It is important for patients to know how to maintain their dental products. With proper maintenance, the dental work can surely last longer, and patients can decrease the risks of causing oral diseases. Here are the instructions to care, clean and store your dental work.
How to maintain fixed dental restoration?
- Make sure you feel comfortable with the dental work in your mouth, especially in the first few days. If anything goes wrong with occlusion, fitting or contact, please immediately come back to your dentist for adjustment.
- Brushing your teeth at least 2 times daily, and flossing after meals can help protect your dental restorations and maintain your oral health.
- Do not drink too much soda, coffee or tea; do not eat too much sweet food such as candies, cakes and chocolates. Rinse your mouth immediately after taking such drink or food.
- Do not chew on hard surface such as bones and nuts; do not chew only on one side of your jaw, in order to prevent breakage or fracture of the restorations.
- Quite smoking, which could make the shade of your dental work unappealing over time， and make the restorations less durable.
- Visiting your dentist twice or at least once a year helps find out underlying problems related to dental restorations such as occlusion, retention or contact. Dentists can also help you clean teeth and maintain your oral health.
How to maintain removable dental restorations?
- Be patient! It takes time to get used to wearing dentures. Make sure that you use your dentures regularly, even if you feel uncomfortable with them at the early stage. A denture would be useless if it was left behind for long, since a person’s oral soft tissue might change over time.
- Do not chew on hard surface such as bones and nuts; do not eat sticky food.
- Do not fix the denture by yourself. After using the denture for a period of time, oral mucosal tenderness, edema, and dental ulcer might occur. Please take out the denture and put it into a glass of cold water. Wear the denture 2 hours before going to the dentist, so the dentist can find out the problem and modify the denture.
- Consult your dentist on how to correctly wear and remove your denture. Do not force wear and remove it, in order to prevent breakage.
- Keep your denture clean. Wash (using cold water) or brush your denture, and rinse your mouth after meals. Be careful not to drop your denture during cleaning.
- Remove your denture at nights. Clean it and put it into cold water for the night. Do not soak in alcohol or hot water, in order to prevent discoloration, deformation and aging.
- Your denture should be repaired as soon as possible, on condition that the base is not deformed, if it is loose or if it breaks.
- Visit your dentist twice or at least once a year. Your dentist will make necessary modifications and adjustments to the dentures, so that not only can the denture function well, but also the soft and hard tissue lesions can be avoided.
How to maintain dental retainers?
- Consult your dentist on how to correctly wear and remove your retainer. Do not force wear or remove it, in order to prevent breakage. Wash your hands thoroughly before wearing or removing your retainer.
- Be patient. It takes about one week to get used to wearing retainers. But if you feel very painful, please visit your doctor immediately.
- Remove your retainer during eating, and thoroughly clean your retainer with water before wearing.
- Clean your retainer right after you take it out of your mouth (when it is still wet). It is easier to remove stain before it hardens.
- Use a soft cloth or brush to clean your retainer (using cold water or warm water) after meals (it is also a good time to brush your teeth). Toothpaste is not recommended, since it is erosive, and may hurt the surface of the retainer. If necessary, clean the deepest groove and ridge on the retainer with a cotton swab.
- Do not use any irritating cleaners to help clean your retainer. It might cause you Pharyngitis.
- Do not expose your retainer in high temperature.
- Do not soak your retainer for too long, since it might damage the metal parts if there is any. If your mouthwash contains alcohol, soaking your retainer in it might damage the plastic.
- Put your retainer into box while you are not using it. Keep it away from pets and children.
- Visit your dentist twice or at least once a year.
How to maintain mouth guards?
- Put you mouth guard in the box. Do not expose it in high temperature.
- Thoroughly wash your hands before wearing.
- Clean your mouth guard before and after wearing. Brush it with toothpaste is recommended.
- Change a new mouth guard regularly. For teenagers, it is better to change it every 3 to 6 months. For adults, it is better to change it in every 6 months.