Denture Cleaner
Denture cleaners at home consist of manual cleaning, chemical cleaning and both. All dentures must be cleaned in a similar fashion as cleaning natural teeth because oral bacteria will still build up on surfaces of all dentures. If the denture is not cleaned regularly, it will soon build up bacteria which can harm your gums and any remaining teeth if you still have any. In addition, an infection called denture stomatitis can arise which is quite difficult to treat once it has taken hold in your mouth. A denture cleaner can be one that a dentist uses or one that you can use at home. For a small fee, you can ask your dentist to clean any stubborn marks or calculus on your dentures. Many patients don’t know that calculus or tartar which used to build on your teeth can also build upon the surface of the denture. This cannot be brushed off manually and needs to be cleaned mechanically using an ultrasonic scaler which the dentist or the dentist’s laboratory have access to.
Denture cleaners at home consist of manual cleaning, chemical cleaning and both. Manual cleaning consists of using a denture brush with a cleaning agent in the form of a paste. It is perfectly acceptable to use a normal manual toothbrush with a normal toothpaste. However, denture brushes seem to have harder bristles so they can be seen to be more effective. Chemical cleaning usually consists of tablets which are dissolved in running water and then the denture is soaked in them. You can also buy mechanical ultrasonic cleaners under the counter. A cleaner must have several characteristics in that it must be able to remove bacteria that builds on the denture, must have a pleasant taste, must not alter the colour of dentures and must not weaken the physical nature of your dentures.
Which is the best denture cleaner to use? Without a doubt, manual cleaning using a toothbrush and paste is the best but some patients may have difficulty using this so additional denture cleaners as mentioned above can be used either on their own or as an adjunct. When you are at the dentists, always ask if they have samples of denture cleaners which they get for free and which you can try out yourself.