Denture Adhesive Comparison

Most denture wearers have experience of using denture adhesives. If you are reading this article, you are probably in one of the categories below:

1. You have wearing dentures already and are thinking of using a denture adhesive to improve things.

2. You are using a denture adhesive already but you are still having problems with your denture.

3. You are wondering which denture adhesive you should use and do they actually work.

Introduction

Even those who don’t wear dentures will have seen adverts on TV or in magazines. These adverts show a couple of old age pensioners on a sunny paradise beach with silky grey hair, laughing and smiling. This is obviously a gimmick because Most people who are retired and wear dentures are just merely surviving their meagre daily lives with various burdens. But not this couple in the ad! Firstly, they only look 45 years of age and secondly, they have the energy of a couple of teenagers on Ecstacy, dancing all hours in a nightclub. On the paradise beach with the sun beaming down, they then bite into an apple and give a loud crunchy sound with their pearly white denture teeth. The remarkable thing is that they can do this with dentures that look white and perfect, but their dentures do not even move a hair breadth. At this point, the ad reveals their secret. The secret to their paradise life is in their denture adhesive.

In this article, I will give you the true reality of denture adhesives. You will learn if they will work for you or are they a complete waste of time and money. If you find that they may benefit you, then you can read how to use denture adhesives and which types you should try.

Finally, are all the brands the same?

What Is A Denture Adhesive?

So I suppose to start off with, perhaps you may ask, “What is a denture adhesive?”

A denture adhesive is an external substance which is applied to a denture to reduce or eliminate the movement of the denture both during at rest and in function such as talking, eating and smiling.

Types Of Denture Adhesives

The different types of denture adhesives come as pastes, powders and strips. Examples are Fittydent ( paste), Wernets ( powder) and Seabond( strips). The cost can vary hugely with the ones such as Polygrip being the most pricey as they are marketed heavily. Own brand products will cost less. Even The same product is often a lot cheaper by shopping around in discount stores and pound shops. Finally, I can tell you a place where you can get it for nowt. Yes, that’s right……you can buy denture adhesive for nothing if you ask at the reception desk at your dentist. You see, all dental practices get tons of freebies which includes denture adhesives. Most of the time, your dentist hasn’t got time to give these free samples to their patients and eventually these free samples get binned. They get binned, unless that is, you go and ask for them. Furthermore, don’t just ask for one or two tubes, instead ask for as many as they have got. Sometimes you will get a tight arsed, miserable fat receptionist who may give you a tiny sample tube but luckily you will be rewarded by being polite and by going to the right person.

What’s The Difference?

Denture adhesives come as pastes, powders and strips. Is one better than another and what’s the difference anyway?

Pastes

This is the most common type of denture adhesive. Most forms of denture adhesive come as a ready mixed pink paste from a plastic tube which you squeeze and can be carried in your pocket or handbag. The paste doesn’t set or dissolve so it has to be removed at the end of the day. To apply it, it’s best firstly to make sure your denture is clean and also dry. The denture adhesive is placed on the fitting surface of the denture. The fitting surface is the surface which sits or is in contact with your gums or palate. So how much do you need? That is a good question! The vast majority of patients think that the more denture adhesive you use, the better the hold. Unfortunately, this is just not the case at all. I always always say, “USE THE LEAST AMOUNT POSSIBLE.” The next question will therefore be, how do you know if you are using the least amount possible. Well firstly, you should get no oozing out of the paste from the edges of the denture. If you do, you have used far too much. In addition, it will just taste horrible and might even make you feel sick. To use the least amount possible, place a blob about the size of a petit pois pea right in the middle of the fit surface. Then use two more blobs around the sides and spaced out but being careful to avoid near the edges to prevent oozing. Once you have done this, seat the denture firmly in its correct position. You can also bite down and keep this position for a minute. There is a bit of trial and error as eventually you will learn the best amount to apply.

The advantages of pastes are that there are many different types or brands to choose from and they are very easy to apply.

Denture Adhesive Powders

Denture adhesives also come in the form of a powder. The powder is in a tube and by squeezing it, the powder is sprinkled onto the fitting surface of a clean, dry denture. When the denture is placed back in your mouth, after a short time, the saliva and moisture will cause the powder to become a sticky gel which will hold the denture in place. An advantage of powders is that you can be more accurate in how much you want to use in a specific area. Like for like, they are more economical but less brands are available. A disadvantage of powder adhesives is that the denture does not stabilise straight away because the powder takes time to turn into the sticky gel.

Cleaning The Pastes And Powders Off The Denture Afterwards

Eventually, you will need to clean your dentures but you find that the sticky denture adhesive won’t easily come off and furthermore, it will also be stuck around your gums or palate. When you buy a denture paste or powder, you will also see on the shop shelf these fairly large stiff brushes designed to remove the sticky denture adhesive afterwards. These are quite good but you can use any large normal toothbrush which has hard bristles. You can also use this to remove the denture adhesive from your gums and palate.

