Denture Education

Daily Care

Follow these steps for proper daily care of your dentures.

• Wear your dentures as much as possible. If you'd like, wear them while you sleep, too
• Keep your dentures and denture adhesives clean: Take them out for 2 hours each day and clean with Efferdent and Polident
• Drink a glass of water while your dentures are out of your mouth to revive the soft tissues.

Cleaning your denture adhesives out each day is important. Not cleaning them leads to build-up. Cleaning can lead to healthy oral cancer screenings and a healthy tongue, cheeks, and mouth.

Life of your Dentures

To maximize the life of your dentures, they should be:

• Reviewed by your dentist every year
• Realigned every 3 years
• Replaced every 5-7 years

Important: You can develop oral cavities even if you have no teeth.

Types of Dentures and Their Proper Care

Northwest Dental Services appreciates your business and will work hard to provide a lower cost, more comprehensive array of dentures than other clinics, such as Clear Choice and Affordable Denture. Please see below for the array of dentures offered by NWDS, along with some tips for their daily care.

Immediate and Replacement Dentures—those placed immediately after dental extractions. Care for your immediate dentures by:

• Rinsing with salt water for the first week, 10 times a day
• Avoiding hot liquids, carbonated beverages, sucking through straws, and smoking
• Visiting the denturist the day after surgery, 1 week after surgery, and 6 weeks after surgery to temporarily refit the dentures. After 6 months, the dentures will be permanently realigned for a nominal cost

Replacement Dentures—the next set of dentures after immediate dentures. Care for your replacement dentures by:

• Cleaning them immediately after use
• Realigning them every 3 years
• Replacing them every 5-7 years

Partial Dentures—those that replace one or more missing natural teeth and secure to your natural teeth with mechanical retention, metallic clasps, acrylic, invisible white clasps, and implant supported clasps. Care for your partial dentures by:

• Avoiding all bleached products, including Efferdent and Polident
• Lightly brushing them
• Storing them in plain water

Implant Supported Dentures—a type of over-denture that is supported by and attached to implants. Care for your implant dentures by having them examined and x-rayed at least once a year by our hygienist. See cleaning instructions for "Partial Dentures" for daily care.

Partial Casting Dentures—a metal framed prosthesis that can be removed and reinserted without professional help. Care for your partial casting dentures by:

• Removing your dentures after every meal and rinsing them with warm water
• Placing your dentures in a container filled with denture cleaner and soaking them for at least 15 minutes each day, or approximately 8 hours at night, three times a week
• Returning your dentures to the storage container when not in use, and filling with water so the denture material does not dry out.

Acrylic Denture or Flipper Denture—These are dentures for temporary use. Only use these dentures for 6-12 months to maintain cosmetics and spacing for a permanent partial or implants. These should be seen as a temporary, low-cost alternative until a more permanent alternative is affordable.