A Daily Denture Care Routine

A daily denture care routine will help to minimise odour and stains, keep your dentures looking like new and help them last longer.

Insertion and removal

Your dentist or prosthesist will show you how to put in and take out your denture. Feel free to ask them questions. Make sure you are comfortable with putting them in and taking them out before you leave the clinic.

Never use force to get your dentures in or out.

Function

Your new denture may feel strange, even if you have worn dentures before. This is normal and happens because your mouth takes time to adapt.

When you first eat with your new denture, start with soft foods (e.g. lightly cooked vegetables).

Take small bites and chew slowly. If you have natural teeth, try to bite with them rather than the artificial ones.

If possible, chew on both sides at the same time.

Overnight

Remove your dentures before going to bed each night. This gives your mouth a chance to rest and will help stop you grinding your teeth while you sleep.

Clean dentures well using liquid soap and a soft toothbrush. After cleaning, dentures can either be kept in a cup of fresh cold water, or left to dry.

Maintenance

Food debris and plaque need to be cleaned from all denture surfaces daily.

Clean your dentures using a soft toothbrush and mild soap and water or denture paste. Standard toothpaste is not recommended.

Clean your dentures over a hand-basin half filled with water to prevent breakage if dropped.

Brush your gums, tongue and palate (roof of your mouth) morning and night with a soft toothbrush before you insert your dentures. This stimulates circulation in your tissues and helps remove plaque.

If you find that your denture has a build up (tartar or calculus), soak it in white vinegar (1 part) and water (4 parts). If you still can’t remove the build up, call your dental clinic and make an appointment to have your denture repolished.

Denture cleaning illustration

If your denture breaks or is damaged, stop wearing it straight away. Do not try to repair it, bend it or modify it. Call your dental clinic for an appointment to fix it.

Mouth soreness

Your mouth may become a little sore under your new denture. If this happens, contact the clinic to arrange to have your denture adjusted.

If the soreness is severe it may help to remove the denture for at least part of the day. However, please wear the denture for a few hours before your appointment so we can work out where the adjustment is required.

Remember, do not adjust or try to repair your dentures.

Dentures should be well fitted and comfortable when you chew and your breath should be fresh. See your oral health professional if you have any pain or problems with your mouth or dentures or if you need further information on denture cleaning and care.

What makes a good Dental Prosthetist?

 

What makes a good Dental Prosthetist?

Dental prosthetists are extremely competent in the area of dentures, due to their knowledge of cutting edge techniques, trends and new materials.

Two things that are often mentioned here are: extreme attention to detail and artistic skills. They will also need to possess good hand-eye coordination, manual dexterity, and be able to work with complex tools and equipment as well as to have good time management skills.
The other things which are not stressed enough is empathy and listening skills. To help your patients means listening to what they have to say and trying to imagine how they feel about the problem, relate to them.  Excellent communication and interpersonal skills are crucial in dental prosthetist's job.

Tooth migration: so you think you are safe as noone can see your back tooth is missing...?

REMEMBER!

IT’S ESSENTIAL to replace any missing teeth as soon as possible — doing nothing could cost you much more in the long run. The dentures in this areas act as space maintainers to prevent any further changes such as horizontal and vertical drift - see the photos below.

VERTICAL TOOTH MIGRATION

A missing back tooth can set off a chain reaction of problems that can affect your overall dental health. Besides playing an important role in chewing food, back teeth also redistribute most of the chewing force away from the front teeth. Their absence can also affect the bite: adjacent teeth to the missing one will tend to migrate toward the open space, causing them to tip and rotate into an improper position. This can cause an increase in tooth mobility, excessive wear and erosion, and endanger their survival in the long run.

HORIZONTAL TOOTH MIGRATION

To avoid these and other problems you should consider some form of replacement.

One of the options is a removable partial denture (RPD). RPDs restore function and improve appearance and are the quickest and most cost effective dental appliance available. It is essential to replace the back tooth/teeth as soon as possible — doing nothing could cost you much more in the long run.

What to do when your tooth gets knocked out? (Knocked out tooth = avulsed tooth)

What to do when your tooth gets knocked out? (Knocked out tooth = avulsed tooth)

REMEMBER: Proper emergency action can save the tooth so that it can be replanted successfully and last for years to come.

1.     Find the tooth. If your tooth got broken try to find all the pieces as they can sometimes be bonded together. 

2.     Very IMPORTANT! Pick up the tooth by the crown (chewing surface). Do not scrape the tooth as you may remove the living tissue on the root. If you want to transport it to your dentist the best would be to store it and keep it moist in a container with your own or someone else’s saliva or milk. Do not let it dry and do not wrap it in a tissue or cling wrap.

3.     You can try to reinsert the tooth into the socket. If you want to do it you should use only water to gently rinse off any dirt. (Do not use soap or chemicals!) Use gentle but firm pressure till the tooth sits in the right position. You can bite on gauze or cotton ball to keep it in that position.

4.     If you are unable to perform step 3 please take your tooth to the nearest dentist as soon as possible and they will do it for you. It's best to see the doctor within 30 minutes; however, it is possible to save a tooth even if it has been outside the mouth for an hour or more.

Questions:

Can a knocked out tooth be put back in?

When a tooth has been knocked out, the nerves, blood vessels and supporting tissues are damaged, too. The nerves and blood vessels can't be repaired. That is why all avulsed teeth will need a root canal. However, the bone can reattach to the root of the tooth once it's put back into place

Why put a tooth in milk when it falls out?

Milk is a good medium for storing knocked-out teeth because cells from the root surface don't swell up and burst as they do when placed in water.

Can a dentist glue a broken tooth?

Dental Filling or Bonding. If you have chipped off just a small piece of tooth enamel, your dentist may repair the damage with a filling. If the repair is to a front tooth or can be seen when you smile, your dentist will likely use a procedure called bonding, which uses a tooth-colored composite resin.

Can a wobbly tooth heal itself?

But with new technology and expertise, your dentist is more likely than ever to be able to save your loose permanent tooth. Hoping that your tooth will heal on its own is probably not an effective strategy for dealing with a loose permanent tooth.

Can a dead tooth come back to life?

Nanofilm could bring dead teeth back to life. ... While the root canal procedure has a high success rate, it still leaves a dead tooth in the mouth. That could be about to change, however, with scientists reporting development of a nano-sized dental film that may bring diseased teeth back to life.

What to eat when I get my new dentures?

When you receive your first dentures eating can be a bit of a challenge to start with. Give yourself time to heal (if you had extractions done) and don’t expect too much at the very beginning. But don’t give up either: persevere and continue wearing your dentures. If you are getting both upper and lower denture you might need to eat in front of a mirror. The trick is to distribute food evenly on both sides and chop it rather then chew like you used to do with your natural teeth.

These are some of the foods that you should be able to eat as suggested by existing denture wearers (basically anything soft):

-       mashed potatoes

-       yoghurt

-       mac n cheese

-       soups pureed in a food processor

-       overcooked past

-       pancakes

-       scrambled eggs

-       protein shakes

-       cheesecake

-       cottage cheese

- ice-cream

-       puddings