You’re relaxing on the couch and watching a movie one night. By the time the film is over, it’s so late that you just plop down on your bed. You’re about to drift off into dreamland when you realize that you forgot to soak your dentures. While it might be tempting to just fall asleep with them still in your mouth, soaking dentures overnight is much more beneficial. Here are four reasons why.
1. Let Your Gums Rest
Your gums are designed to comfortably hold your natural teeth in place, but they weren’t made to support a denture 24/7. At the end of the day, it’s perfectly normal for your gums and jawbone to feel sore from the pressure of supporting your dentures. Letting your teeth soak overnight gives your gums an opportunity to recover.
2. Acrylic Dentures Are Porous
Most denture bases are made of acrylic, which is full of miniscule pores. These holes might be too tiny for you to see, but they’re large enough for bacteria to find their way inside and start colonies. When you wear the dentures, these bacteria can migrate to your gums and cause infections. Soaking dentures can prevent these bacteria from multiplying.
3. Oral Bacteria Increases as You Age
As you get older, the number of bacteria in your mouth grows. This increases your risk of gum disease, especially when your dentures aren’t regularly cleaned by soaking them.
Also, your mouth tends to produce less saliva as you age. Saliva rinses excess food particles and bacteria out of your mouth, so you want as much of it as you can get. In addition to drinking plenty of water, keeping your dentures clean can minimize the risk of various oral health problems.
4. Soaking Dentures Is an Effective Way to Clean Them
If you’ve ever thought, “there has to be an easier way of cleaning my dentures than brushing them all the time,” then you’re in luck, because there is! While brushing them daily is still important, it can’t remove the bacteria that have entered the denture’s pores. Nightly soaking, however, can keep these germs under control.
Soaking your dentures before bed is massively beneficial, and it only takes a few minutes every night. By sticking to this habit, you can make sure your smile stays healthy for years to come!
About the Practice
At Mt. Holly Family Dentistry, all of our dentists don’t just “fix” problems as they arise. Instead, our team partners with patients to develop a personalized, lifelong plan to maintain a healthy smile. We offer many ways of replacing missing teeth, including full, partial, and implant-retained dentures. To learn more about the benefits of soaking dentures, you can contact our office at (609) 267-3230.