Oral Health Care for Patients With Dentures

The following information is provided as a general guideline. It is not intended to replace follow-up professional dental care. Should you require urgent care, consult your treating dentist for instructions on your particular situation.

• The dentures should be worn for 24 hours after they are inserted until the first adjustment.
• Always wear dentures at least six hours before an adjustment is made.
• Your doctor will adjust sore spots as they occur when the denture settles.
• It is natural to experience fullness of the mouth with new dentures.
• Expect to have excessive flow of saliva.
•  At first you will have a feeling of looseness, especially in the lower denture. You will adjust to it.
• The lower denture is harder to adjust to than the upper.
• Start out with small bites of soft food, chewing straight up and down. Try to chew on both sides.
•  Bite anything as far back in your mouth as possible. For example, bite a carrot and bend the carrot up.
• In biting an apple or similar hard fruit or vegetable, exert a force toward the teeth rather than one pulling away from the teeth. This could dislodge them.
• If you are eating food well in six to eight weeks, you are doing fine.
• You should brush the dentures inside and out at least two times a day.
• Clean dentures over a basin partially filled with water or over a wet towel to prevent breakage in case they should be dropped accidentally.
• To clean dentures, soak them overnight in baking soda and water.
• Your denture should be left out at night to give your gums a rest.
• Whenever your denture is left out of your mouth, it should be kept in water to prevent warpage.
• It will be more difficult to adjust to new dentures if you had old dentures or no teeth for a long period of time.
• You should return for an dental examination every six months.
• It is perfectly natural for a little food debris to collect under the dentures.
• Sneezing can dislodge any denture.
• Immediate dentures may need to be replaced or relined within one year. The denture doesn't change, but the underlying tissue does.
• Using excessive amounts of denture adhesive to retain ill-fitting dentures invites serious problems and more involved correction at a later date.
• Please call your treating dentist if you need urgent care.

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