How Dentures May Cause Tongue Irritation and Pain

Wearing dentures should be a comfortable experience that allows you to eat all your favorite foods and forget that you have dentures. Sometimes discomfort or irritation can be caused by your dentures, but there are solutions. Understanding what causes denture discomfort is the first step towards correcting the problem.

The lower denture is often the most problematic for denture wearers, because it rests on top of the lower gums with no natural suction to hold it in place. The lower denture can cause pain if it shifts while you are eating or speaking, especially if it comes into contact with the delicate membrane that connects your tongue to your mouth.

The floor of the mouth under the tongue is a very sensitive area. By nature this area was not designed to have anything come in contact with it except the tongue, and even the slightest touch can be irritating or even painful. A lower denture that is loose or that does not fit correctly to begin with can slide and cause discomfort on a regular basis. Many people try to compensate for a poor-fitting denture by using excessive amounts of denture adhesive. This is a poor, short-term solution for a problem that needs to be treated by a denturist. A poor-fitting denture should be replaced, or in some cases, a professional reline might be able to make the denture fit without the need for replacement.

Another problem that causes pain is tongue biting. Everyone occasionally bites their tongue, but wearing dentures can make you bite your tongue more often. This happens when your dentures do not fit properly and don’t give your tongue enough room to move in your mouth. Tongue biting can happen when you are chewing, speaking or clenching your teeth to swallow.

Tongue irritation can also be caused by dentures that do not properly distribute force throughout the mouth. Customized dentures can solve this problem by using neuromuscular principles to design dentures that work with your mouth as it moves. Another solution is to replace dentures with dental implants. There are several different types of implants, ranging from removable dentures sustained by implants to permanent implant dentures.

At Canadian Denture & Implant Centres, our denture specialists can help you find solutions to tongue irritation or denture pain. We offer complete denture and implant services including traditional dentures, partials, personalized dentures and dental implants.