Post Treatment Care and Instructions
Complete Dentures
We have done our best to provide you with well-fitted, functional, and esthetically pleasing partial dentures. We feel confident that after a few weeks of adjustments to them you will enjoy years of satisfaction and use from them. The following is information you need to know:
- Your First Few Weeks: New dentures always feel strange when first placed into your mouth. Several days or even a few weeks will be required for you to feel accustomed to them. You may feel you salivate excessively and talk differently, this too will subside.
- Sore Spots: Your mouth usually has a few sore spots about 24 hours after you first put in your prosthesis. An initial readjustment appointment should be made the following day after you receive your dentures and another appointment about seven days later. It may be necessary from time to time to have adjustments as your tissues naturally change.
- Chewing: The new “bite” or occlusion will not be comfortable for a period of days. We will adjust the contacting surfaces of your teeth after 24 hours, and again in about one week after the dentures have “settled” into place.
- Upper vs. Lower Dentures: Your upper denture will rest comfortably in place with moderate-to-strong “suction.” Although your lower denture will have good stability, it is infrequent that “suction” can be expected on a lower denture. We suggest that you avoid denture adhesives unless you really have difficulty.
- Cleaning the Dentures and Your Mouth: Your dentures can be cleaned easily by using a denture brush and toothpaste. Denture soaks are also useful for the denture. Brush your gums with a regular toothbrush once per day to toughen and clean them. You should remove the dentures at night and soak them in diluted mouthwash.
- The Future: Your jaw bones and gums shrink up to 1/32 of an inch per year when your teeth are missing. This is one of the main disadvantages of dentures. Because of this shrinkage, you should plan to have your dentures and oral tissues evaluated by us once a year. We will inform you when relining or rebasing of the dentures is necessary. Wearing ill-fitting dentures for too long without refitting can cause severe bone loss and very serious oral disease. Even dentures that “fit” comfortably need to be checked along with your tissue. Oral Cancer screening should be performed yearly.
We look forward to helping you adjust to and enjoy your new dentures.
