Relines

Just like your natural teeth, dentures need to be constantly cared for — this means excellent habits at home and regular check up visits. In addition, dentures need to be periodically adjusted for a proper fit to avoid causing discomfort or difficulty chewing. Every few years, your denturist will usually recommend that your dentures be relined, or resurfaced, to conform to the changing contours of your mouth.

Why Is Denture Relining Necessary?

The bones and tissues in your mouth change over time. In fact, once you have a tooth extraction, the bone that once held the tooth in place begins to shrink. Since dentures require a tight fit against your gum tissue, it’s important to adjust the denture base to keep up with this shift.
Poorly fitting dentures can also contribute to the problem by wearing down the bone and soft tissues in your mouth more quickly. Relining your dentures helps minimize this erosion, as well as compensate for natural oral changes.

Repairs

Biting down on hard foods or dropping your dentures can crack the base, chip a tooth or break one. Such damage may tempt you to use an over-the-counter denture repair kit, but that could do more harm than good.

When it comes to repairing dentures, every denturist has different capabilities. Be sure to ask how long the denture repairs will take and what alternatives are available if you can’t wait very long.

Don’t Do the Glue!

There’s probably never a “good” time to damage your dentures, but breaking them late at night might put most people into a panic. Even if you feel like you can’t go one day without your dentures, don’t try to use Super Glue or any other type of store-bought adhesive to fix your dentures. You could do irreparable damage and wind up having to spend more in the long run.