For someone who has lost a few teeth but wants to continue enjoying life just as before, dentures become an essential part of life. This dental device allows you to eat and speak normally, while also restoring the natural shape of your face that might have changed with the loss of teeth.
Made of durable material and meant to make chewing and speaking motions easier for you, modern-day dentures are certainly better than before. However, that does not mean that you do not need to take care of your dentures because the lack of proper care can result in damaging them and reducing their longevity. There are some common mistakes people make while tending to their dentures that cause more harm than care. If you have been looking up dentures near you recently, reading on might prove helpful!
Destructive Denture Care Practices
1. Wrong Method Of Soaking Dentures
Before deciding on a denture care routine, we must understand the structure, material, and principles on which dentures work. The base of the dentures is made out of acrylic plastic, while the teeth can be plastic or porcelain as per your choice. The inner framework is made of steel or a chrome-cobalt alloy. The principle of dentures is that they should be kept moist at all times. The saliva of the wearer performs this function while the dentures are in use, but when not in use, they need to be soaked in water or a special solution.
Forgetting to soak your dentures overnight can leave them dry and brittle. If this happens, it is advisable to soak them in water for at least an hour before wearing them again.
Soaking dentures in boiling water is another mistake that ruins their shape and warps the acrylic base, although it might kill the germs. The best way is to soak your dentures overnight in normal water, or in a special solution, available from a dentist near you, meant to disinfect dentures.
2. Using A Harsh Brush To Clean Your Dentures
The innumerous indentations on the surface of the dentures can trap food particles, just like our natural teeth, and require brushing every day. However, you should avoid the temptation to use a stiff brush while doing so, as that can scratch the smooth acrylic surface, forming tiny dents, that can trap even more food and bacteria, such as E.coli and staph. The harsh brushing can even bend or damage the metal parts of the dentures.
A simple way to clean your dentures is to use a soft-bristled brush to gently brush them without causing scratches. Brush your dentures once every day and soak them in a germ-killing solution to get rid of any bacteria that can cause denture odor.
3. Using Harmful Cleaning Agents On Your Dentures
While you are getting yourself a set of dentures in Chestermere, remember to get the proper cleaning solution to go with them. Using a strong toothpaste, such as a whitening toothpaste that contains bleaching agents, is harmful to your dentures. The peroxide in a whitening toothpaste is only effective on natural teeth, and can actually weaken the surface of your dentures.
Chlorine is another harsh chemical to be avoided for use on dentures, as it can corrode the exposed metal structure of the dentures.
The correct method of cleaning dentures is by brushing them gently with a special denture cleaner, before soaking them in water overnight. If you use partial dentures, you can use regular toothpaste to brush your natural teeth.
Following these essential rules of denture care can ensure that you continue to use your set of dentures for the longest time possible. In case you still have questions about dentures that you need a dentist in Chestermere to answer, East Chestermere Dental is just a phone call away!