Cleaning Dentures (Nursing)

00:00 Now with oral care comes cleaning dentures. So we want to make sure and assess our client if they have dentures these are also cleaned properly. Now let's take a look at some of the things we're going to need; paper towels or maybe a washcloth, a denture cup is key. So these are really important to make sure we have a particular place we put the patient's dentures in. So I can't stress this enough, patient's lose dentures all the time in the hospital.

00:34 We may take them out for cleaning or maybe they take them out for cleaning or during eating sometimes the patient even take them out and put them on their lunch tray. We need to make sure as healthcare providers they have a designated place and labeled for their dentures, that way we can keep track of these. Alright, so of course we need our patient's dentures to clean and also denture cleaner. We want to use a toothbrush and toothpaste, and we also want some water. Now before we get started, make sure you perform your hand hygiene and put on gloves. We want to explain the procedure to the client and this time you may have to help assist the patient remove their dentures. Of course, provide privacy and raise the bed to the appropriate height. Now this is a great time to assess their oropharyngeal cavity, we may need to look at ulcers or maybe even any abrasions that the denture have caused for our patient, so we need to check this. Now again, like we talked about earlier, we want to make sure we help the client remove their dentures if they're not able to do so themselves. Once we removed the dentures, rinse the dentures under lukewarm running water. Now we can use the toothpaste and toothbrush here to scrub the top, the sides, and the teeth and dentures thoroughly. So we really can go all over, make sure we get the back of the dentures, the top, really important to be thorough here. And we want to make sure we rinse these again. So, when we have the dentures and we're renting on for our clients be really cautious of not dropping these in the sink because it could chip them, and dentures are really expensive and they can be for our clients. Now this is where we want to place those dentures in a cup full of water with maybe a denture cleanser or a tablet for overnight cleansing. Soak these and then make sure we reassess that cavity using the penlight. Now before we exit the room, we want to make sure we return the bed to the lowest position for safety, make sure our client is comfortable, get rid of any trash we used, remove our gloves, and perform our hand hygiene. And lastly, document the procedure. Hi guys, I like to just take a moment to talk about a few key things regarding dentures, something like this guy here. So, this is a pretty crazy prop. Right? But again, just a few things to remember. So as a nurse, a lot of the times we'll assess a patient's oral cavity, but please don't forget if a patient has dentures we need to also be really diligent in making sure these get cleaned. So sometimes, you may need to assist the patient in removing the dentures. So much like you do regular oral care, make sure you use a toothbrush, toothpaste, something like this here, and make sure you're all in their top, bottom and the whole thing. So, this guy is a great example. Right? So again, with dentures, make sure that you remove those. Also a huge issue in regarding dentures, you'll be surprised how many times these things get lost in the hospital. The patient may put it on their food tray, the food tray may get taken. Also, anytime we've got the dentures if they get dropped in the sink while we're cleaning them or if they get dropped on the floor this can be really costly for the patient. So just remember these. Okay, so if we help remove the patient do their dentures, we want to brush their teeth and also make sure that you rinse these with like a lukewarm or warm water. Then after the dentures are thoroughly cleaned, make sure overnight that you place them in a designated cup with a denture cleansing tablet, something like this for example. This is going to help soak them overnight. So, if they're not soaking, make sure that you put the patient's dentures in a designated cup. Again, you'd be surprised how many times these things get lost during a hospitalization. Many times there's a designated denture cup that can have a patient's sticker on it with a name and the date of birth.