AVOIDING A SHATTERING EXPERIENCE
The misfortune of denture breakage is an event that can strike fear into the heart of any individual who has had this unfortunate experience. The stress compounds if you are in a work or social situation and suddenly find your smile is a tooth or two short, or worse in two pieces. The reasons dentures break are varied, but with a little care and forethought you can reduce the chances of such a mishap.
The most common reason dentures break is because they have been dropped while being cleaned. Hard bathroom floors, sinks, and taps take their toll on many a mishandled denture. When cleaning it is wise to fill your sink partially with water or place a face cloth in the bottom. This along with holding your denture low in the sink will likely cushion the fall should you loose your grip while brushing.
Denture breakage’s that occur while in your mouth are less common, but can happen at more inopportune moments. There are however some predictable circumstances that can lead up to this misfortune.
1. You guessed it, steak bones, hard candies, ice cubes, nut shells and other such fare can test the limits of tooth strength. Let common sense dictate what you bite.
2. Loose fitting dentures can lead to fractures. As your ridges shrink dentures become less supported and are more prone to flexing while under the force of chewing. Having your teeth checked and relined if necessary will help in preventing this problem.
3. Disharmony in bite relationships. As your dentures age, the way they align to one another can begin to change resulting in uneven pressure distribution. This may result in a tooth actually being popped out of a plate. Most often one of the front teeth on an upper denture. Again a regular check up will most often identify this type of problem and preventative measures can be taken.
Fortunately, a broken denture can usually be repaired through a process of replacing the damaged area of acrylic with new material. This bonds the denture back together. In the case where a tooth has been lost, most clinics will carry a fair selection of spare molds and should be able to find an appropriate replacement. Some clinics will provide this service in about an hour, so the inconvenience is minimal.
Key points to bear in mind should you need a denture repaired:
1. bring in all the pieces with you.
2. absolutely do not attempt to glue a denture back together yourself. Once glue has been applied to a denture, the fitting edges can become very distorted, making it difficult or impossible for your practitioner to accurately mend your plate.