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The Dental Elf

Can weight loss effect the fit or stability of dentures?

Derek Richards

The Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (CADTH) has looked at the evidence available to address the question: What is the evidence that weight loss can affect the fit or stability of dentures?

They searched PubMed, the Cochrane Library, University of York Centre for Reviews and Dissemination (CRD) databases, ECRI, EuroScan and the international health technology agencies. The search covered the years 1999-2009 and was limited to studies in the English language.

They found no literature relating to evidence that weight loss can effect the fit or stability of dentures.

CADTH is an independent, not-for-profit agency that delivers timely, evidence-based information to health care leaders about the effectiveness and efficiency of health technologies. It is funded by Canada’s federal, provincial, and territorial governments.

Denture Fit and Stability: Effect of Weight Loss (PDF summary). Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health, 17 April 2009.

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Written by

Derek Richards is a specialist in dental public health, Director of the Centre for Evidence-Based Dentistry and Specialist Advisor to the Scottish Dental Clinical Effectiveness Programme (SDCEP) Development Team. A former editor of the Evidence-Based Dentistry Journal and chief blogger for the Dental Elf website until December 2023. Derek has been involved with a wide range of evidence-based initiatives both nationally and internationally since 1994. Derek retired from the NHS in 2019 remaining as a part-time senior lecturer at Dundee Dental School until the end of 2023.

Add a comment
  • Aarayz

    Aarayz

    2 years ago
    CADTH conducted a thorough search but found no evidence on how weight loss affects denture fit or stability. As a reliable, non-profit agency, they provide evidence-based information on health technologies. For more details, visit their website.
  • Debbie Ramsey

    Debbie Ramsey

    3 years ago
    I think they are wrong I too have recently lost weight and my dentures are not fitting well.
  • cathy thompson

    cathy thompson

    12 years ago
    does losing weight effect how dentures fit , I have lost weight, and my dentures are very lose , do your gums shrink with weight loss
    • 1 reply
    • Derek
      Derek 12 years ago
      As review above noted they could not find any scientific evidence to link weight loss with ill fitting dentures. Most dentures become progressively looser over time as the ridge of the jaw bone on which they sit shrinks in time.