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Published On: February 10th, 2023Categories: Dentures, Partial Dentures6 min readViews: 629

How to Use Denture Cleaner Tablets: The Full Guide

Daily denture care is an essential part of keeping your dentures and partial dentures looking like new, promoting fresh breath, and removing fungus and bacteria that can lead to respiratory infections and illness. How to use denture cleaning tablets effectively as one part of your denture hygiene regimen deserves further discussion. Let’s explore what you need to know about using denture cleaning tablets effectively.

Denture Cleaner Tablets: The Basics

Denture cleaning tablets use chemical oxidants to remove stains caused by foods that dentures come in contact with daily. The ingredients in denture tablets also help remove bacteria harbored in the nooks and crannies of dentures, where a denture brush can’t reach. Effervescent ingredients disperse the cleaning compounds so that they can get to work removing denture stains and freshening your dentures. These actions are further enhanced by brushing your dentures after soaking.

What They’re Made Of

Most denture cleaning tablets contain ingredients similar to those found in household cleaners and laundry detergents, only in less abrasive forms. These components can include:

  • Sodium Bicarbonate and Citric Acid act together to produce hydrogen peroxide that causes the characteristic effervescence, distributing active cleaning ingredients throughout the solution
  • Potassium Persulfate, which oxidizes stains
  • Sodium Perborate acts as a bleach to whiten and kill bacteria and germs
  • Sodium Sulfite to prevent corrosion of metal components
  • Sodium Carbonate soda ash, a cleaner
  • Penta-Sodium Triphosphate to stabilize the hydrogen peroxide produced in the chemical reaction, helping the cleaning effect last longer
  • Sodium Lauryl Sulfate as a surfactant to get everything into solution
  • Tetra-Sodium EDTA chelating agent prevents metals present in tap water from interfering with the desired chemical reactions
  • Stabilizers such as Magnesium Stearate help to preserve shelf-life

While household cleaners and denture cleaning tablets contain some of the same compounds, it’s important to point out that using household cleaners on dentures can produce disastrous results and are never a safe substitute for products especially designed for denture cleaning.

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Using Denture Cleaner Tablets

Wondering how to use denture cleaner tablets? Well, they are designed to be very easy so that you can take advantage of the fresh feeling whenever you have about five minutes to spare. The steps are quite simple: 

  • Place dentures in a container and cover with slightly warm water.
  • Drop one denture tablet into the water and allow it to soak for the time as directed on the package instructions. Typically 3-5 minutes to at least an hour – most dentures will not soak overnight.
  • After soaking the denture for the allotted time, brush the denture with the cleaning solution using a soft brush.
  • Rinse the denture well under cool running water, do not use hot water with your detures. Discard the solution immediately after use.

Other Methods of Cleaning Dentures

While a few tablets are a good way to freshen dentures on a daily basis, there is no substitute for other methods, including brushing, to prevent the buildup of tartar and debris. 

Brush Dentures

Manual agitation of dirt and debris using a denture brush and a liquid soap does more to keep your dentures looking new and free from bacteria than any amount of soaking in a cleaning solution alone can do. The physical agitation will disrupt plaque and debris, preventing accumulation on the dentures. Never use toothpaste designed for use on natural teeth to clean dentures. Toothpaste contains abrasives that will flatten denture teeth and make your dentures look prematurely worn.

After-Eating Care

Bedtime isn’t the only time to clean and care for your dentures. Every time you finish eating, take the dentures out of your mouth. Rinse your mouth and the dentures with water to remove any food particles. There is no need to brush the dentures or use cleaning products during these brief rinses. 

Take to a Professional

If your dentures have stains and tartar that a brush won’t remove, it’s time to ask for help. A dental professional can remove stains and accumulations that make your dentures look dingy, inspect for pitted or cracked acrylic harboring debris and bacteria, and polish the dentures to a high luster, making them appear like-new and creating a slick surface that is easier to keep clean. If the denture acrylic is worn or cracked, the denturist may suggest a repair to prevent fracture and address the reasons why your denture doesn’t come clean at home.  

Frequently Asked Questions

Like any product, users want to know the best and most effective way to obtain the desired results as well as what the product will and will not do. Let’s talk about some common questions that denture wearers have when cleaning dentures with effervescent denture tablets. 

How Long Do You Leave Dentures in a Cleaner?

Different denture cleaner manufacturers use different formulations for their products. Soaking dentures overnight in denture cleaner is generally not necessary. Always consult the directions printed on the packaging to determine how long your dentures can safely soak in any cleanser. Be aware that some denture-cleaning formulations do contain sodium hypochlorite, and prolonged exposure to it can ruin the texture of the acrylic or damage the metal components of partial dentures.

How Often Should You Use Denture Tablets?

Denture tablets are safe for daily use. Using these products more than once per day is unnecessary and a waste of time and money.

Do Denture Cleaning Tablets Really Work?

Denture tablets work in conjunction with manual denture cleaning, like brushing with soap and water or a denture cleaning paste. Never rely on effervescent denture cleaners’ chemical reactions to do all the work. Without removing plaque and food particles with a brush, the salts in denture cleaning tablet solutions can actually harden plaque deposits, making your dentures look worse.

Are There Other Uses for Denture Cleaning Tablets?

Cleaning gurus have taken advantage of the oxidizing nature and convenience of denture tablets and have found a multitude ways to clean with denture tablets. Some off-label uses for denture tablets include:

  • Removing tough stains from coffee and tea cups, glass bakeware, and plastic containers
  • Removing stuck or burnt-on foods from cookware
  • Cleaning mineral deposits from coffee and tea stains off of pots and tea kettles
  • Cleaning the toilet bowl

A good tip for cleaning is to take a spray bottle filled with water and let the denture tablets dissolve in the solution. Then, spritz your stained mug, tea kettle, coffee pot, and more.

More Questions? Contact European Denture Center

A beautiful smile begins with a sparkling clean denture. Great-fitting dentures are an investment designed to last a number of years. Proper daily care helps to preserve and extend the life of your dentures. Let the denture professionals at European Denture Center answer all of your questions and guide you through the process of keeping your dentures in pristine condition. Schedule your consultation today!