There are some common problems that can occur from wearing removable partial denture.

 

PLAQUE ACCUMULATION

Plaque accumulation is the most seen effect as plaque is accumulated more at the denture bearing areas and around teeth where components are placed. This can be avoided by meticulous maintenance of oral hygiene and proper cleaning of denture.  One method to clean denture is by using denture cleansers,there are a lot of denture cleansers available in the market or you can try to make your own denture cleansing agent  etc: 1 tablespoon of sodium hypochlorite ( bleaching agent),1 tablespoon of Calgon(water softener) to loosen deposits. For more information regarding taking care of new dentures, read http://www.intelligentdental.com/2011/04/12/how-to-care-for-new-dentures/.

More plaque accumulation will cause more caries and periodontal problems(such as periodontitis). It will also cause inflammation of the mucosa such as fungal infection by candida spp,(thick white curds formed on oral mucosa ), denture stomatitis (red sore area under denture bearing are) and etc. Our main reason to replace missing teeth is to provide esthetic, promotes mastication function and prevents drifting of other natural teeth, but not to create more dental problems which require further treatment. Thus, patients (denture wearers) should be responsible in taking care of their oral and denture hygiene to prevent problems from occurring.

Inflammation or irritation of oral tissues can also be provoked by prolonged hours of denture wearing.  For denture wearers, you should provide adequate rest for your denture bearing surfaces by removing your dentures at night to reduce stress which are acting on your oral tissues.  After removing your dentures at night, you should place it in water to prevent dimensional and occlusal changes.

TRAUMA TO TEETH, RESTORATIONS, GUMS, ORAL TISSUES

Components of dentures such as clasps ( metal components from the denture that encroach your teeth) etc can cause trauma to our teeth, existing restorations, our gums and other oral tissues. It might be due to poor design / construction of denture which causes the components to be placed  at the wrong place. Traumas such as fracture of cusp, abrasion of teeth, inflammation of periodontal tissues, hyperplasia (excessive tissue at areas traumatized by components of denture)   can occur because of this.

TRANSMISSION OF EXCESSIVE FORCE

Poor design of denture might leads to construction of a denture which transmit excessive force to certain teeth. Possible problems that will rise are mobility of teeth, resorption of bone at that area, aggravation of periodontal problem, pain, etc.

PAIN FROM WEARING REMOVABLE PARTIAL DENTURE

Pain maybe due to poor denture design as we have mentioned earlier can creates excessive pressure at certain areas on your denture bearing areas (oral tissues where your denture lies on). It can be also due to sharp, untrimmed acrylic  points on your denture base which hurts your oral tissues whenever you wear your denture.  If you are facing this problem, you should let your dental surgeon finds out what is wrong and whether a repair/reconstruction of denture is needed.

DENTURE OCCLUSAL ERROR

If denture teeth are not set according to how you bite/occlude, you might not be able to bite/chew efficiently. Again, excessive force will be placed on teeth which are occluding and cause  periodontal problem . This excessive pressure might also cause facial pain or temperomandibular joint pain.

Denture problems might seem to be small at first, but they might lead to bigger problems in the future. Thus, if any of these problems occur to you, you should get professional consultation and get it fix as soon as possible.