One annoying thing that many denture users complain about is a clicking sound that they experience when wearing dentures. Or perhaps it’s not the wearer that complains, but people around them, depending on the cause and nature of the sound.
But for most denture wearers, clicking is a preventable and curable phenomenon.
Nervous Clickers
Some people click their dentures nervously. It’s just another nervous habit some people have, like drumming one’s fingers, humming while thinking, or even playing with the dentures with their tongue.
For these people, the problem isn’t really their dentures, it’s their habits. As a result, a denture dentist can’t do anything to stop this kind of clicking. The good news is, it’s probably not bothering you, as a denture wearer, though it might be bothering everyone around you. In fact, if you’re doing it, you might not even know you’re doing it.
But if you’ve been told you click your dentures, you should try to take steps to stop it. Not only is is annoying for people around you, it can make it hard to maintain a good fit on your dentures and can be damaging to your dentures.
Poor Denture Fit
Dentures can also click accidentally when you are talking, laughing, eating, or doing anything else that may involve moving your jaw. This might be because your dentures are loose.
Loose dentures are sadly common, and are often the fault of the denture dentist, though there are other causes for loose dentures.
This is commonly experienced by people with economy dentures and is the main reason why denture wearers complain of clicking dentures.
Improper Vertical Dimensions
But even if they’re securely in place, your dentures may click. This occurs when your dentures aren’t the right height for your mouth. Your body has a built-in system for knowing how far to move the jaw when biting or chewing, and your jaw muscles will tend to follow this programming automatically. This keeps your teeth from hitting together too hard. If your dentures are too tall, or tooth short, your teeth might meet in unexpected places, causing them to strike one another too hard, resulting in the clicking sound.
Our body does have a built-in method for sensing where our teeth meet and reprogramming its jaw muscles, but many of the sensory paths for this reprogramming are in our teeth. Dentures are less sensitive, so it’s harder to reprogram your bite when you are wearing dentures. And even if you do, you might find the new closing position is uncomfortable for you. It’s easier and better to get dentures that fit you right in the first place.
Neuromuscular Dentures Avoid Clicking
Neuromuscular dentures are designed with your bite system in mind. Not only are they better-fitting dentures, but they are designed using measurements of your jaw muscles to determine the optimal position for having your teeth meet. This ensures that your teeth won’t be clicking because your bite is mismatched, which means not just no clicking, but also a better fit and no jaw discomfort.
To learn more about how neuromuscular dentures can help with denture clicking, please call (803) 781-9090 for an appointment with a Columbia, SC denture dentist today.
