“Can you sleep with dentures?”
I wear dentures now, and I usually take them off every night before I go to sleep. But last night I accidentally slept with them in. Is this okay? I do feel some discomfort with my gums, but nothing too serious.
12 Answers
It is best for your mouth that you don't. If you must find a time during the day when you can leave them out for 6 continuous hours
It is NOT recommended to sleep with dentures. Remove them, clean them, and soak them in denture solution as recommended by your dentist. This also allows the gums to "breathe" at night and helps prevent infections in the mouth.
Yes, better would be to leave them out to give the gums some rest.
It’s OK for one night but you should allow the tissues to breathe so if you’re in the house today just leave them out
Generally, taking the dentures out at bedtime, cleaning them, and allowing your gums to recover is good. However, some patients need to keep their dentures in in order to keep their airway open at night (or they go into sleep apnea because the back of their throat collapses). If you have a sleep partner, they may be able to tell you if you go into sleep apnea/struggle to catch your breath.
As a rule, you are suppose to take your dentures out. You are giving your gum tissue a time to rest. You should be soaking your dentures nightly. After cleaning your dentures, place them in water or a solution you like. You should be using fresh water or a tablet solution. Food particles can lay on the bottom of the container. Using a clean solution, even if it it water, helps keep the dentures and your mouth feeling better. Rinsing your mouth with salt water and using a small gauze square to wipe your gums is helpful. And don't forget to use a tongue cleaner for your tongue!
Wearing dentures is very similar to wearing shoes on the feet. It will not cause any harm to the Dentures or the gum tissues if you occasionally sleep with them in the mouth. Much like wearing shoes to bed will not harm your feet. The problem begins when the skin is covered for lengthy periods of time without opportunities to rest, have air touch them in a normal
manner, or to be cleaned. Again, think of what happens to your feet if you wear shoes for several days in a row. The exception to this general rule is if you are wearing an upper denture with your normal natural teeth on the lower arch and you have a habit of grinding your teeth while sleeping. In this case wearing the denture can help protect the gum tissues against the natural teeth grinding against the gum tissue skin. In this case, however, it would be good to find sometime either before bed or after waking to leave the dentures out for a while with the same concerns as mentioned earlier in this answer.
As always, keep the denture as clean as possible and use a regular toothbrush to clean the gum tissues the same as if a teeth were anchored to them.
Hope this helps!
manner, or to be cleaned. Again, think of what happens to your feet if you wear shoes for several days in a row. The exception to this general rule is if you are wearing an upper denture with your normal natural teeth on the lower arch and you have a habit of grinding your teeth while sleeping. In this case wearing the denture can help protect the gum tissues against the natural teeth grinding against the gum tissue skin. In this case, however, it would be good to find sometime either before bed or after waking to leave the dentures out for a while with the same concerns as mentioned earlier in this answer.
As always, keep the denture as clean as possible and use a regular toothbrush to clean the gum tissues the same as if a teeth were anchored to them.
Hope this helps!
It is recommended that you give your gums 8 hours of rest every 24 hours if you are a denture wearer. Having said that, if you occasionally 'fall asleep' in your dentures it will usually cause you no harm. Patients who sleep in their dentures nightly usually break the upper dentures down the midline over time and can cause damage to their tissue and underlying bones.
No worries. Sleeping occasionally with your dentures in will do no harm. However, you should not make this a regular occurrence.
Hope this helps.
Keep smiling,
David M. Kaffey, DDS
Hope this helps.
Keep smiling,
David M. Kaffey, DDS
It's best to take your dentures out every night. You can get a fungal infection under your dentures if you leave them in all night. It's important to take a warm wash cloth and massage your gums. If you notice the tissue under your gums getting red or painful those may be signs your getting a fungal infection. Leaving them in for a night every so often isn't a big deal.
This is ok to do every once in a while but you do not want to make a habit out of it. Sleeping with dentures in can lead to fungal infections that requires additional treatment and removing the dentures at night is the best way to avoid this.
You can wear your dentures at night but it's much more comfortable and better to take them out and wear them during the day as you need them.
