ORAL HEALTH FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES CLEAR GUIDELINES FOR DENTURE ADHESIVE USE Leave a comment

EDITORS COMMENT
The following article was published as shown in the July edition of the Dental Tribunal. It is a report on work by a group of clinical researchers from the UK, US, Greece, Japan and Switzerland. The projected figures for the growth of the ageing population to over 2 Billion by 2050 worldwide would suggest that loose Dentures will be a huge problem across the world.
My Question is: who is making these dentures and why do they not fit? I do understand the elderly patient’s potential lack of understanding and apathy contribute, but the inclusion of a dental adhesive with a new set of dentures has for too long been a part of our denture services. The Dental adhesive is to easy a fix when patients know no better!
Modern denture work, as has been shown in the pages of this magazine, can be exceptionally natural and correctly made, they should function as well as they look. By now we should be having better success for providing dentures that replace the patient’s natural teeth in both function and stability. Denture making is taught in every dental School in the world so how are we getting it so wrong.
The Research was sponsored by GSK who obviously manufacture the adhesive. A great future is promised for them!

RUGBY, UK: The Oral Health Foundation, a UK charity that aims at improving well-being by reducing the harm caused by oral disease, has announced clear, simple and scientifically backed guidelines on using denture adhesive. In this way, the foundation is providing uniform advice that dental professionals can give to completely edentulous patients who use denture adhesive. The guidelines were developed by a global task force and are part of a research project sponsored by GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare.
Guidelines:
1. Make sure the denture is clean and dry. Then put a small amount of denture adhesive cream on to it. This should only be necessary once a day.
2. Put the denture into your mouth and firmly close the mouth for a couple of seconds. If the adhesive cream overflows, you have used too much. Remove any spare adhesive. Do not swallow it and do not eat or drink anything for 5 minutes.
3. Take your denture out before going to sleep. Clean the denture and the inside of your mouth thoroughly to remove any adhesive.
4. Ask your dentist for a regular appointment so that your mouth and dentures can be checked.
These simple steps can improve the retention and stability of dentures, give the wearers greater confidence and comfort, and reduce or eliminate food debris beneath dentures.
Dr Nigel Carter, OBE, Chief Executive of the Oral Health Foundation, commented: “The current lack of guidance on the use of denture adhesives may mean that denture wearers are left confused. The evidence is clear; using an adhesive can provide benefits for patients with best-fitting dentures both in terms of function, confidence and comfort.
These new guidelines will give dental professionals the confidence to know how and when to recommend denture adhesives for maximum patient benefit”.

BY DENTAL TRIBUNE INTERNATIONAL I JULY 18, 2019