Sleeping with your dentures in: Don’t do It!

Dentures can be a wonderful thing for people who have lost their natural teeth. A well-designed denture gives you the ability to eat a variety of food, speak properly and smile with confidence.

Wearing dentures can be life changing. Therefore many people do not like to be without them even when they are sleeping

Unfortunately, wearing a denture 24 hours a day can have some nasty consequences.

Continual denture wear puts pressure on the gums and the bony ridges beneath them. As a result there is a gradual decrease in bone volume and density.

Loss of bone means less support for the dentures causing them to become loose and fall out more easily. And if that isn’t bad enough, the bone loss can prematurely age you as the cheeks and lips lose support 🙁

Dentures left in overnight can also easily become a breeding ground for all kinds of nasty bacteria and fungi. A very unpleasant thought!

Bad breath, inflammation of your tongue and gums and the risk of bacteria spreading into your lungs are real risks with a link between sleeping with dentures and an increased risk of pneumonia.

Lastly, while you sleep saliva production is much lower. Combined with wearing a denture this is likely to cause painful inflammatory yeast infections of the mouth and lips

Interestingly it has been shown that people who sleep with their dentures in have higher blood levels of a protein called interleukin 6, which indicates that the body is fighting an infection.

Convinced yet?

Quality of life should be enhanced, not reduced, by wearing dentures.

So take your dentures out at night because looking good for any surprise midnight visitors just isn’t worth it!