You’re all excited about your new dentures, and then, boom – the dreaded denture sore appears. Even the best fitting denture available can fall victim to a sore spot. It’s a nature of the beast. Dentures are constructed to sit on movable tissue. When an impression of the gums is taken, every effort is made to move the tissue wherever possible to compensate for the problem. But there is no way to predict exactly how the tissue will move during function. Once the denture has been placed and the wearer chews food, the gum tissue will move against the hard plastic. If there is an area of the plastic that impinges on the tissue, then an area of chronic irritation will occur.

Sore Spots

This area eventually ulcerates leaving behind a very painful area. If you have a denture sore, it is a very easy thing to correct. Make an appointment with your dentist and make sure that you wear the denture for 24 hours before your appointment. This way, the dentist can see the exact area of irritation and relieve a very small portion of the denture to alleviate the problem. If the area is too tender to wear for that 24 hour period, then go to the pharmacy and get an oral anesthetic such as Orabase with benzocaine and place it on the sore spot. Removing the dentures before the appointment allows the body to have time to heal the wound then the dentist would be only guessing as to where the problem is. One final word on denture sores – any denture sore that does not disappear after adjustments or non-wear of the denture should be biopsied to rule out malignancy.