Whether this is your first experience, or you have been wearing dentures for years, a denture can have a significant impact on your life. One in five adults wears either full or partial dentures. Although it may seem a bit overwhelming at first, with a little patience and practice, you’ll soon feel as if your dentures are a natural part of you. Your dentures will be with you for a long time, so taking care of your dentures needs to be as important to you as taking care of your own teeth.
Why Do I Need Dentures?
- To improve function: chewing, swallowing, and speaking.
- To provide stability and support to the remaining teeth and avoid changes in the position of your teeth.
- To improve and maintain facial features by supporting lips, cheeks and other facial or oral structures.
Types of Dentures
Depending on the condition of your teeth you may need one of the following:
- Full dentures: missing all the teeth in the jaw.
- Partial dentures: missing only some of the teeth in the jaw.
What Can I Expect with Dentures?
If you are new to dentures, you should expect an adjustment period of several weeks to months. In addition:
- Speaking may feel different at first. Reading out loud and practicing hard words can help your speech improve.
- Chewing may take practice. Start with soft foods, cut food into small pieces, and chew slowly making sure to use both sides of your mouth.
- Dentures may move sometimes, especially when laughing, coughing, or smiling. If this happens, gently bite down and swallow to help place them back correctly. Your dentist may also suggest using a small amount of denture adhesive.
- Foods might taste different, especially if you have full dentures that cover the roof of your mouth.
- You may not feel hot foods or drinks as well. Dentures can block heat, so be careful not to eat or drink anything too hot.
How Do I Care for My Dentures?
Taking good care of your dentures helps keep your mouth healthy and makes your dentures last longer.
- Never use regular toothpaste to clean your dentures. Instead, use a mild liquid dish soap or toothpaste made just for dentures. Brush them with a specially designed denture brush as you would your own teeth daily.
- Brush your dentures over a towel or a sink filled with water. This helps prevent them from breaking if you drop them.
- Never let your dentures dry out. Always store them in plain water when you are not wearing them. Dry dentures can lose their shape and stop fitting correctly.
- Brush all parts of the dentures well to remove food and plaque. You may use denture cleaning or soaking solutions, but only after brushing off all food with the denture brush. These solutions help clean small areas that the brush cannot reach.
For a list of Do’s and Don’ts with Dentures: