Stuck With a Smile: When Your Denture Adhesive Is Too Strong
Denture adhesive can be a very handy tool when your dentures don't fit as well as they used to. There's a reason why that fit feels a bit off (and you'll learn why shortly), and denture adhesive should only be a temporary solution, no matter how effective a solution it might be. But what about when it's too effective? You've carefully followed the instructions about how to apply the adhesive, your dentures are being held firmly in place, and yet, when the time comes to take them out again, what can you do when they don't cooperate?
It's Doing a Good Job
First of all, don't panic. You can't fault the denture adhesive for doing its job, even if it's doing it a bit too well. For future reference, you probably need less adhesive than you've been using, even if you've precisely followed the instructions about how much to use. But for a far more effective future reference, you will need a very basic form of denture repair known as relining.
Getting Those Dentures Out
But that's something to consider after you've gotten those dentures out of your mouth. How can you do this? Most types of denture adhesive are fairly absorbent, so you will probably be able to loosen their grip by flushing your mouth with water. Just sip a glass of water and gently swirl it around in your mouth. Repeat as needed, until you feel the dentures start to come away from the surface of your mouth. You can also use bite pressure to loosen the dentures, so after you've treated the adhesive with water, try biting into a firm piece of fruit or a vegetable, if the water didn't do the trick by itself. An apple or a carrot would be ideal. This solves the problem for now, but how can you stop it from happening again?
Avoiding the Problem Again
Mild gum recession, subtle changes to the mass of your jaw (particularly when its sockets are no longer supporting natural teeth)—these are natural parts of aging, but they mean that your dentures will start to lose their fit. Yes, denture adhesive can be a convenient, temporary solution when used in moderation, but your dentures should still be relined. You probably won't even be able to spot the difference, but a thin layer of resin will be added to its base plates, which improves the fit and should remove the need for adhesive.
If your dentures start to slip, you can still use adhesive, but this will not solve the problem, and relining is going to be your best bet. This will need to happen several times throughout the lifespan of the dentures.