You might remember when your dentures were first fitted. While it might have initially felt odd to have a prosthetic device in your mouth, you would have quickly become used to the sensation, before you stopped noticing it at all. Then the benefits of your dentures would have quickly become evident. You could speak, smile, and eat with confidence, which was presumably exactly what you were hoping for. But that was then, and this is now, and you might notice that your dentures don't seem to be fitting as well as they used to. Dentures are a prosthetic device that comes into contact with living tissue, and this tissue is subject to change (which can cause a change in the effectiveness of your dentures). What exactly can cause your dentures to not fit as well as they used to? And what's the solution to this annoying problem?

Changing Gums

Your gums and indeed the entirety of the interior of your mouth is subject to change, just like the rest of your body, though these changes can be less obvious. You might have gained or lost weight, and those with missing teeth can be subject to a slight recession of the jaw bone over time (as it no longer needs to support the teeth that were previously rooted in these sections of your mouth). Any changes are gradual and can almost be barely perceptible. So how are you supposed to notice these changes then?

Loose Dentures

You might begin to notice that your dentures have started to become loose, and so you're not able to do everything that you used to with them (or least, not as easily). They might slip while you're eating (thus causing food to go under the dentures), or they might begin to feel loose when you're speaking (sometimes makinf a clicking noise that is barely audible as the dentures slide in and out of position). You might have occasionally used a denture adhesive, and you could now find yourself needing to reapply it multiple times throughout the day. So what's the solution?

Relining

Your dentures will probably only need to be relined. This is a quick and straightforward aspect of denture care. A reline involves your dentist applying a thin layer of non-toxic dental putty to the base of your dentures before reinserting them into your mouth. The putty then takes on the shape of the base or roof of your mouth for a perfect fit. Your dentist will then remove the dentures with the shaped putty, and these are then sent to a specialist laboratory where an acrylic resin is added to the denture in the exact shape of the molded plastic. Your dentures have been updated to reflect the shape of your mouth as it is now.

It's important to remember that your dentures will need modification throughout your life, and so you shouldn't ignore the warning signs.