Can you help me? I recently received some nice dentures. They fit very well so I’m hesitant to get rid of them, but I’m worried that I am allergic to them. Several hours after putting them in, my glands started swelling. The next day, the glands were severely swollen and I developed swelling around my eyes. I took some benadryl which seemed to temporarily alleviate some of the symptoms. But, the next day my throat started to swell. I took them out and left them out for a week. I went back to my dentist who adjusted the fit. They still fit great. I put them back in and the symptoms started all over again. Help! I don’t want to be without teeth. Am I allergic to dentures?
Karen
Dear Karen,
It does sound like you are allergic to dentures. This is nothing to be messed around with and I recommend not wearing them any further until this is figured out. Allergies can quickly become life threatening, even causing your throat to close up.
The first step will be to see an allergist to find out what material you are allergic to. One big possibility is something to do with the acrylic base. Some people can be allergic to the leftover monomer in it. Acrylic is first processed in its liquid form for dentures. The lab will use a chemical reaction that will harden the liquid turning from a monomer to a polymer. I don’t know what you remember from chemistry, but there is always some leftover monomer in this chemical reaction, which causes some people to have an allergic reaction.
There are a couple of solutions for this. The first is obviously just to re-make the denture using a different resin for the base. It does require the denture will have to be remade. Though that may worry you because you like the feel of this one so much, I feel confident if they could get your denture to fit so well this time, they can do it again.
A second option is to try to convert the leftover monomer. There is some research by the National Library of Medicine that says if you immerse the denture in very hot water for several hours, it will complete the conversion from monomer to polymer.
Start with an allergy test.
This blog is brought to you by Auburn, AL Dentist Dr. Alan Yount.