Wearing dentures today is an excellent way to restore lost teeth for a healthy, beautiful smile. One of the ways you will need to care for your dentures includes having a denture reline done regularly. This is a way of adding a new lining to your dentures so that they fit comfortably once again.
Oral Changes
When a tooth is lost, the tissue left behind breaks down and is absorbed into the body, altering the density and shape of the gum tissue, affecting the fit of your denture, and is the reason why you routinely need to have the fit of your denture checked and adjusted. This is where the denture relines come in, necessitating either a hard reline, soft reline or temporary reline for optimal fit.
Hard Denture Reline: If you are wearing full dentures you’ll likely need a hard reline every two years. This involves taking out part of the plastic on the inside of your denture and adding putty on those areas where the dentures touch the tissue. Next, an impression will be made of your mouth by reinserting the denture. Once the impression is made, the denture is taken back out and the putty allowed to harden. Acrylic can then be added to the denture so that once again it fits your mouth comfortably.
Soft Denture Reline: Sometimes a patient wearing dentures finds that their gums are tender and they end up with sore spots on the gum tissue. In this case, a soft reline can fix the issue using a flexible material to reline the denture. This can allow you to wear the denture for at least a year or two with routine adjustments. These dentures are softer than your typical acrylic denture, so it won’t irritate sensitive gum tissue.
Temporary Denture Reline: Routine checkups and adjustments to your dentures can keep them fitting optimally. Should you skip the reline, your gums can end up red and feeling sore. Having a temporary reline helps restore the gum health after having put off a hard or soft reline, leaving you with painful oral sores. Using a medicated material, the gum inflammation can be treated until the area heals and a new denture or a hard reline can be done. Remember, just like your teeth require daily care, checkups and exams, your dentures require daily care and regular adjustments for their best fit.
