Improving Your Dental Care

Broken Dentures? What You Need To Know

Dentures can give you back a positive quality of life. You can get a new set of teeth in a matter of hours that are easy to wear and maintain. However, dentures can snap or break when you least expect it. Here are some things you need to know if your dentures suddenly break:

How Are Dentures Repaired?

Typically, dentures must be sent to a lab anytime they need to be repaired. The technicians who work on dentures receive specific instructions from your dentist as to what type of repair needs to take place. Once the dentist checks your dentures for damage, they will send them to a lab for repair.

Can You Use Glue for a Temporary Fix?

Damaged dentures cannot be repaired with glue. Glue is not strong enough to hold up to your chewing pressure. Most glue will not bond properly with dentures and can even cause additional damage. Glue also dissolves in saliva, which means any type of repair you may do is short lived. In addition, some glues can be toxic, and they taste awful. Unfortunately, you will have to send the dentures in for a proper repair and wear a spare set of dentures if you have them.

What Is the Difference Between a Repair and a Reline?

Denture repair and denture reline are two ways to deal with dentures that have issues. A repair will fix any damage to the dentures, either from dropping them, cracking them, chipping a tooth, or a detached tooth. A denture reline reshapes the surface of the denture where they rest on your gums. A reline helps with any fitting issues you may have as the soft tissues of your mouth change shape over time. If you do not notice any obvious damage to your dentures but they do not feel right or are not fitting well, you may need a denture reline instead of a repair.

What Should You Do if Dentures Break?

If you can see clear damage to your dentures, your first need to call your dentist and schedule an appointment to have them evaluated. You should begin using a spare set of dentures if you have them. Avoid any type of temporary fixes yourself, as you can damage the dentures further. If you do not have a spare set of dentures, be sure to let your dentist know so they can get you in the office as quickly as possible. Be sure to ask for the turnaround time for your denture repair. If your dentist has a lab in the office, the repair may be quite short.


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