Can I Sleep With My Dentures In?
Denture Clinic Near Me - All Smiles Denture Clinic | Darius Northey | Dental Prosthetist
Advice From Darius On Sleeping With Your Dentures In Overnight
This Is A Great Question!
Darius has a long and short answer to this commonly asked question!
Short Answer
No.
All Smiles Denture Clinic recommends taking them out and not sleeping with your dentures in.
How to care for your dentures:
Each night, take your dentures out, brush them gently (over a towel in case you drop them) with soap & water and a gentle denture brush;
Brush and clean your gums with a gentle toothbrush and toothpaste;
Soak your dentures next to your bed in a fresh glass of water or denture cleaner overnight. Rinse before you pop them into you mouth the next morning
Common Questions Asked
Can I sleep with my dentures in?
Can you leave partial dentures overnight?
Is it ok to sleep with dentures?
Can you leave partial dentures in overnight?
Is it ok to sleep with dentures?
Do dentures have to be removed at night
Can you choke on dentures?
Should you keep dentures in water overnight?
Long Answer
It’s better to take your denture out at night because of two main reasons:
Increased risk of trapping dead skin cells and food under your denture, which can possibly lead to bad breath, infections and oral issues.
Bone Loss; and
It is possible that you can choke on small Partial Dentures;
Keeping the gums clean and fresh is really important. It is important that you look after your gums the same way you would if you had teeth. Brush your gums regularly, this removes dead skin cells, or food particles that could be trapped underneath your denture. This helps prevent infections and bacteria, removes dead skin cells and stimulates blood flow in your gums.
Brush and clean your denture at least nightly, but if possible, preferably after each meal.
Gently clean your denture with soap and water and a denture brush (Do not use toothpaste).
Brush your gums with a gentle toothbrush and toothpaste.
Soak your dentures in water or denture cleaner overnight.
Your Dentures, Your Gums And Bone Loss
Lets talk about bone loss and dentures. Dentures rely on a certain amount of bone in your mouth to help keep your dentures stable in place.
More bone = More Stability
Think of it like the denture has a snug place to fit. If you start losing bone, you can imagine that the denture might begin to lose it’s place, it’s snug position in your mouth. As you lose bone, your denture might feel loose and like it is moving around. You don’t want that, you want to keep as much bone as possible. [Bone loss is a natural part of aging and to a certain degree there is nothing you will be able to do about that].
Side note, we recommend regular relines of your dentures - this also minimises bone loss. We recommend getting your dentures relined between 2 - 5 years. Relines also create a snug place for your denture to fit in your mouth.
So now we understand why bone is important with dentures, now understanding how wearing your dentures at night can effect this. Essentially, the more you wear your denture, the more you create gentle movement of the denture against the bone which contributes to bone shrinkage/bone loss.
Risk Of Choking
Due to the many different sizes and variations of partial dentures, some can be small enough and accidentally swallowed during sleep.
If you have any questions, or feel like you would like more information, please don’t hesitate to contact Darius.
Fancy Some Futher reading?
Great article by Polident Australia - here
Qld Health - here (I will note that this was last updated in 2008, which seems a very long time ago. I have checked with Darius and he still feels that this information is correct and relevant.)
Author - Darius Northey, Dental Prosthetist