Denture Adhesive Strips

Many patients loath using denture pastes and powders. The sticky gel get everywhere and the taste interferes with eating. Wearing dentures can be quite undignified and all this mess doesn’t help at all. That’s why some companies have produced denture adhesive strips. One particular product is called Seabond. In a packet of Seabond, you will find Upper strips shaped for upper dentures and Lower Strips which are shaped for lower dentures. As every denture has its own size and particular shape, you need to cut out the strips with a pair of scissors. Once you have shaped the strip appropriately, it is then placed on the dry, clean fitting surface. The denture is then placed back in your mouth. Initially the strip feels just like a piece of paper card but when it’s in the mouth, the moisture becomes absorbed into the strip which then becomes sticky hence holding the denture in contact with the gum or palate. Denture adhesive strips can be surprisingly effective and many patients won’t use anything else. Although they initially take time to shape, the best thing about them is that there is no need to clean the denture or your mouth as the adhesive paper just easily peels off. There is also no horrible after taste with strips. Although the strips may seem more expensive than pastes or powders, the strip will last the whole day whereas you often need to keep on topping up with denture adhesive paste/powder so the cost will end up the same anyway.

Why Use Denture Adhesives In The First Place?

In an ideal world, denture adhesive would never be needed. But we are talking about a patient who has a perfect mouth that hold dentures and a perfect dentist who will carry out everything 100% and the technician will replicate everything spot on. In fact, when you look at all the stages in making a denture and all the things that can go wrong, it is a wonder that any denture fits at all. There are a number of reasons as to why a denture adhesive is required.

1. A denture adhesive can help the new denture wearer who has never worn dentures before, get used to wearing dentures. After a while, once the mouth adapts, the denture adhesive won’t be needed at all. With an upper denture, you can get good natural suction from the palate and with a lower denture, the lips, cheeks and tongue all will help the lower denture to stay in place.

2. A patient who has less than an ideal mouth will certainly need denture adhesive to supplement the deficiencies. Reasons for this are many and include the following. A patient may have a shallow palate which reduces the natural retention. Another possibility is a shallow sulcus where the ridges also don’t have any natural undercuts. An overactive lip or tongue will reduce stability as they encroach on the neutral zone.

3. Even a brilliant fitting denture over time will become less well fitting. The reason is a phenomenon called “bone resorption.” Any edentulous ridge will experience bone resorption and that’s why over a period of time, the denture will become looser. As a general rule, a denture should be replaced with a new replacement one after a period of about 5 years due to bone resorption. Denture adhesives therefore are not a solution to having a new replacement denture but rather they help with retention due to ongoing bone resorption and gum shrinkage.

4. Some patients have good dentures but still use denture adhesive because they feel they need to. Psychologically, it gives them confidence especially if they are out socialising with friends or have been invited out for a meal.

An important thing to say here is that denture adhesives should NEVER EVER be a compensation for a poorly or incorrectly fabricated denture in the first place. I repeat….. denture adhesives should NEVER EVER be a compensation for a poorly or incorrectly fabricated denture in the first place.

Do Denture Adhesives Work?

Denture adhesives can and do work but there are circumstances when they don’t work. As has been mentioned above, denture adhesives should NEVER EVER be a compensation for a poorly or incorrectly fabricated denture in the first place. So if you are using a denture adhesive to fill in the deficiencies of a poorly made denture, you should be instead be having a better denture made or having the old one relined. A denture reline is often a cost effective, quick and satisfactory solution to make your old denture feel like new again. Even after you have had a denture reline or have had a new one made from scratch, you may still need denture adhesive but importantly, you will then only need a much smaller amounts of adhesive.

In conclusion, denture adhesive are effective as long as they are not being used to fill in the defects of a poorly constructed denture, or where you would be better served by having a denture reline or a new replacement denture.

How Often Do I Need To Use The Denture Adhesive During The Day?

Ideally, you would just need to apply denture adhesive the very first thing in the morning after cleaning, and that’s it until bed time when you clean them again and place them in a glass of water. However, if you feel the denture hold is reducing as the day goes on, then you will have to reapply further denture adhesive. Also, if food gets under the dentures, that is another time when you will need to take your dentures out in order to reapply the denture adhesive.

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Denture Adhesives in Prosthodontics: An Overview

P Ranjith Kumar, P A Shajahan, Jyothis Mathew, Anil Koruthu, Prasad Aravind, and M Fazeel Ahammed

1Professor, Department of Prosthodontics, Royal Dental College, Chalissery, Palakkad, Kerala, India

2Senior Lecturer, Department of Prosthodontics, Royal Dental College, Chalissery, Palakkad, Kerala, India

3Reader, Department of Prosthodontics, MES Dental College, Perinthalmanna, Kerala, India

4Reader, Department of Oral Medicine and Radiology, Malabar Dental College, Edappal, Kerala, India

Correspondence: Dr. Kumar PR. Department of Prosthodontics, Royal Dental College, Iron Hills, Chalissery, Palakkad — 679 536, Kerala, India. Phone: +91–9447235271. Email: moc.liamtoh@phtijnarrd

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