December 2018

Introduction: The lack of proper denture hygiene may cause denture stomatitis and be detrimental to older adults’ health. The cleaning of complete dentures should be quick, efficient, and easy to perform, although it might not guarantee disinfection. The use of a microwave oven has been suggested for aiding in the disinfection of complete dentures, but lacks a gold standard protocol. Objectives: To critically review the literature on protocols for complete denture disinfection using conventional microwave ovens. Methods: A comprehensive literature search through PubMed Central, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and Ovid MEDLINE (R) In-Process focused on publications in English dealing with microwave therapy for denture disinfection, and on the protocols used. Results: A total of 266 articles with the full-text available were found; 31 were included in this manuscript after 236 were excluded. The protocols for microwave oven use for disinfection of complete dentures varied in terms of oven potency, time used for microwaving, and solution in which the complete dentures were immersed. Conclusions: There is still no standardized protocol for microwave oven use for denture disinfection. Although underutilized in residential care, daily denture hygiene seems to still be the optimal method for controlling fungal infections and denture stomatitis. Keywords: Microwave, disinfection, dentures, protocol, dental care for the elderly, older adults, oral hygiene