Problems With Denture Cleaners & Soft Liners

Full and removable partial dentures need to be cleaned daily, just like natural teeth. Denture cleansers help remove odors, bacteria, food colors and stains. When it comes to cleaning soft liners, cleaning them properly is important and a little more difficult than hard liners.

ADA Approved

• When cleaning soft liners, it's important to remember to be gentle and handle your liners properly. Dentures of any type are fragile, especially with soft liners. Some denture cleaners may not be approved by the American Dental Association (ADA) and may contain alcohol, bleaches, whiteners or abrasive cleaners, which can damage your soft liners. The problem with these types of cleaners is they can scratch the surface of the denture or turn the pink parts of your denture white. When buying denture cleansers, look for a non-abrasive cleaner with the seal of approval on the product from the ADA to help ensure quality and the safety for soft liners.

Non-abrasive

• Before placing a non-abrasive cleanser in water to soak the soft liners, use lukewarm water. Do not use boiling or even hot water. Doing so can cause damage to the soft lining material. Regular toothpaste is not gentle enough to use on soft liners. Be sure the denture cleaner you choose doesn't contain any abrasive ingredients to prevent damage and corrosion to your soft liners.

Gentle is Best

• Taking proper care of dentures with a soft lining is a little different than care for regular dentures. Since the lining is soft, smaller food materials may become lodged in your soft liner (seeds, for example.) Any food product made with seeds can easily get stuck in the soft liner and be harder to clean. You may want to pick the food particle out, but that will create a problem. Use a gentle denture brush with a non-abrasive cleanser on the soft liners to remove embedded food.