Dentures

Now that you have received your new dentures, what can you expect from them? Your mouth is soft and ever changing, whereas your dentures are relatively hard and stable. Consequently, the dentures may need several adjustments, and you will need some time and experience with them before they are worn comfortably. A denture is an artificial replacement for your teeth. As with anything artificial in the body, your denture has limitations. Here are some suggestions to help you with the dentures and to keep your mouth healthy.

Eating

It will take some time before you can eat food as you did with your natural teeth, or even with other dentures. Do not attempt to eat with your dentures until it is comfortable when you swallow or talk. When you do begin to eat, start with small amounts of soft food; you can expand your food selections as you gain confidence. Indeed, you may find that you use a knife and fork more extensively than you did when your natural teeth were healthy.

Cleaning

Keep your mouth and dentures meticulously clean. Use a soft toothbrush or a special denture brush with toothpaste and warmwater (avoid very hot water) to scrub all surfaces of each denture after eating. Avoid abrasive cleaners that might roughen the polished surface. Rinse dentures thoroughly before replacing them in your mouth.To clean and stimulate the mouth, us a medium sized toothbrush at least once a day on all areas covered by denture. As with natural teeth, a plaque like substance forms on surface of the denture, which can cause damage to the lining of your mouth if it is not removed by brushing at least once a day.

Resting Your Mouth

You should remove your dentures periodically for several hours, preferably when you are sleeping, to rest your mouth.

Maintaining the Fit

A dentist should examine the fit of the dentures and assess the distribution of biting forces at least once a year. With the changing shape of your mouth, and particularly of the bone supporting the denture, the denture must be adjusted and relined from time to time to ensure that they do not stress the mouth excessively. However, do not attempt to adjust the dentures yourself.

Saliva

There will be an increase in the amount of saliva in your mouth for a while after the dentures are initially inserted.

Sore Spots

Minor irritation underneath and around the periphery of a new or relined denture is very common. The dentist will relieve it by adjusting the denture. You may stop wearing the denture if the irritation is painful, however, it will help the dentist locate the source of the irritation if you can wear the denture for about 3 hours before attending an adjustment.

Gagging

This is rarely a problem and, more often than not, when it does occur, it will cease quickly.

Talking

The new denture may disturb your speech at first. Some words in particular may feel awkward to produce. Certainly, this problem can be embarrassing, but rarely does it persist much beyond a week. Reading aloud may speed up the adaptation.

Post-op Instructions for Dentures