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Scott E. Keith, DDS, MS, FACP
Quincy Gibbs, DDS

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Home For Patients How Dried Out Dentures Can Hurt Your Mouth

How Dried Out Dentures Can Hurt Your Mouth


Posted on 2/20/2020 by Front Desk
How Dried Out Dentures Can Hurt Your MouthGetting dentures can be a liberating experience, especially if you've lived with tooth loss for quite some time. You're able to eat foods you've previously avoided, allowing you to diversify your diet to better meet your nutritional needs, and you can speak and smile with confidence.

Adjusting to dentures can be challenging, but the sensation of having a full mouth dissipates, and chewing and speaking become easier each day. Sometimes however, certain symptoms of other health conditions can put a damper on the excitement of getting dentures.

The Importance of Saliva

The production of saliva may be something you've rarely thought about, but getting new dentures can add new meaning to this essential process. Saliva is mostly water, but is also composed of mucus, electrolytes, enzymes, and antibacterial compounds. This vital fluid helps to moisten your food to chew and swallow, making it essential for digestion.

For denture wearers, saliva is vital for creating suction between your gums and your dentures, making the dentures more stable. Saliva is also a lubricant for preventing abrasion and irritation of your gums that can cause discomfort and infection. Finally, saliva functions to help prevent oral diseases, such as oral thrush.

Dry Mouth and Dentures

Leaving your dry mouth untreated, can lead to loose dentures, which can cause irritation, sores, and infection, so it's important to stay on track with any treatments or therapies that can improve health conditions contributing to dry mouth.

Underlying illnesses, such as diabetes and liver dysfunction, can reduce saliva production, and some blood pressure medications, antidepressants, and decongestants can contribute to dry mouth. Finally, we produce less saliva as we age, making the senior years a common time for both dry mouth and dentures.

Wearing dentures should be liberating and empowering, rather than something you avoid due to the discomfort of dry mouth. Contact our office with any concerns regarding your dentures or to schedule a consultation.
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Dr. Keith, Dr. Gibbs and Dr. Wang

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Dr. Keith and Dr. Petrini have been proudly serving the Grater Bay Area community for many years and pride themselves on performing excellent services in general dentistry and dental implants.
Dental Implant Center at Walnut Creek, 1111 Civic Drive, Suite 320 Walnut Creek, CA 94596 + (925) 266-3550 + implantcenterwc.com + 2/4/2025 + Tags: dental implants Walnut Creek CA +