Dental Care and Special Needs: Planning for Success

Posted on: 29 February 2016

When you get dentures, it is important for you to know how to care for them and protect them from getting damaged or ruined. By taking a few extra steps, you can keep your dentures looking good, fitting correctly and lasting you longer. Reading this information will help you to know the proper way to take care of your dentures.

Introduce certain types of foods slowly

Some foods will cause your dentures to move more when you eat them and this can cause a lot of soreness to your gums when you are just getting used to having them in. Sticky foods will pull on them, causing a great deal of rubbing that can lead to sores. Big bites of foods will also put more pressure on the side of your mouth you are chewing them with, so you want to cut foods into small pieces, especially foods with harder textures, such as steak.

Don't eat foods that can damage them

Certain foods can cause damage to your dentures. Therefore, you want to make sure you stay away from eating those types of foods. Hard things, such as ice, certain fresh vegetables like carrots and nuts can cause the dentures to chip and should be avoided when you wear dentures.

Consider using adhesive

Ask your dentist whether or not you should use adhesive. This will help the dentures to stay in place better so it's easier for you to eat certain foods. If you do use adhesive, you only want to put a few drops on them and always clean it off completely each night.

Cleaning your dentures

Brush your dentures each night with a regular tooth brush and denture cleaner. When you are done, rinse them well and put them in a denture soaking solution for the night. In the morning, remove them from the solution and rinse them off in water. If you use adhesive, place just a few small drops along the dentures and push them into place after you have cleaned your mouth and gums. When you are cleaning your teeth, it's important to lay a washcloth down in the sink and fill it half way up with water. This way, if the dentures happen to fall in the sink they won't break.

When you take good care of your dentures, they will last longer before you have to take them in for repairs or replace them. Plus, you will be able to enjoy having them fit properly longer and avoid problems such as bad breath or the development of gingivitis.