A partial denture will have a pink coloured gum onto which the white tooth is inserted. As the denture is a rigid piece of acrylic, and the gum is a living organism, with time, the gum will shrink causing the denture to become loose ( dentures do not change shape!). The denture may need to be replaced or relined, either in the dental surgery or at a lab. Occasionally a tooth will detach from the denture, however, a dental technician can often re-glue it, or if lost, replace it, however, the patient will be without a denture until it is repaired. It may be a good idea to have a second denture made, just in case!
Single tooth dentures may have little clips which hook onto the adjacent teeth for more stability. Small dentures should always be removed at night as they can be a choking hazard.
All dentures require regular cleaning with a soft brush and a denture cleaning agent. The do NOT need to be soaked in water overnight!
Patients Soft (Valplast) dentures are also available as quite often the acrylic dentures are not the most comfortable.may also need to use a dentures adhesive to help hold the denture in place.
A full upper denture will have a large palate and as this covers the roof of the mouth, patients tastebuds are covered and therefore they do not get the full flavour of food.
Dropping a denture can cause damage, often a hairline crack may appear that goes unnoticed and when put back into the mouth and used to bite, the will break. Never use superglue to repair as superglue it is toxic!!!
Dentures can last years if well maintained and are a less expensive way of replacing missing teeth.
