Your Content Goes HereIt’s important to remember not to use too much dental adhesive, and the recent case of a man in the UK shows why. After using too much denture fixative, he developed serious nerve damage that left him housebound with loss of feeling and weakness in his limbs.
We understand that sometimes your dentures may fit poorly and you might think the solution is to use more denture adhesive. But the dangers of this mean that it’s better to get better-fitting dentures that don’t need adhesive.
How Denture Adhesive Leads to Nerve Damage
Denture cream is a mild fixative, which helps your dentures maintain suction and stay in place. Among the many ingredients is zinc. You know that zinc is a vital nutrient, and it proper doses, it’s very important to your health. But if you’re using too much denture cream, the excess zinc can be harmful. When your body senses an excess of zinc intake, it tries to regulate it with the production of a certain protein that binds metals and prevents their absorption. The problem is that this protein is more likely to bind to copper than zinc, so it ends up removing more of the copper from the system and over time this leads to a copper deficiency.
The effects of a copper deficiency can lead to anemia and neurological symptoms, such as loss of feeling in limbs, loss of strength in limbs, vision loss, and cognitive disorders.
For this 62-year-old man, he experienced a six-month decline in his health, characterized by instability on his feet, loss of feeling in his limbs, limb pain, and muscle weakness. He largely retained the use of his hands, however. When his condition reached the point where he was housebound, he sought treatment at a local hospital. There they diagnosed him with spinal damage using an MRI. Blood tests showed that he had copper deficiency. Then he told them that he used a lot of denture adhesive for his ill-fitting dentures, about 2-4 tubes per week.
He had worked as a mechanic until 14 months before his hospitalization.
Proper Use of Denture Adhesive
For traditional dentures, it’s recommended that you always use a small amount of adhesive. This helps create a good seal under the dentures to prevent food from getting underneath. Use three or four dabs of adhesive about the size of a pencil eraser in the upper denture, distributed through the plate. Three dabs is enough for the lower denture, distributed throughout the denture.
If you bite down and denture adhesive oozes out, you’re using too much. If you find that adhesive isn’t helping your dentures to stay stable, or if you think you need more adhesive than in the past, it’s time to talk to your dentist about getting your dentures refitted.
Not All Dentures Need Adhesive
Even if you don’t develop nerve damage, denture adhesive isn’t the greatest part of wearing dentures. It’s messy, unpleasant, and can make your dentures slimy. Plus, it doesn’t even really help with chewing.
Fortunately, you can get dentures that don’t need adhesive. FOY® Dentures have such superb fit that you’ll never need denture adhesive. You can enjoy great fit and function without it.
And implant dentures provide even more security. With implant dentures , your dentures are actually attached to your jawbone, which makes them more secure and functional–without adhesive.
If you’re looking for great fitting dentures in Columbia, SC, please call (803) 781-9090 today for an appointment with a denture dentist at Smile Columbia Dentistry.
