As I posted in another thread, I recently was fitted with a partial denture plate on the bottom (4 teeth, two on each side, all molars). I was told to take it out at night, brush it with a toothbrush and toothpaste, and soak it in water overnight.
Last night I didn’t take it out (got really tired and fell asleep before I expected to) and woke up with it still in. I took it out, brushed it, and soaked it while I got dressed and stuff, then put it back in…
I’ve seen ads for those tablets that dissolve that you soak your dentures in… what is with those? Do they help?
I noticed that when I take the dentures out at night they have developed a patchy white “film” on the metal parts, which I brush off with the toothbrush… do those tablets get rid of that? That is, are the tablets in addition to or instead of brushing? It’s not that I have a problem brushing them, but if I’m really tired and about to drop and it’s all I can do to put them in their cup of water… would the tablets help?
Is there anything else I should know that my dentist may not have told me about how to care for this thing?
Not sure if it matters, but my hope is that in a few years, we’ll be able to afford to replace the 4 teeth in question with implants and be able to get rid of the partial plate completely, but that will require some bone grafts and will take well over a year to do, once we have the funds to get started.
I use the tablets once every couple of weeks on my night guard. If I don’t I get tartar buildup on it that my dentist has to clean off using the ultrasound machine and scraping.
I soak the night guard in very hot water with one of the tablets for about 5-10 minutes, then give it a good brushing and rinse. It’s nice and clean afterward AND minty! Yum.
ETA The tablets are in addition to daily brushing, not instead of.
Because of the sores developing on my tongue because of the clips and other denture parts that stick out into my mouth, I am in pain a lot of the time. Recently when I get home, I take out the denture plate and soak it in it’s water cup like I’m supposed to, and spend the rest of the evening not wearing it. Is that a bad idea for any reason? I’m just trying to give my tongue a break from rubbing against the sore spots…
I have an upper plate, mostly due to a gory diving accident in high school. I soak it in Polident overnight every night and only brush with a soft toothbrush dipped in the polident solution.
My denturist specifically told me NOT to brush and especially with toothpaste because the denture material is sofer than your teeth and that will make them wear out sooner.
I have had this same set (relined x3) for five years and they look great. No plaque buildup, no discoloration, etc.
Also, you might look at a drugstore for dental wax (the stuff they sell for braces) putting a little of that on the “sticky outy” parts helps tremendously with the sore tongue issue.
I think it’s bad because your other teeth with start to move without the plate in place to keep them apart. You will then end up with a plate that becomes a tight fit and will wear and fit improperly.
Your dentist said to take it out at night, so I would follow your medical practitioners advice and not “self diagnose” a solution by taking it out for lengthy periods of time.
This is my opinion only and you should probably check with a dentist before listening to some random Aussie on the interwebs. We live with spiders and snakes and stingers, so we’re not really adept at living to ripe old ages.
You and your tongue will get used to that after a while. There’s nothing wrong with having the denture out, there are more problems with leaving in too much. But see a dentist about getting implants or bridgework. Dentures are just bad for gums, and if they have metal clips they could be damaging good teeth. As for cleaning, brush it regularly just like your teeth. Plaque is a bio-film build up that can form on dentures as well as teeth.
Also rinse with highly concentrated salt water. The gap between denture and gums is an ideal breeding ground for yeast, and salt will stop the yeast.
Yes implants is the plan in the future, but there are two reasons we can’t do it right now. The first is we flat out can’t afford it right now. It’s going to require bone grafts on both sides of my mouth in addition to the very expensive implants themselves (they’re about $2-3000 each).
The second reason is length of time. First there are the bone grafts, and letting them heal, and then setting the screws for the implants and letting that heal, then adding the crown part to the screw… my dentist said it would probably take between a year and a year and a half to complete. My husband finishes his residency next June, and we don’t know where we’ll be living after that, and I don’t want to change dentists in the middle of such extensive work.