My patient asked me about denture adhesives, Here is the answer.

Some times complete dentures are the last affordable solution for edentulous person.If the mouth condition of the patient is normal and the dentist performed his work in a good way patient won’t need adhesive.But sometimes and due to  reasons that we will discuss later you may need  to use it. Denture has a large plate with the artificial  teeth seated on it .The fitting surface of the denture should be a precise negative replica of the jaw ridges.This precision is a must because the complete adaptation between the denture base and the ridges are the main cause of denture retention. Also the amount and viscosity of saliva and the muscular balance is essential factors in this equation, As any up normality in saliva or neuro-muscular defect can affect the denture badly.  So we usually prescribe denture adhesive when the patient suffers from a decreased ridge height or as we mentioned before problems in the salivary secretion. Edentulous ridge defects usually happen as a result of delaying in manufacturing the denture after extraction. The masticatory force will be enough in these cases to produce significant bone destruction. So my advice for every patient is to have a denture as fast as he can after the healing of the last extraction.We discussed before that healthy salivary glands are very important in denture performance.If the salivary secretion volume is within the normal levels and has a normal consistency this will be very favorable to denture adhesion. So too thick or too watery saliva will impair the denture retention and make the use of denture adhesive a very wise decision.   There is a many companies that manufacture different forms of denture adhesivesthese days. Glow, powder and stripe forms are available and you should try the different forms to find what works better for you. Each brand and form has a different method of application so you should follow the manufacturer instructions.  First you need to brush your denture and rinse it with water. Then shake the powder over the surface till you cover all the surface with a thin layer.  Paste adhesives usually give a better grip but usually removing the residuals from your mouth will be a little harder than powder form, It is not a big problem as cleaning it with rough tissue or drinking a cup of cola will remove it completely. Also we have to say that the stripe form will need to be cut to be customized to the fitting surface shape. Last thing we have to say that  glow and thick paste forms will cause a change in the bite that some patients may dislike.