How long have you had your dentures for? No matter how long you’ve been wearing them you’ve experience the benefits of having a full set of teeth again. You can smile, eat, drink, and live without the embarrassment of missing teeth. At Edgewood Dental Care we’ve helped countless patients with missing teeth find happiness in dentures but that doesn’t mean their dental care days are over!

It’s all too common for denture wearers to get relaxed about caring for their dentures. Just like natural teeth your dentures are covered in bacteria and they are subject to even worse problems – there are worse bacteria in the air around you! When you take your dentures out they can pick up dangerous pathogens that end up right back in your mouth!

Denture Illnesses: What’s Out There?

When tests were performed on dentures scientists found an alarming fact: over 60 percent of dentures had seriously dangerous bacteria on them. This includes things like bacteria that causes pneumonia and MRSA, an incredibly hard-to-treat respiratory infection!

Most of the dangerous pathogens found on dentures are respiratory ailments, which can be incredibly dangerous for older patients! When you wear your dentures and breath through your mouth you run the risk of breathing bacteria right into your lungs where it can rapidly turn into a serious problem!

Preventing Denture Illnesses

In order for you and your dentures to work well together as a happy, healthy team there are some steps you have to take to keep them in good, clean condition.

  • Take a moment after you eat to rinse your dentures off. This will help remove excess food particles, bacteria, and bacterial acids that form on your dentures and gums when you eat.
  • Make sure you rinse your mouth out when you rinse your dentures too. This further cuts down on the bacteria that’s present.
  • Brushing your dentures off in the evening is essential. Occasional rinsing during the day doesn’t remove all of the plaque biofilm from your dentures and it’s important to get them really clean! Use a brush made for dentures and use denture toothpaste too. Both are designed to clean and treat your dentures!
  • Make sure to soak your dentures overnight and always do it in a special denture soaking liquid. This can help to further clean your dentures and have them fresh and ready for you in the morning.
  • Never sleep with your dentures in! This is one of the times when you’re most vulnerable to aspirated infections, especially if you sleep on your back!
  • When you get up in the morning make sure to rinse your dentures before putting them in. Denture soaking liquid is safe for your dentures but isn’t the best thing for you to ingest!

Make sure you’re seeing us at Edgewood Dental Care for regular checkups too! You might not have teeth anymore but we still want to make sure you and your dentures are healthy and clean. We can also make any necessary adjustments to your dentures at that time – dentures that fit well will serve you way better than ones that slip!

Would You Rather Upgrade Your Dentures?

If all this talk of washing, soaking, and aspirating bacteria makes you wish you had permanent teeth then you’re in luck: we offer a wide variety of dental implant treatments! Using titanium screws that are placed directly into your jawbone we can permanently connect a full mouth bridge – you’ll never have to remove your teeth again!

Dental implants allow us to replace one tooth, several teeth, or a whole mouthful. They’re permanent, strong, and act just like the real thing! You won’t have to have the roof of your mouth covered, worry about dentures that slip and fall, or deal with the hassle of anything beside brushing your teeth!

This amazing solution could be the perfect fit for you and we’d love to help you explore your dental implant options at our Edgewood office!

Come See Us!

Whether you’re interested in dental implants or just want to be sure your dentures and you are healthy we’re ready to help you! Call Edgewood Dental Care today at 859-474-7830 or request an appointment by filling out our online form. We look forward to seeing you soon!