Dentures are one of the most important inventions in the field of oral health. They allow us to speak, eat, and give us back our beautiful smiles. As you sleep, your dentures should be resting too, in a safe, sterile environment. Establishing and sticking with a proper nighttime denture care routine is critical to ensuring their longevity and promoting good oral health.
Why Should You Remove Dentures at Night?
Whether you’ve just received your first pair of implant dentures or have worn dentures for a while, taking good care of your dentures will ensure you don’t end up at the emergency dentist with denture problems! Here are a few reasons why removing your dentures at night is essential for proper denture care.
Resting Your Gums & The Dentures
Just as your body rests when you sleep, so do your dentures. Taking your dentures out at night allows your gums to ‘breathe’ without the pressure of the denture plate resting on them. This reduces irritation or inflammation that can occur if your dentures are left in overnight.
Promoting Saliva Production
The production of saliva is key to good oral health as it helps to wash away bacteria and promote digestion. If you leave your dentures in, you increase the risk of infections that could send you to the emergency dentist in Camden.
A More Comfortable Sleep
If you leave your dentures in your mouth overnight, you might not get the most comfortable sleep. Your mouth muscles move while you’re sleeping, promoting blood flow to your jaw, gums and other parts of your mouth. Leaving your dentures in overnight restricts this movement, which can cause aching and irritation the morning after, or during the night.
Denture Storage: Choosing The Right Method For You
Now we understand why removing your dentures are important, let’s explore how to store them overnight.
1. Soaking Solutions
One of the simplest and cheapest methods to store your dentures overnight is in a glass of lukewarm water with a denture-cleaning solution. Your local denture clinic may be able to recommend the best solution for your denture type.
Benefits: These solutions disinfect the dentures at night using sodium bicarbonate and other chemicals. When you remove your dentures in the morning, they’ll be clean and ready to wear. Soaking solutions also keep your dentures moist, preventing them from becoming brittle.
Drawbacks: Be aware that your specific type of denture might not require soaking at night. Your Camden implant dentist will be able to tell you whether your denture type requires nightly soaking.
2. Dry Storage Containers
These are an easily accessible option for denture types that don’t require nightly soaking, these are almost exclusively dentures with metal attachments as the chlorine in most tap water can cause metal corrosion over time. You can find dry storage containers in different styles and shapes at any Australian pharmacy or your local denture clinic.
Benefits: Sometimes, water and your denture cleaning solution can cause warping to dentures over time. With a dry storage container, you don’t have to worry about that.
Drawbacks: It is worth noting that dry storage containers don’t disinfect your dentures like the denture cleaning solution would. Pay extra attention to cleaning your dentures properly if you don’t need to store them in a wet cleaning solution overnight.
Choosing the Right Storage Method
Choosing the right storage method is critical to ensuring denture longevity. There are a few things you can do before spending money on storage methods.
Consult Your Denturist
Your local denture clinic in Camden will have the best advice on how to properly store and care for your dentures. Consult with your Camden denture clinic or, if they’re not open, perhaps try an emergency dentist.
Different Materials, Different Storage Options
Dentures are made from many different types of materials, from acrylic to thermoplastics and even zinc and zirconium. Depending on the type of material your dentures are made from, you might do damage to them if you store them overnight in water, or if you store them in a dry case. Ensure you’re using the right storage method for your denture type.
Personal Preference
At the end of the day, those are your dentures and you can choose how you store them! However, it’s highly advised that you follow the practices outlined by your Camden dentist. Different types of denture cleaning solutions can cost more than others, and in a pinch, you could use baking soda and warm water, or white vinegar and warm water.
Keep Your Denture Storage Container Clean
It’s easy to forget that your denture dry storage container will become a bacterial breeding ground in no time, particularly if you’re using it nightly. Be sure to wash it out thoroughly with soapy water and let it air dry.
Try to remember to disinfect it once a week. Your manufacturer should have instructions on how to do this properly, if you’ve misplaced the instructions, call your denture clinic and they’ll guide you through it.
Don’t forget to inspect your denture dry storage container for signs of damage, such as cracks or excess gunk build-up that doesn’t wash off. If you notice any damage, replace the container: they are inexpensive and readily available.
Additional Denture Cleaning Tips
Adopting a nightly cleaning ritual will increase the longevity of your dentures and promote good oral health, keeping you out of the emergency dentist’s office! Here are a few additional denture-cleaning tips for your nightly routine.
Brush Your Dentures Thoroughly
Treat your dentures as though they’re real teeth and brush them thoroughly at night and in the morning: front and back sides, top and bottom with a specialised denture cleaning brush and paste or cleanser.
Rinse Your Mouth Out
Not like your mother threatened to do when you accidentally swore, but rinsing your mouth out with water or mouthwash should be done every morning before you insert your dentures. This will remove any debris or bacteria that has built up during the night, leaving you a fresh, clean gumline to rest your dentures on.
Consistency is Key
Establishing a consistent nightly denture cleaning routine is key to promoting the best oral health possible. By being consistent, cleaning your dentures properly each night before bed will become a natural thing that you just ‘do’ rather than having to think about.
Final Thoughts
Cleaning your dentures properly each night will keep you and your dentures healthy and reduce your visits to your local Camden denture clinic or worse, an emergency dentist in Camden for something serious such as a gum infection.
If you need guidance on how to care for your dentures, reach out to us at our Camden Denture Clinic, or our MacArthur Dental Clinic at your earliest convenience.
