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Depending on the time available and type of breakage, you may be tempted to glue the dentures using super glue. Gluing your dentures can help, but it’s not always recommended. Whenever someone calls us asking us to repair their dentures, one of the first questions we ask is if they’ve glued them together themselves using super glue. If the answer is yes, we must warn them that we can only repair their dentures to the exact position where they’ve been glued. If a broken denture is glued in the wrong position, even if it’s only by a small degree, it may no longer fit well enough in the mouth to be comfortable or it may easily break again. Gluing a broken denture is only a temporary fix since the glue eventually loses its grip.

There is also the option of buying a do-it-yourself denture repair kit, which in Australia are only available online. These can be used but only as a temporary fix. Denture repairs must be performed using the same material of which the dentures are made in order to ensure a chemical bond takes place and that the repair is permanent.

Another common question is whether the repair is under warranty. The answer isn’t as straightforward as yes or no. We would usually need to know how the denture broke in the first place. If the denture broke because you dropped it or sat on it, we know the reason why it broke. However, if the denture broke in the mouth with no explainable reason, then it’s usually because the denture is no longer fitting correctly due to wear in the gums or the denture. So if the latter is true, we advise that the repair has been completed to the best possible strength, but due to the denture not fitting well it may break again. Simply repairing the denture will cause the same problem to occur again. We would then suggest the patient address the problem so that the breakage doesn’t happen again.

There are many different ways a denture can be damaged. Most times they can be repaired, but there are times when a completely new denture would be better in the long run. When a metal denture (cobalt chrome base) has been bent, we cannot guarantee the repair, or if it can be repaired at all. Cobalt chrome dentures are cast in perfect shape according to the tooth position; therefore, when they bend, it is a guessing game trying to bend them back in place, and very risky, because cobalt chrome dentures can easily break when bent, as they are not made to be adjusted except for the clasps, and only minimally.

There are several types of flexible dentures; some can be repaired, some cannot. Valplast dentures, which are flexible, are made from a nylon mix acrylic which cannot be added to and are therefore not repairable. We can sometimes, in an emergency, add rigid acrylic as a quick fix, but the two materials are different and do not chemically bond. This type of repair is only ever performed as an emergency and is not considered final. Other flexible materials such as Thermosens can be added to and repaired, though they take longer to repair than the traditional rigid acrylic dentures.

It would be impossible to cover every type of break and repair possible, so it’s advisable to give us a call and find out what we can do for you. Typically, repairs are completed within the hour; however, we would always estimate the time for your convenience.