Natural Health: Dentures

Q.A male relative has loose dentures. He has tried to fix them but his dentist says the front of the upper gum has disappeared, and this is why the upper denture falls down. This causes difficulty for him in eating and speaking.

A. Dentures require assessment and readjustment. Because they are a hard and foreign object pressed into the mouth, they often irritate the gums, which can trigger ulcers and receding gums.

The upper plate is difficult to keep in place, because it naturally wants to fall down into the mouth. As a quick-fix, your relative can make a temporary liner using adhesive crème and powder. In a ramekin, mix the adhesive crème with the powder until it forms a putty-like ball (this shouldn’t be sticky).

Apply this to clean, dry dentures before inserting, and clear excess ‘putty’ from the edges.

This keeps the dentures in place for the whole day, and works like a denture liner.

That is the stop-gap recommendation, and it is important for the gums to have time without dentures — at least six hours of each day (or simply take them out at night).

For long-term gum health, use herbal remedies, although these will only heal existing gum issues — the gum tissue cannot be restored.

Rinsing the mouth with salt water kills bacteria in the soft tissues beneath the dentures, and rinsing with a sodium ascorbate solution (non-acidic vitamin C) will promote tissue health.

Rinse with the salt water first thing in the morning, then with the vitamin C solution half an hour later, and repeat this again each evening.

Horsetail and nettles are rich in the minerals silica, calcium, and iron — all of which are important to gum health, so drink three to four cups of this herbal blend each day.

I suggest you get a second opinion regarding the fitting of his current dentures, to investigate whether or not he can get a better fit from them.

Q.I am over 70 years of age. My right testicle gets enlarged occasionally, but goes back to normal in a short while. There is no pain. Is this normal?

A. This is unusual, and so I would recommend you go to your doctor to get this checked out. If you can, see the doctor when the testicle is enlarged, so that he has a better chance of determining what is going on.

You don’t mention any lumps, which most people associate with testicular cancer. However, swelling can be another indication, in some cases with a feeling of heaviness.

In most cases of testicular cancer, there is no pain, which is a crucial reminder that a lack of pain doesn’t mean that nothing is wrong.

Having said all of that, I don’t want to indicate that there is a high chance of you having something as serious as cancer — rather, I feel that it is important to have this sort of thing seen to straight away, to rule it out or to get a head-start on any treatment that you might require.

Other common causes of unexplained, testicular swelling include hernia and hydroceles (fluid-filled cyst in the scrotum), although the fact that the enlargement comes and goes means that a hernia is less likely. The good news, if it is a hydrocele, is that they tend to go away of their own accord.

Around 15% of men experience testicular swelling caused by an issue known as varicocele, where the valves controlling the flow of blood away from the testicles become enlarged, and no longer work as effectively as they should. This means that blood is unable to flow freely through the veins, leading to swelling.