Questions & Answers About Dentures With Mario Viveros
Hello everybody, so I came up with a list of the most common questions I get asked at the clinic every day.
This is the third of a three-part series on looking after your dentures, so they remain as clean and fresh as possible.
Do I need to take them out at night?
We do recommend taking them out at night, as this gives the gums a rest. Some dentures are tissue supported. This means that the sit on the gums and make pressure throughout the day specially when eating and chewing food. This is truer on full cases. The alveolar ridge under the gums also tend to resorb faster which will, overtime, jeopardize retention and suction. So, removing your dentures at night helps to preserve your ridges and gives the gums a rest.
Tip, when removing your dentures, you can gently massage your gums and palate with your thumb and index finger to aid blood circulation. The blood will increase levels of oxygen and nutrients into the area.
Do I need to keep them in water?
Yes, definitely. The nature of the materials used to make the denture are design to be in the mouth, so they need to be wet. Clean fresh water is ideal. Some people choose to add a little mouth rinse like Listerine diluted in the water. Listerine has alcohol which helps with disinfection while keeping them fresh. Just give them a rinse under running water when inserting them back.
Can I use Milton on my dentures?
Although some people use Milton diluted in water, I don’t personally, recommended. I have notice over the years that people who use Milton to clean their dentures tend to have white colour acrylic. So, the part of the denture that replaces the gums and used to be pink, is now white. I would prefer to use denture specific disinfectant tablets like Nitradine.
Can I use bleach to disinfect my dentures?
Some people use bleach diluted in water to disinfect their dentures; I wouldn’t advise to do so. After spending years working with dentures, I’ve noticed that bleach makes acrylic weaker and therefore more susceptible to fractures. Again, Nitradine is ideal, as it doesn’t have bleach on it.
Will the denture give me allergic reaction?
Highly unlikely. A lot of money and time has been spent by dental companies in research, creating materials that are biocompatible. Specially in the last few years we have seen new materials that are not only hypoallergenic but also, they are remarkably stronger while looking very natural.
Are they going to be big? I don’t want people to notice.
Absolutely not. We look after you throughout the whole process. On our third visit, we’ll do a try in wax. This is a sample of how the teeth are going to be but at this point they are made is wax. The idea is that you can try them in and see how you feel. By the time we research the ‘try in’ we would have spent with you a fair amount of time so we build the smile, we put a great deal of information and time creating that smile that suits you. We set the teeth following your own ridges, so we don’t put the teeth where we want, we allow your anatomy to tell us where to place them. We actively encourage our patients to bring a family member or a close friend, somebody that knows you well, so that they can give you a second opinion. And the good thing is that if you feel that we need to make a few changes, we can. May be, you want a little gap like the one you had with your natural teeth, or perhaps you want the canines tilted a little bit to break the symmetry. We can do all those things. The point is that we will not finish your new dentures until you are completely happy.
If you are experiencing difficulties with your current dentures or if you have any question of your own, why don’t you give us a call? We look forward to seeing you and answering all your questions.
Article by Mario Viveros, Clinical Dental Technician at Dental Tech Group
