Introduction. A dramatic increase in the number of people living in their
seventies, eighties and nineties is associated with a loss of teeth and the
use of mobile dentures. The aim of this paper was to highlight the
consequences of poor denture hygiene on oral and general health in vulnerable
elderly people, in long-term hospitalized elderly patients and in long-term
institutionalized elderly in nursing homes. Denture deposits and consequences
of poor denture hygiene. The number of bacteria living in the mouth is
getting larger after putting denture on. Namely, a small ?space? develops
between jaw and denture, creating perfect conditions for bacterial growth.
Denture becomes a ?reservoir? of micro-organisms. Denture deposits such as
bacterial plaque, fungi, tartar and remnants could be responsible for:
stomatitis prothetica, cheilitis angularis, inflammatory fibrous hyperplasia,
halitosis (bad breath), dental caries in mobile denture carriers, mucositis
and periimplantitis in mobile implant over-dentures carriers, accelerated
destruction of denture materials for underlying, such as denture base soft
liners, respiratory airways diseases, bacterial endocarditis and
gastrointestinal infections. Removal of denture deposits. It is recommendable
to combine mechanical and chemical denture cleaning. Denture submersion into
a commercial cleansing solution for less than one hour is an effective
cleaning method. Commercial cleansers specifically intended for dentures with
metal parts should be used for those dentures. Commercial cleansers with a
new component of silicon polymer, whose thin layer surrounds all denture
surfaces and disables oral bacteria to agglomerate, are effective and useful.
Preventive hygienic treatments are very important in hospitals and homes for
the aged, bearing in mind that old and ill persons reside here. Those
institutions are recommended to get equipped with ultrasound denture
cleaners. Importance of written brochure on proper denture hygiene. Patients
should be verbally instructed and showed about cleaning techniques, but also
written instructions in form of brochure should be distributed in order to
achieve better effects.