At Total Denture Care we genuinely care about the overall wellbeing of our patients. One oral hygiene topic for patients to understand are the reasons to avoid sleeping with dentures.
Sleeping with dentures puts additional pressure on the gums and underlying bone. Once the natural teeth have been extracted, resorption occurs in which the bone volume and density begin to shrink. Wearing dentures adds to the speed of this recession in gum/ bone support so using them 24 hours per day will accelerate the resorption.
In addition, wearing dentures at night will cause an even higher chance of irritation, disease and smell which are caused by oral bacteria and fungi that build up. To prevent this, we recommend patients take their dentures out at night. This will help manage bacteria build up and improve oral health.
It is also important to note that the salivary flow naturally lessens at night. Wearing dentures during this period may result in denture stomatitis which is a condition that causes inflammation. This affects the tissue under the dentures which may become reddish, inflamed and infected. Conditions that can develop from this includes tongue and denture plaque, gum inflammation and oral yeast infections. In addition, a study published by the International and American Associations for Dental Research (Journal of Dental Research) found that overnight denture wearers have a higher risk of pneumonia.
Whether you wear full or partial dentures, leaving them out at night gives gums and other denture bearing tissues a chance to breathe and heal. It is also very important to allow saliva to coat the area covered by dentures to provide its beneficial antibacterial agents which are naturally present. Many oral diseases can be prevented by leaving your dentures out overnight and cleaning them well using a denture brush and denture cleaning solution. Good oral health for denture wearers is extremely important and we are here to provide you with ongoing advice and support as part of the Total Denture Care family.
