s potentially dangerous ingredients may result in nausea, discomfort, or even burns. Dentures are extremely fragile and have a high risk of shattering if they are dropped. 

Where Should Dentures Be Kept? 

Dentures have the potential to become misshapen if they are allowed to dry out or if hot water is used to clean them. Dentures should be stored in water at room temperature or in a denture cleaning solution that has been prescribed by the patient’s dentist whenever they are not being worn by the patient.

Paper towels should never be used to wrap your dentures. They may very easily be confused as garbage and thrown away as such. Dentures should be stored in a secure location that is inaccessible to children and animals. Dentures are a popular toy for both children and dogs, who enjoy gnawing on them.