Paste Adhesives

The paste variety of denture adhesives are softer and often considered easier to use than the powder version. They hold the denture firmly in position and stop it from shifting or moving around in your mouth.

But you may find it difficult to clean your dentures after using a paste type of adhesive. This is something to consider when deciding which type and brand to choose.

Personal preference plays a part too. Every denture wearer is different when it comes to their choice of denture adhesive so again, experiment with a few types. You also have a choice of flavours to choose from.

Your ‘bite’and denture adhesives

Your bite or to use the dental term ‘occlusion’refers to the action of opening and closing your jaws to speak, eat and drink. It is the manner at which your upper and lower teeth come together when you close your mouth which should be exact.

But there are cases where someone has ‘malocclusion’or a ‘bad bite’in which their jaws are misaligned which prevents them from making the correct contact. This then leads to problems such as cracked or broken teeth, pain in the jaw joint and sensitive teeth.

Denture adhesives can affect your bite but only to a small extent. The powder version is less likely to do this than the paste variety and is easier to remove.

A denture adhesive often works best on an upper denture which stays in place for longer, and is more secure. Suction is better in the upper half of the mouth compared to the bottom half so consider this as an option:

Apply a powder based denture adhesive to the upper denture, and a paste adhesive to the lower denture.

The lower denture is less secure so it is preferable to use a stronger adhesive. Use a less firm adhesive on the upper denture.

Examples of paste denture adhesives

There are many different brands of adhesives such as ‘Poligrip’, ‘Fixodent’ and ‘Dentu-Créme’ to choose from. Try a few before you buy.