Warning: Sleeping with Dentures

Grandparents should remove their dentures when going to bed because wearing them to sleep doubles the risk of pneumonia.

AT RISK. The elderly have higher risk of catching pneumonia when they wear dentures to bed, a study has revealed.

Scientific studies show that elderly patients who do not remove their artificial teeth have double the risk of contracting pneumonia compared to those who do.

Of the 524 men and women who ranged from 85 to a hundred, 20 died of pneumonia while 28 were hospitalized but still recovered.

In a span three years, the extensive study gave empirical evidence that sleeping with dentures was the only factor directly related to behavior.

Pneumonia is the inflammation of the lungs or more specifically the alveoli inside the lungs.

It can be caused by viruses, bacteria and fungi.  The inflammation can be mild to severe, but it is fatal most often to the elderly and the young. This is because the elderly people tend to have weakened immune systems while children have underdeveloped immune systems. While antibiotics and right medical attention can cure pneumonia, the best way course would be to prevent it from ever occurring.

According to Dr. William Schaffner, the main way older people get pneumonia is from themselves. They tend to fail to clear the secretions in their lungs. Those secretions tend to go deeper into the bronchial tubes and will eventually lead to pneumonia.

There are plenty of ways that can help prevent pneumonia for the elderly. One is getting a flu vaccine regularly because it prepares the elderly person for pneumonia. Staying fit and healthy also helps for the elderly.

Lastly, it would always be better to remove the dentures, whether it would be full or partial, when going to bed.

Other risks

There are other risks associated with wearing dentures to bed.

“Accidental swallowing,” said Erwin Mejia, DMD, Dental Director at Affinity Dental Clinics.

When people wear partial dentures to sleep, there is a risk of the denture falling off and being accidentally swallowed.

However, wearing full dentures to sleep is also not recommended. “We wear socks to work everyday,” Mejia said. “Our blood flow gets a bit constricted. So when you take off your socks after a long day, it feels good.”

“Just like dentures, when you remove them after a long day, blood will circulate properly,” Mejia said. He also added that some gums turn tender when dentures are worn all day.

Some American dentists believe that wearing dentures when going to bed helps prevent sleep apnea since the dentures help keep the airways open. Instead of dentures though, elderly people with sleep apnea may be fitted with for an oral device that is specifically designed to be worn at night and prevent sleep apnea.