Denture Care

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Denture Home care Recommendations

Your beautiful new denture has been hand crafted to look as natural as possible. The individual colors in the gums will last if you properly care for them.

To protect the colors do not use bleaching products or any denture cleaners that have bleach in them. Brushing with a toothbrush and hot soapy water will remove daily debris.

For additional cleaning or for occasional longer soaking, we recommend using white vinegar (see below) which cleans while protecting the color tones.

Denture Care Specifics

Use a solution of 1:1 water and white vinegar.

Soak denture in the vinegar solution for approximately 15 minutes while you are showering. This will make hard calculus/tartar deposits soft enough to remove with a brush.

Occasionally for stubborn stains leave over night in a cold solution of water and vinegar.

Regardless of the cleaning protocol used, the temperature of the soaking solution should never exceed 122° F/50° C

 

Guidelines for the care and maintenance of dentures

Based on the best available evidence, the following are guidelines for the care and maintenance of dentures.

  1. Careful daily removal of the bacterial biofilm present in the oral cavity and on complex dentures is of paramount importance to minimize denture stomatitis and help contribute to good oral and general health.
  2. To reduce levels of biofilm and potentially harmful bacteria and fungi, patients who wear dentures should do the following: 
    1. Dentures should be cleaned daily by soaking and brushing with an effective, nonabrasive denture cleaner.
    2. Denture cleaners should ONLY be used to clean dentures outside of the mouth.
    3. Dentures should always be thoroughly rinsed after soaking and brushing with denture-cleansing solutions prior to reinsertion into the oral cavity. Always follow the product usage instructions.
  3. Although evidence is weak, dentures should be cleaned annually be a dentist or dental professional by using ultrasonic cleaners to minimize biofilm accumulation over time.
  4. Dentures should never be placed in boiling water.
  5. Dentures should NOT be soaked in sodium hypochlorite bleach, or in products containing sodium hypochlorite for periods that exceed 10 minutes. Placement of dentures in sodium hypochlorite for periods longer than 10 minutes may damage dentures.
  6. Dentures should be stored immersed in water after cleaning, when not replaced in the oral cavity, to avoid warping.
  7. Denture adhesives, when properly used, can improve the retention and stability of dentures and help seal out the accumulation of food particles beneath the dentures, even in well-fitting dentures.
  8. In a quality-of-life study; patient ratings showed that denture adhesives may improve the denture wearer's perceptions of retention, stability and quality of life; however, there is insufficient evidence that adhesives improve masticatory function.
  9. Evidence regarding the effects of denture adhesives on oral tissues when used for periods longer than six months is lacking. Thus, extended use of denture adhesives should not be considered without periodic assessment of denture quality and health of the supporting tissues by a dentist, prosthodontist or dental professional.
  10. Improper us of zinc-containing denture adhesives may have adverse systemic effects. Therefore, as a precautionary measure, zinc-containing denture adhesives should be avoided.
  11. Denture adhesive should only be used in sufficient quantities (three or four pea-sized dollops) on each denture to provide sufficient added retention and stability to the prosthesis.
  12. Denture adhesives should be completely removed from the prosthesis and the oral cavity on a daily basis.
  13. If increasing amounts of adhesives are required to achieve the same level of denture retention, the patient should see a dentist or dental professional to evaluate the fit and stability of the dentures.
  14. While existing studies provide conflicting results, it is not recommended that dentures be worn continuously (24 hours per day) in an effort to reduce or minimize denture stomatitis.
  15. Patients who wear dentures should be checked annually by the dentist, prosthodontist or dental professional for maintenance of optimum denture fit and function, for evaluation or oral lesions and bone loss, and for assessment of oral health status.