How Are Dentures Able to Remain in Position?

If you are exploring the idea of investing in a partial or full denture, naturally, you will have many questions. For instance, one common worry that patients have is that their dentures may slip out. However, dentures are designed to stay in a patient's mouth—even without denture adhesive.

But how does it all work? 

Partial Dentures Hug Your Teeth

In many cases, where added stability is necessary, dentists will attach metal clasps to a partial denture. These clasps hug the teeth on both sides of a patient's jaw. Although the force applied to teeth is minimal and painless, this measure will ensure the denture doesn't slip out.

Full Dentures Rest in Place

Unlike partial dentures, full dentures do not usually require any clasps to hold them in place. If clasps are necessary then that could be because there is a lack of bone in the area, and so further stability is needed. In general, however, full dentures are designed based on the shape of each patient's mouth and rest snugly on gums and the supporting bone ridges beneath.

As long as there is enough bone to support full dentures, it should take around a month to adjust to speaking and eating comfortably in them. Any extraction sites should also take around a month to fully heal. At this stage, patients are ready to speak and eat with almost as much ease as they did with their natural teeth.

However, because full dentures rely on suction and fit to function at their best, some patients may struggle to keep them in place. This is due to several reasons.

Dry Mouth

Full dentures remain in place primarily via the suction created by a patient's saliva. As the denture settles onto their gums, provided enough saliva is available, it creates an area of suction that pulls the denture into place and keeps it there.

However, if a patient suffers from dry mouth, for example, due to the medication they are taking, there may not be enough suction to hold the denture in place. In this case, a patient's doctor can help by changing their medication. Patients can also use denture adhesive, in powder or paste form, to keep their denture firmly in place.

Insufficient Bone

When a person loses a tooth, the bone in that area of the jawbone begins to deteriorate. If one area of a patient's jaw has seen more bone loss than another, this could create an imbalance. As a result, they may struggle to keep their dentures stable. In this case, a dentist can help by doing a bone graft, to boost the amount of bone in the area.

However, it could take around six months for the graft to integrate. A dentist can also adjust a patient's denture, adding or removing padding to ensure that it fits as it should.

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