Taking Care of Dentures

Written by: Muhammad Arif Rahimi

Teeth prepare food for digestion in the mouth, but sometimes teeth are damaged for a variety of reasons. They fall, destroy, or pull out by a dentist. Some people replace these teeth with dentures. If care is not taken to protect dentures, it can lead to some health problems.

AEPO’s writer/producer has talked to some people a dentist about this issue.

Rabia says, “My uncle replaced all his teeth with dentures. If he does not brush them, his jaws will bleed and swell and he will have bad breath.”

Shamsulhaq, a resident of Nangarhar province says, “I and mother had replaced our teeth with dentures. My mother was eating hard fruits. As the result, her jaw was injured and she was in severe pain. The dentist recommended that she should replace the denture with a new one. One side of her face was swollen and she could not eat easily."

Doctor Jawad Sadat, a dentist at one of the private clinics in Kabul city says, “There are two types of dentures: Movable and permanent fixed dentures. If we do not take care of both types, they will cause some health problems such bad breath, gum inflammation, gum pain and even abscess of the gum and problem during eating.”

What do some people think about the cause of these problems?

Shamsulhaq says, “If we do not take care of our dentures and do not keep them clean, the bacteria will damage our gum.”

Aziz Ahmad says, “All dentures are weak and if we break hard things with them, the denture might break or damage.”

Doctor Sadat says, “The main reason for breaking dentures is poor hygiene. Food particles rot in the space between the dentures and the gums. There are naturally germs in the mouth that act simultaneously; the mouth becomes infected and dentures destroy. Breaking hard objects with dentures can put pressure on the dentures and it can cause gum injury and breaking dentures.”

How do some people take care of dentures to prevent more health problems?

Maryam Hotak says, “My father is an old man and he is very weak. He uses complete dentures. He brings out his denture before going to sleep and I wash and keep them in lukewarm water in a pot. His dentures are not broken yet he has not faced any health problem due to using dentures.”

Muhammad Naim Wardak says, “I have replaced my 18 teeth with dentures. I do not break hard things with them. I brush them two times daily. I do not clean my dentures with a needle, stick, or nail. I use a special thread for this purpose and have not faced any problem yet with my dentures.”

Doctor Sadat says, “Fixed and movable dentures need the same care. We should wash movable dentures twice a week with tooth powder or with vinegar.
We should mix one portion of vinegar with four portions of water for this purpose and keep our movable dentures for a few minutes in the solution.

We should wash the fixed dentures twice a day with toothpaste and a soft toothbrush. We should avoid sharp-edged objects such as needles, pins, sticks, and so on.

We should wash our dentures with mouthwash or an antibacterial solution found in medical stores and if we do not break hard-shell fruits like walnuts and almonds with our dentures, we will not face any problems.”