What is denture toothpaste?

Toothpaste is a paste that is used to aid in teeth brushing. Denture toothpaste is a paste that aids in denture brushing.

Why do we need to brush dentures?

Denture is a form of artificial teeth that is placed in the mouth to replace missing teeth.  Because it is placed inside the mouth, it would build up plaque as we eat and drink. Due to wear and tear, sometimes a denture may have cracked lines. These cracked lines trap stains and plaque easily. Nicotine from a smoker or colored food and drinks would also stain a denture. Thus, it is important to remove plaque and stains regularly from denture to maintain its good function and form. If a denture is left unclean, plaque will harden and becomes tartar. Tartar is hard and difficult to clean by brushing alone. The most unbearable thing of an unclean denture is the odor. Odor from a denture would cause bad breath. A dirty denture will harbor bacteria and cause infection to the gums which is known as denture stomatitis.

How to choose a denture toothpaste?

Normal toothpaste usually contains abrasive agents like alumina, hydrated silica, dicalcium phosphate, salt, pumice, kaolin, bentonite, calcium carbonate (chalk), sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) and calcium pyrophosphate. These abrasive agents would cause minor scratches over denture causing it to accumulate plaque and bacteria. Therefore, it is better to use denture specified toothpaste to aid in brushing your denture. If you want to buy normal toothpaste then please avoid whitening toothpaste and the contents stated above. Minty toothpaste would help to give a fresh smell after brushing. There are toothpastes that contain antibacterial agents (Triclosan, sanguinaria extract, baking soda (when greater than 26%), zinc citrate trihydrate, polyphenols, stannous fluoride, essential oils)that could kill bacteria thus prevent odor.

How to clean a denture?

One way to clean a denture is thorough brushing. You may need a soft bristled toothbrush that is designed to brush denture. Please avoid using hard bristles as they would scratch the surfaces of a denture. Using a smaller toothbrush would allow you to reach narrow spaces of the denture. Besides these, you can also use hand soap with lukewarm water to brush your denture. Some researches proved that cleaning denture with hand soap has the best result.

Besides brushing the denture, it is important to soak the denture with denture cleanser/ denture cleaner. Stains are hard to remove therefore soaking the denture would help in this case. Denture cleanser comes in different forms and strengths. Denture of a smoker may need higher strength of denture cleanser to remove nicotine stains.

Dentures are always soaked overnight to prevent dryness. Usually, it is soaked overnight solely in denture cleanser or soaked in water after rinsing it off denture cleanser.

People who apply denture adhesive to prevent denture looseness may need denture wipes to wipe of the adhesive from denture and gums before brushing it. This depends on individual as it is not necessary if you feel brushing alone is adequate to remove the denture adhesive.

There is a vast variety of denture cleaning products in the market. It is always advisable to understand the function and efficacy of the denture cleaning product before purchasing. It is wise to use different kinds of product before you find the most suitable one. Most importantly, you must clean your denture everyday.