General Recommendations for Cleaning Dentures

• Unless your dentist tells you to leave your dentures in at night it is usually advisable to remove them.
• When cleaning dentures, brush them over a basin half filled with water. Should the denture be accidentally dropped the water will cushion the fall.

The most acceptable general method of cleaning is:

• Brush under cold running water before soaking to remove loosely adhering particles.
• Soak in a cleanser.
• Brush under running water after soaking to remove any remnants of the cleanser.

If you have been fitted with replacement dentures and your previous dentures show no sign of damage which can be attributed to either the method or the cleanser used, then it is generally advisable to continue with your present method.

If your dentist informs you that your mouth shows evidence of denture induced Stomatitis (redness of the mouth under a denture), alkaline hypochlorite is the soaking material of choice. Proprietary hypochlorites, for example Dentural and Milton, are thought to contain anti-corrosives which will stop damage to metal elements (although metal dentures should still not be soaked for more than a few minutes in them). Domestos and similar household cleaners do not contain anti-corrosives.

Do not use hot water for either cleaning or soaking your dentures. It may distort, weaken or even crack them.

Acrylic Resin (Plastic) Dentures

• Rinse denture after ever meal and remove debris by brushing with a soft toothbrush and a mildly abrasive denture paste.
• If possible soak overnight in a denture cleaning solution, for example neutral peroxide (Steradent) or alkaline hypochlorite (Dentural or Milton).