Gum disease is a condition that affects a lot of adults, and while many people get it under control with careful dental hygiene and regular dentist visits, others do not. Over time, gum disease can lead to the loss of your teeth, which may have you looking at getting dentures. When you get dentures, it's important for you to know that you still need to give some thought to gum disease — it's still a risk, and will continue to be something that you need to work on preventing. Here are three things to know about gum disease when you have dentures.
There Are Several Ways To Keep Your Mouth Clean
As you get used to wearing dentures, you'll also get used to removing them and cleaning them. Don't view this task as a hassle — it's a necessary part of preventing gum disease. When you clean your dentures as per your dentist's instructions, you'll be removing the bacteria that could compromise your gum health. At the same time, you need to keep the inside of your mouth clean. With a soft toothbrush, lightly brush your gums, and don't forget to use mouthwash as a measure for controlling bacteria.
Irritation Is A Sign That You Need To Clean More
When you're wearing your dentures, notice if there are any areas in which you're experiencing discomfort. Irritation on a particular area of your gums can often suggest that this area is in the early stages of gum disease. In the same manner as flossing your teeth can be especially painful if you have a lot of bacteria, you'll need to take this irritation as a sign that you need to clean your dentures and/or mouth more. Consult a dentist if you're unsure of how to make these improvements.
Gum Disease Can Affect The Fit Of Your Dentures
If you don't take a serious approach to preventing gum disease when you have dentures, you'll begin to experience bone loss — which is something that you've likely already contended with if you had to have your teeth pulled. As your gum disease progresses and you experience more loss of your jawbone, you'll notice that your dentures don't fit as well as they once did. Ill-fitting dentures can be painful and make talking and eating a challenge. Fortunately, by keeping your mouth clean throughout the entire time that you wear dentures, you can prevent such an issue.
Share14 March 2019
Do you have "bad teeth"? I do. Ever since I was a kid, every checkup turns up a number of issues ranging from cavities to dental fractures. It has always been frustrating to keep my smile in decent shape, which is one of the reasons I started focusing on understanding different dental problems. I wanted to know what I was getting into when I visited the doctor, so I began focusing on learning as much as I could. I wanted to create this blog all about dentistry so that other people could find out what to expect when they head to the dentist. Check it out!
