Many patients believe that with dentures, they no longer need to worry about their dental health. Unfortunately, this couldn’t be further from the truth! Just because your smile is now artificial doesn’t mean you don’t need to care for your gums. If anything, gums and dentures require extensive care to keep your smile happy and healthy. Without proper care, your smile may develop problems such as gum disease, ill-fitting dentures, and even damage that requires repair. Fortunately, the Mini Dental Implant Center of America in Springfield, MO, offers effective care, helpful tips, and denture repair when necessary.
How To Care for Your Dentures
Traditional lower dentures rely on your jawbone for support. Upper dentures, in contrast, use saliva and suction to adhere to the roof of your mouth. To keep the connection stable and comfortable, you need to take good care of your gums and prosthetic.
To care for your gums, we recommend brushing gently and removing your prosthetic after eating to rinse out your mouth. After removing your denture, be sure to brush the artificial teeth and gum base to remove any debris or denture glue.
At night, traditional dentures should be removed to give your gums a break from the constant pressure they provide. While you sleep, soak your dentures in water or a denture-cleaning solution. Then in the morning, remove your denture from the liquid, rinse it off (especially if it was in cleaning solution), and place it back in your mouth.
How To Care for Your Implant Dentures
Implant dentures have a similar maintenance process.
Snap-in dentures “snap” onto mini dental implants placed strategically around your jawbone. But after you eat, remove your prosthetic to ensure that no food is stuck underneath the gum base. To brush your smile, use a soft-bristle toothbrush to gently scrub your gums and the area around your implants. Additionally, be sure to brush the prosthetic before “snapping” it back in your mouth.
With a zirconia roundhouse bridge (a sleeker, more secure design), you never have to remove your artificial teeth. Instead, a dentist may remove it for you during routine check-ups, or it will stay cemented in place on your implants.
To keep your smile clean, brush your artificial teeth as you would your natural ones. Then use a water flosser to reach under your prosthetic and in other hard-to-reach areas where food and debris may hide.
Implant Denture Repair
However, without care, you may experience issues like gum disease or denture damage.
Without caring for your gums, you may develop an inflammatory infection that starts at the gum line. As it spreads, the infection becomes more dangerous, causing lasting damage to your gum and bone tissue. Once your gum disease becomes severe, only intervention from a dental professional will help stop the spread of infection.
If left unchecked, gum disease underneath your prosthetic can cause bad breath, lasting pain, and even peri-implantitis. This infection affects the gum and bone around your implants, possibly causing implant failure without treatment.
If your denture no longer fits, is fractured, or is even lost, you will need a denture repair. This involves repairing your prosthetic, refitting it to your smile, or even replacing it completely. While our artisan high-impact dentures are durable, they are not immune to damage from excess force. With loose dentures, patients may even have their prosthetics slip out of their mouths, only to be damaged in the fall.
If you’re dealing with a denture that needs repair, contact the Mini Dental Implant Center of America in Springfield, MO! We will figure out how best to help you and restore your smile.
Find Denture Repair and Care in Springfield, MO
Restoring your smile with a denture is not the end-all be-all of dental care. With dentures, you need to brush your teeth, floss, and attend routine dental visits to keep your smile happy and healthy. Without routine care, you may suffer problems like gum disease, ill-fitting dentures, and denture damage. Book an appointment with us in Springfield (with free consultations for dental implant-related inquiries) to learn how we can help care for your smile!
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