Frequenty asked questions
Artwork by Chris Nixon
Q: How do I keep my dentures clean?
A: This is our number one question! The answer to this is DO NOT USE TOOTHPASTE! Regular toothpastes contain an abrasive agent, which when used to clean dentures wears away the acrylic, leaving microscopic scratches on the surface that retain plaque and calculus and essentially make it harder to clean your denture.
The best way to keep your dentures clean is to first brush your denture with a medium bristled tooth brush in warm soapy water. Yes – any soap will do, but ensure you thoroughly rinse off all the soap. Once the denture has been cleaned, drop in a denture cleaning solution such as Sterodent or Polident to kill residual germs and bacteria.
It is important to note that these denture cleaning solutions will NOT clean your denture for you – plaque builds up on dentures the same way it builds up on teeth and can only be removed by mechanical brushing.
Please call us if you have any questions.
Q: Is it ok to sleep with my dentures?
A: The answer to this is: it's up to you. While ideally you should leave them out at night to allow the gums to recover, many patients do not like to be seen by their partner without their dentures in.
There is a famous analogy, 'Do you sleep wearing your shoes? So why sleep wearing your dentures?' What this means is if they are not being used, then why wear them? Think about it... you are putting your gums under pressure for an additional eight or so hours whilst sleeping for no real reason – you don't require them to eat, you're not out in public, and you're not trying to talk – so do your gums and dentures a favour and give them a rest!
Q: Who is the best person to make my Dentures? A Dentist or a Dental Prosthetist?
A: The best person to make your next set of dentures is a Dental Prosthetist - they are the ones who specialize in the fit and construction of dentures. The advantage of using a prosthetist is that they perform all stages of the process: they meet with you, discuss your requirements, take a series of impressions, make a wax model of the denture, try it in and make any changes that you require, and then process it into a hard acrylic denture.
Essentially, the prothetist both meets the patient and makes the denture, unlike a dentist who takes the impressions, then sends them off to a dental laboratory for a technician to fabricate a denture, which is then sent back to the dentist. The downfall of this is that the technician who makes the denture never met the patient and does not have the same understanding of specifically what the patient requires. They also have not had the opportunity to assess the facial features of the patient and match these to the type of teeth they select to use in the denture, which plays a big role in making natural looking teeth.
Q: When should I get new dentures?
A: It is advisable to get a new set of dentures every 5-7 years to keep up with the changes in the mouth and to ward off any signs of deterioration and wear to the dentures. However, a regular 6 monthly check up is advisable to avoid any unforeseen problems and to check the underlying tissues supporting the denture for signs of infection or sore spots.
Q: My lower denture is always loose, why is this?
A: Unfortunately a full lower denture will always be loose because unlike like the full upper denture, it does not have a large area of tissue available to use for suction, which gives the denture stability and retention. As you know, upper and lower dentures are very different shapes. This is because the upper denture extends all the way to the back to the soft palate and creates a palatal seal, while the lower denture is in the shape of a horseshoe to allow room for the tongue and all of its attaching muscles. As a result, we are unable to create suction which in turn prevents proper retention, which means that the only thing we can aim to achieve is some stability. Unfortunately, the amount of stability that we can achieve depends on how much remaining bone is present, as once teeth are lost; the surrounding bone is resorbed by the body as demonstrated in the pictures below:
This is a healthy mandible with all of the teeth in place. The alveolar bone is thick and strong, and is maintained there by the forces being transmitted through the teeth when eating. The pressure that is put on the teeth by food and the teeth in the opposing jaw signal to the body that the bone is necessary to support the teeth – which the body considers to be very important as it knows that eating is essential to life.
The "alveolar bone" is the special bone designed to hold teeth in place. When a tooth is removed, the body resorbs the bone that was responsible for supporting that tooth as it believes it is no longer required. The body does not know that that bone is essential to support a denture, and unfortunately over time it is lost until it resembles the jaw on the right.
This is a mandible in a patient who has had all of the lower teeth removed for a long period of time. There is no alveolar bone left, and the area that the denture is trying to fit to is illustrated in a black dotted line. The mental foramen is an opening in the bone where the nerve that gives sensation to the front section of the jaw comes out, and it is located right where the denture will be sitting. As a result, the denture will press on the nerve and be very uncomfortable to wear.
However, there are treatment options available in even the most severe cases, so contact us (clicking on this should redirect you to the "Contact Us" page) for a consultation and treatment plan.
Q: My denture is loose and moves all over the place when I'm eating. What does that mean?
A: This usually depends on how old the denture is: if it is over 7 years old, this indicates that it is time for a new denture to accommodate the changes in the underlying bone.
If the denture is relatively new, it may mean that you need a hard reline to improve the fitting surface of the denture. Some patients, especially those who lost their teeth to periodontal disease (where the inflammation from plaque around the teeth causes swelling and bleeding of the gums, with permanent bone loss resulting from long standing inflammation) will experience very rapid loss of alveolar bone and will need hard relines more frequently than other patients.
Q: My upper denture seems that it's not connecting properly with my lower denture, what does this mean?
A: Normally, this means 1 or two things.
- That your bite may not have been registered correctly when you first had your dentures made. Registering a bite is a very difficult procedure, as the jaws usually align themselves using the position of the teeth. Once the teeth are lost, the jaws lose their ability to properly close together in their usual relationship. The loss of supporting bone from around the teeth also further complicates this, as the shape of the jaws is therefore constantly changing. This can be corrected by retaking the bite and re-aligning the denture.
- Long term use has worn away the molar teeth (the large teeth at the back of the denture) which are responsible for positioning the upper and lower dentures. The molar teeth contain three or four cusps each, which are little raised areas that help crush and grind food, but also determine how the teeth occlude – or come together. These are ground down over time on dentures and once they are lost, a new denture is required.
Q: How much will I get back from my health fund when I purchase my next set of dentures?
A: In order to reduce the cost for our patients as much as possible, we are both HBF Participating Providers and Medibank Members Choice Providers, which means you may be eligible to get up to a 60%-80% rebate from your next denture. We are also registered with all health funds so to find out exactly how much they will cover, just give your health fund a call.
