As beneficial as dentures are for maintaining your smile, replacing missing teeth, and assisting with tooth functions such as enunciation and chewing, if your dentures don’t fit properly, they can also cause a host of issues that interfere with your comfort, your oral health, and your facial structure.
Read on in this blog from Columbia River Dental to find out what causes ill-fitting dentures, how to recognize the signs, and what to do about it.
What Causes Dentures to Become Loose?
There are a few different reasons for a denture to become loose. The first would be that you have had teeth extracted in preparation for dentures and now they have fully healed. This is a natural process that dentists anticipate.
This is because dentures that are placed shortly after extractions are dealing with inflammation. Once this inflammation goes down, the fit of the denture will change. However, by far the most common reason that dentures become loose is due to bone resorption as well as your dentures reaching the end of their natural lifespan.
When you suffer from bone loss, the lack of tooth roots means the jawbone can no longer receive stimulation. When this stimulation is lost, the jawbone no longer replenishes itself and this can cause changes to your facial structure.
It’s only natural that over time, as bone loss progresses, there will be less support in certain facial muscles and the dentures will need to be relined, rebased, or replaced entirely. Keep in mind that your dentures are also only temporary.
They will last for about 7 to 10 years but if they’re constantly exposed to wear and tear, they made degrade or become loose much sooner than this. It’s also possible that your dentures weren’t fabricated correctly due to inaccurate impressions.
How to Tell If Your Dentures Don’t Fit Properly
The most common symptoms of ill-fitting dentures include mouth sores, discomfort or pain, difficulty eating, clicking noises, dentures that are moving around when you speak or eat, dentures that fall out of your mouth, and difficulty keeping them clean.
If you notice that your dentures are trapping food particles beneath them, that suggests that there isn’t a solid seal between the dentures and the gums.
Long-Term Problems With Ill-Fitting Dentures
Besides the general nuisance that ill-fitting dentures may pose in your everyday life, over time, an ill-fitting denture can cause some serious oral health problems. A loose denture will make it more difficult to keep your dentures clean, leading to trapped food particles underneath the denture.
The denture can also rub against your gums, causing irritation and leading to inflammation. When inflammation is ongoing, you may develop mouth ulcers that can cause infection or oral cancer. They can also accelerate bone loss which will worsen the problem of facial sagging.
Have Ill-Fitting Dentures? Schedule a Consultation Today!
Ill-fitting dentures can cause significant irritation, difficulty chewing and speaking, and significant oral health problems. They can even accelerate bone loss. If you’re noticing signs of an ill-fitting denture, contact us at Columbia River Dental today to schedule a consultation with Dr. Jonathan Feller.
We can examine your mouth and your denture to determine if you need a full replacement or just a relining or rebasing. Make sure that you continue to attend regular preventative appointments to check on your facial structure and denture fit.
In the first 30 days of receiving a new denture, it’s normal to experience discomfort, gum soreness, and other symptoms as you adjust to the dentures.