Prevention of Food Infiltration in Partial Dentures Wearers.

Objectives: Food infiltration under the denture is one of the main issues experienced by partial dentures wearers. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of denture adhesive designed for partial dentures, at preventing food particles (poppy seeds) from becoming trapped underneath partial dentures as compared to wearing no adhesive.
Methods: Twenty-nine subjects with partial mandibular dentures and history of food particle entrapment under their denture were enrolled into this 2-visit study. At each visit, subjects were asked to eat one quarter of a poppy seed muffin followed by a pre-denture adhesive application poppy seed evaluation on the subject’s denture and mucosa. Then, a denture adhesive (Fixodent Microseal, The Procter and Gamble Company) was applied to the subjects’ dentures, followed by a 1 hour wait period. Subsequently, subjects were asked to eat another quarter of a poppy seed muffin and then post-denture adhesive application poppy seed counting was repeated. These same steps were replicated at a second visit.
Results: Twenty-three (79.3%) of the partial denture wearers were female and the average age was 70 years. With no denture adhesive, on average 6 poppy seeds were trapped under the denture, and after denture application, 1.4 poppy seeds were discovered, which is statistically significant (P<0.001). Thus, denture adhesive prevented penetration of 76.6% of food particles as compared to no adhesive.
Conclusions: Denture adhesive was effective at prevention of food infiltration under the partial dentures.