As a caregiver, you may think seniors with full dentures don't need dental checkups. It's a fair thought when such patients have no natural teeth left; what's left for a dentist to do? However, the truth is that you should still take these elderly folks to dental visits pretty often. Checkups would continue to benefit their grins, even when they only have artificial teeth. Learn why by reviewing these four perks of regular dental care for full denture wearers.

Checkups Care for Gums

Your elderly charge may not have natural teeth, but they should still have their gum tissue. That means dental checkups would help; the visits keep gums healthy enough to support dentures.

Severe tooth loss doesn't just affect your teeth. Left to itself, it creates smile gaps – areas that let harmful bacteria quickly reach your gums. Going without checkups would then put you at high risk of gum disease and similar issues. If you suffer such problems, you'll have difficulty using dentures.

Checkups Detect Rare Oral Issues

Tooth decay isn't the only thing dental checkups diagnose. As it happens, they can also detect rarer oral issues for full denture patients.

Don't forget that dental patients can have odd or rare conditions. Even if a senior wears a full denture, they could still develop pain or aches in their gums or jaw. Their use of prosthetic teeth could even put them at greater risk of oral cancer, which can be life-threatening. The good news is that dental visits can detect rare issues home care can't; they can thus ensure your senior's oral health.

Checkups Adjust a Denture’s Fit

Full denture wearers won’t always have well-fitting prosthetics. So, you should take them to dental checkups so their restorations can be adjusted.

The truth is that mouths without natural teeth change in shape. Because they lack the stimulus from forceful chewing and biting, nearby jaw tissue erodes and makes them sag. This process can cause dentures to become ill-fitting over time, threatening a patient’s nutrition. Even so, regular dental checkups solve the problem by adjusting dentures as needed.

Checkups Help Dentures Last Long

Even the best full dentures can wear and tear. With regular checkups, you can ensure these restorations last longer for the seniors in your care.

To be more precise, checkups keep full dentures in good condition. They let a dentist monitor a patient’s denture to see if it develops any issues, damage, etc. If a patient doesn’t attend them, their prosthetic teeth could suffer chips and cracks or even break entirely. Skipping visits would also let harmful bacteria build-up, putting your dentures and mouth at risk. Such things are best avoided, so regular dental visits are the best approach to take.

Even if your senior has a full denture, you really should take them to regular dental checkups. With that said, consult your dental provider for more details!