I have lost a lot of bone mass and have been experiencing what I think is drooling .The corners of my mouth are peeling and really red .I’m looking for a mouth guard for sleep, or is it okay to wear dentures to sleep in?
Thank you for your question,
Your question is a good one, yet quit vague. I am guessing the bone loss your describing is due to the loss of most or many of your natural posterior (back) teeth, either on the bottom or also on the top.
This will cause your lower jaw to travel up to high, and stop when some upper and lower teeth contact, possibly in the front or near the front, which will result in your lips not being properly supported as once were when you had all or most of your natural teeth.
This will certainly cause the “drooling” and the skin of your corners of your mouth creasing and peeling, and being un-normally red in color, along with discomfort in these areas.
To remedy this situation, you will need to have your lower jaw opened back up to the position that you had prior to losing the teeth you’ve lost. This can be done with properly fabricated and properly fitted prosthetics to not only replace all your missing teeth, but also to open the vertical jaw relationship, and bring the distance between your upper and lower jaws back to your correct and healthy distance and position, which is different in every person.
This may require removable partials, dentures, or more, that are slightly higher than what you may currently have. It may also involve a night guard to wear when you are sleeping without your denture in your mouth; that copies the corrected height of your new dentures or partials.
I have very rarely recommended my patients wearing their dentures while sleeping, because many aspects of the mouth require rest and healing without having the pressures of dentures in it.
I would highly recommend you discussing your condition with a competent dental practitioner, and avoid any dental practitioner that simply wants to replace your missing teeth without any concern for trying to remedy your reduced vertical jaw relationship. Just replacing the missing teeth may not correct your situation, and will leave you in a similar condition that you are presently in.
I hope this helps,
Darryl