3 Signs You Need New Dentures

If you have had your dentures for a good few years and they are still in one piece, then you may not think they need replacing. But though dentures do last for years, they don't last forever.   

When your dentures start to reach the end of their life, they give you hints that you may need to replace them soon. How can you tell if you need new dentures?

Once you got used to using dentures, you stopped noticing that you're wearing them. As dentures age, you may start to have some problems with the way they work. You'll become more conscious of your dentures again.

For example, you may find that eating is more difficult. Your dentures move around your mouth more and make clicking noises that they didn't previously make. You may also often bite the inside of your cheeks, especially when you're eating something hard or something tough to chew.

If you use denture adhesives, then these may not keep your dentures in place as well as they did in the past. Even if you've had your dentures relined to improve their fit, these relines only work for a while before your dentures start slipping about again.

These problems are often down to denture fit. Over time, your dentures stay the same shape and size, but the bones in your face change. Your dentures can't fit tightly enough because your mouth isn't giving them the support they used to have.

Denture teeth are strong and effective, but they are affected by long-term use. For example, your denture teeth may look a little shorter and stubbier than they did when you first got them.

Denture teeth, like natural teeth, wear down. Years of use reduce the size of the teeth, making them smaller than they were originally. This isn't always noticeable, but if you have a lot of wear on older dentures, then your teeth may look odd.

The colour of denture teeth also often changes over time. They may start to look more yellowed. Or, you may have problems getting stains out of the teeth.

It gets more difficult to remove stains from older dentures if tooth surfaces are cracked. Stains embed in these spaces. Even if your dentist cleans them out, the stains will come back. This makes parts of your dentures look streaked and unattractive.

The fact that you've kept your dentures in one piece doesn't mean that they don't need replacing. If you've had to have an increasing amount of work done to repair problems, then this is a sign that the dentures are failing.

While you need denture repairs if something damages your teeth, older dentures may need repairs for no obvious reason. You haven't dropped them or had an accident, they simply start developing problems.

Common signs that your dentures are reaching the end of their life include the following:

• Teeth falling or cracking off the plate
• Chips, cracks or lines appearing on some of the teeth
• Wear, chips or cracks appearing on your denture plates

While you can continue to have your dentures repaired to fix damage, this won't work forever. You could spend a lot of money on repairs only to ultimately find that you need a new set of teeth anyway.

The easiest way to check if you need new dentures is to have your dentist look them over. All of the dentists at the Steve King Dental Group have the experience and expertise to know when the time is right to invest in new teeth. To find out more, contact us.