Whether false teeth break or don't fit quite right, the best solution is to visit a dentist. Dentures may look natural, but they do not respond to changes in the shape of your mouth, and can become damaged if they're dropped. Caring for or replacing dentures incorrectly can also harm them, which is why it's important to act according to the following conditions.
Maintaining Dentures
Careful daily maintenance keeps dentures from becoming misshapen, which would weaken their structure and raise their risk of breaking if you were to drop them on a hard surface. Therefore, dentures should be removed from the mouth and cleaned once per day, usually at night. Be sure to do this over a towel or a sink full of water to avoid similar breakage or damage if they slip out of your hands. After rinsing your dentures in cool, clean water, brush them with a soft-bristled toothbrush and place them in a denture cleaning solution overnight. Allowing dentures to dry out can change their shape so they no longer fit properly.
Poorly Fitting Dentures
Jaws and gum lines can change shape over time, and this can cause false teeth to become loose or ill-fitting. Your dentist will even see signs that your dentures don't fit well at a checkup, or you may notice the dentures feel loose yourself. Stay alert to gums that are irritated or cause difficulty chewing, as well. Under these circumstances, your dentist can fix the problem by relining, rebasing or remaking the product entirely. Relining applies new surface material to the base of the dentures, whereas rebasing involves replacing the denture base. Alternatively, your dentist may decide to remake the dentures with both a new base and new set of teeth.
Broken or Damaged Dentures
Dentures don't just break or become damaged when dropped on hard surfaces; they can also succumb to general wear and tear. The South African Dental Association suggests partial dentures can incur this harm if the user bites down to fit them into place. This bends the clasps that attach the dentures to the natural teeth.
Keep in mind that only a dentist can fix damaged or broken false teeth. Attempting to fix them yourself can be dangerous to your health. Over-the-counter glues contain harmful chemicals, and should not be used for repairing dentures. Another hazard may come from fixing dentures incorrectly – sometimes beyond repair – leading to irritation and mouth sores that need additional oral maintenance on your part. A dentist can often fix simple damage within a day, but a complicated repair may require sending the denture to a dental lab.
Implant-Supported Dentures
Implant-supported dentures may face their own complications wherein the teeth loosen from their base and supporting screws, causing the denture to become loose or the implants to become unsteady as a result. Clenching or grinding the teeth, along with an uneven fitting at the outset, also make implant-supported dentures more likely to loosen or break. And as with other types of false teeth, a dentist is the best person to fix problems with implant-supported dentures.
For speed or budgetary reasons, it may be tempting to try to fix your poorly fitted, damaged or broken dentures yourself, but only a dentist has the skill, materials and experience to repair them. It may seem convenient, but tending to them yourself can be more harmful to your health than it's worth. Plus, a dental visit takes only a short time to provide a long-term, effective solution.
