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 is Denture Cleanser 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 safe substitutes for products specially designed for denture cleaning.
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 dentures. 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.
Ultrasonic Denture Cleaner
Ultrasonic denture cleaners are advanced devices that use high-frequency sound waves to create powerful vibrations in water or a cleaning solution. These vibrations generate tiny bubbles that effectively clean dentures by dislodging plaque, food particles, and bacteria from hard-to-reach areas. Unlike traditional brushing, ultrasonic cleaners provide a gentle yet thorough clean without scratching the surface of the dentures, making them ideal for preserving their longevity. With regular use, an ultrasonic denture cleaner can help maintain better oral hygiene, keeping dentures fresh and reducing the risk of infections or bad odors.
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.
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!