Dentures allow you to continue eating and drinking normally, no matter your previously experienced dental problems. However, just like real teeth, dentures need to be cleaned and maintained to ensure that they remain looking as good as possible and do not begin to break down. Following are a few tips on how you can keep your dentures in the best possible condition for as long as possible.

General Cleaning

After eating with your dentures, it's a good idea to clean them off to ensure that food debris does not build up in your mouth. Most dentures can be cleaned through brushing, as regular teeth can be, but if you have removable dentures it may be a good idea to take them out and rinse them under water to provide a deeper cleaning. Further, if you can remove your dentures, you should use a soft bristled toothbrush that has its head wrapped in gauze to clean off the inside of your cheeks, gums, and tongue.

Overnight Cleaning

If you're going to take your dentures out for an extended period of time (which of course will most commonly happen overnight), you should soak them in water or a denture cleaning solution to help dissolve any stuck on plaque or food debris that general brushing was unable to get rid of. In a similar vein to this point, it's a good idea to keep your dentures moist if you need to put them into storage or into a period of disuse to prevent bending, cracking, or other physical damage that could occur due to the drying out of the dentures. This means wrapping your dentures in a moist, clean washcloth or putting them into a glass of water for a few days: for storage that lasts more than a week, you should consult your dentist for storage solutions.

Dental Check-Ups

Finally, though it may seem unnecessary at first, the most important thing that you can do to maintain your dentures is to regularly see a dentist, at least once a year. Your dental health will change over time, and just like real teeth, it's necessary for your dentures to be professionally cleaned, adjusted, or replaced as needed based on your dental health situation. The longer you wait between dental check-ups, the more likely it is that your dentures will suffer from excessive structural damage and will need to be completely replaced, which is expensive and inconvenient.