Denture Care Instructions

Initially, it is alright to feel as mouthful, bulky, crowded in the mouth. Tongue starts feeling various parts of the denture which can be annoying. Remember your mouth needs time to adjust to this new denture.

 Most common complaints are:

1. Difficulty in speaking -Sometimes certain words may be difficult to pronounce. It may help to repeat them aloud in front of a mirror.

If your denture slips when you speak, bite down gently to reposition it and swallow. Your tongue and cheeks will soon learn to keep it in place.

Some people require several months before speech returns to normal. Very rarely, minor speech difficulties may persist.

2. Difficulty in swallowing and sometimes feel of gagging

3. An increase in the amount of saliva

4. Cheeks and tongue getting bitten between your new teeth as in the absence of teeth all these years, tongue and cheeks encroach on teeth space but will soon learn their lessons to be in their own space.

5. Food getting stuck under various parts of the denture as the denture is just lying on your teeth and gums and not fixed. There are obvious steps and gaps between the denture and gums which can act as food traps. The practice makes things perfect as you learn to eat with this food stuck in various parts of the denture which can be little annoying initially.

6. It is not uncommon to become discouraged for a while when getting used to the feel and appearance of a denture.

Although the materials and techniques of making dentures are advanced, dentures may not perfectly reproduce your natural teeth.

There may be a change in the facial shape due to the missing teeth and replacement by the dentures. Usually, they are desirable like making your lips and cheeks fuller, giving you younger look. But it may not be what you expected and can be disappointing sometimes.

7. Loose fit of the dentures- It takes time for your facial muscles, tongue and cheeks to get habituated to new dentures. Initially they will constantly try to throw the dentures out of the mouth and you may perceive it as the dentures are loose. You need to learn to bite down gently to reposition them and swallow. Your tongue and cheek muscles will soon learn to keep it in place.

Various denture adhesive creams or powders can give you added confidence that your denture will not slip out of place. They may help you in accepting dentures in the initial period of getting used to them but remember it is not the answer to poorly fitting dentures.

If you have dry mouth (mainly due to various medications),denture retention may be a problem.

8. Headache & neck ache – not so common.

All these complaints will resolve in a period of few weeks. Please don’t hesitate to call us if you have any concerns.

9. The only complaint which will not resolve itself is, if the new denture is sore somewhere.

We request you to call us to fix an appointment. Please make sure you wear your denture for at least 12 – 24 hours before your appointment, sometimes overnight which will help us to know exactly where to adjust the denture rather than doing some arbitrary adjustments which can make the denture loose.

Several adjustments may be required before the final satisfactory fit occurs. Your support in using these dentures in spite of being sore is most needed. Please do not try to adjust your own denture. It has been carefully made to fit your mouth. Home repairs will end up causing more harm than good.

Please do not bend or modify the clasps of a partial denture in any way as this could break it.

Taking care of the dentures.

We have given you the denture box to keep your dentures when they are taken out of the mouth, so that you don’t lose them.

1. Please remember to keep the dentures nice and clean as any whitish or blackish (fungal or bacterial) growth on the denture can cause secondary infections in the mouth.

2. There are various denture cleansing tablets or paste available in the pharmacies and supermarkets; you can certainly use them as per the directions of the manufacturer.

Alternately, you can use a soft or ultra-soft toothbrush (a separate brush from your regular use brush) and put some drops of mild soap solution and clean your dentures. Wash the dentures under warm tap water to get all soap off them before use.

3. It is always better to get your dentures out after every meal, wash them and also rinse your mouth.

4. Teeth and acrylic parts of the denture are delicate and can break easily. Hence hold it over the wash basin while cleaning to cushion the fall if you drop it. Accidently if it breaks, please do not try to repair it or glue the parts together because it may damage the denture permanently. Just call us urgently.

5. Ideally, the dentures should be removed before going to bed as this allows the gums a chance to rest.

Taking care of the teeth – (in case of partial dentures)

All patients with partial dentures in the mouth are at increased risk of getting caries (holes) in their natural supporting teeth hence, it becomes of paramount importance to take care of your teeth in the following ways:

1. Rinsing your mouth after every meal is almost mandatory

2. Please use additional gadgets like interdental brushes more often,

mainly after lunch & dinner.

3. Please use fluoride supplements via your toothpaste (e.g. Neutraflur toothpaste)

& tooth moose at bed time.

4. Please do proper brushing on the tongue side of the teeth.

Regular dental check-ups are must for all denture wearers

As the shapes of the gums and underlying jawbone change, and dentures wear out, they may need to be relined or remade every 3 to 7 years.

Overtime a badly fitting denture can cause a chronic inflammation or irritation of the gum tissue called denture stomatitis which can lead to further untoward complications

Eating with dentures-

Learning to eat with dentures takes practice and time.

- The first few days of eat soft foods usually cooked food,

- Cut the food in small pieces, take small mouthfuls and chew slowly. This helps to keep the dentures in place.

- Try and eat on back molar teeth and try to eat on both sides. This will balance the dentures well.

- Until you get used to sensing the temperature of the hot food, treat hot food with caution.

- It is best to avoid sticky food like toffee and hard food like nuts and raw carrots for the initial period of getting familiar with the dentures.

- As you gain confidence with your dentures, widen your diet to ensure healthy nutrition.