Signs You Should Replace Your Dentures
Posted on: 28 March 2017
Dentures are a dental prosthesis that are either removable or permanently installed in your mouth. Just like regular teeth, your dentures can begin to wear down over time as they are exposed to general wear and tear and a wide variety of different foods and liquids. However, unlike real teeth, you can replace dentures, which means that you need to know the warning signs of damaged or worn dentures so you can replace them before they cause additional dental problems for you.
Color and Smell
You should keep an eye on the color of your dentures to determine when they start to become stained or discolored. Certain food and drink, like coffee, wine, and cherries, can stain your dentures, but more often than not discoloration is caused by excessive age, which means that your dentures are probably fairly worn and not as structurally strong as they were when first installed. Additionally, if you have removable dentures, you should smell them when you take them out. While this may seem like an odd thing to do, a bad smell in your dentures can point to food particles stuck in the dentures. While you can clean the dentures to remove the food, the gaps that they got stuck in will remain, meaning that replacement is likely the best option.
Headaches and Pain
If you have any sort of pain, either in the form of a headache or elsewhere on your face, such as the jaw or cheeks, your dentures may be to blame. Pain usually occurs when your face's dental structure or alignment changes. Since dentures are fixed and molded to a specific facial structure, normal changes in your dental structure due to aging or other factors can cause significant muscle strain and discomfort. This can also take the form of sore and chafed gums, tongue, or the inside of your cheeks. If this is the case, you should talk to your dentist about getting fitted for a new set of dentures.
Chewing Issues
If you find that you are having issues chewing food properly, and struggle to swallow because your food has not been properly broken up, the surface of your dentures may be damaged or the dentures are no longer sitting on your gums properly. This means that your dentures become much less effective as acting as replacement teeth, and can cause all sorts of inconvenience for you as you try to live your day to day life. You should contact your dentist, one like Crystal Dental Care, as soon as you notice that you're no longer able to chew normally anymore.
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