Do You Need a Denture Repair or Denture Reline?
Wearing denture doesn’t mean that you no longer have to worry about oral care or hygiene. Dentures require the same amount of care and maintenance as natural teeth. If you don’t give your dentures proper care, you risk shortening the life of your dentures or causing serious gum problems.
For this reason, you should never wait to visit your denturist when your dentures start giving you trouble. Dentures often require repair or reline in order to function effectively, and are considered a vital part of your overall denture maintenance.
To understand more clearly what a denture repair and denture reline are, let’s look at the two in detail:
Denture Repair
Denture repair entails having any sort of damage to your dentures fixed. You may need denture repair when there is a crack in your dentures, a tooth falls off or the clasp on your dentures need to be changed.
Dentures can be damaged in a lot of ways, like being dropped into the sink while you’re cleaning them or by biting hard foods. If you feel that your dentures may have been damaged, then don’t wear them until they’ve been thoroughly inspected by a professional as you could damage your mouth.
Attempting to repair them on your own is also a huge mistake. You could risk developing gum sores, irritation and inflammation, and even cause your dentures to harbor bacteria and start to smell. You could also do irreparable damage to your dentures, meaning you’d have to buy a whole new set.
Denture Reline
The shape of your gums does not remain the same as you age or your weight fluctuates. In fact, the shape of your gums may change significantly in only a few months’ time. Since dentures are artificial and do not organically shift like your natural teeth, they need to be relined on occasion.
Once your gums changes shape, your dentures are no longer able to fit perfectly in your mouth, which may begin to cause you discomfort. Some signs that your dentures need relining are difficulty chewing, a visible change in your jaw line, difficulty speaking, and general discomfort. Getting a denture reline as soon as this happens is the best way to ensure effective functionality of the dentures and to prevent irritation of your gums.
Denturists usually perform a denture reline by adjusting the base of your dentures on the tissue side, so that they are able to fit your mouth perfectly. Because it is so common – especially in the months immediately after removing teeth and getting dentures – many denturists offer relines for free for the first few months.
