Cleaning a Retainer

RE: Cleaning a Retainer Post By ? (Guest Post) (07/18/2008) Actually mouthwash is generally safe to clean your retainer with as long as you only soak it for 5-10 But personally I think the absolute best way to clean your retainer is to brush it clean with a toothbrush and toothpaste. Hope this helps:) Report Spam or Abuse RE: Cleaning a Retainer Post By Josh (Guest Post) (07/14/2008) So I was brushing my retainer and it flew out of my hand into the TOLIET! OMG! So I got a clothing hanger and fished it out and now its soaking in hydrogen peroxide. Should that be enough to kill the bacteria on it? Editor's Note That should do it! Be sure to rinse thoroughly with water. Report Spam or Abuse RE. thanks yall helped a lot Post By christina (Guest Post) (07/09/2008) I have a night guard it is basically a retainer I grind my teeth on at night. I get the nasty white stuff in it and now that I have read this I know how to get it out. Everytime I have something done at the dentist I have to wear it all the time for a week. I have also found out that if I get stressed at school and start grinding I just wear it for that day and when school is over I don't have a headache. thanks Report Spam or Abuse RE: Cleaning a Retainer Post By (Guest Post) (06/22/2008) I was told to use a small amount of dish soap and a toothbrush at my orthodontist. The logic is that the dish soap is fine for you and your retainer, because you do use it to wash dishes which you then eat off of. Report Spam or Abuse RE: Cleaning a Retainer Post By Nina (Guest Post) (06/12/2008) I put one part white viniger to 3 cups of water. let it sit for 20 min and it will come off. Try to scrape the calcium with dental tool. Report Spam or Abuse RE: Cleaning a Retainer Post By Awesome person. (Guest Post) (05/25/2008) I've been told that listerine and mouthwash will harm your retainer so I wouldn't use that if I were you. To be honest, denture cleaning tablets seem to work the best. They are cheap and clean your retainer in 5 minutes. Just be sure to scrub your retainer just to make sure it's extra clean! Report Spam or Abuse RE: Cleaning a Retainer Post By Joy (Guest Post) (03/26/2008) Retainer Brite is a good cleaner and you can get it at retainerbrite.com Report Spam or Abuse RE: Cleaning a Retainer Post By Leanne (Guest Post) (03/12/2008) I have acrylic retainers so I can't speak for any other kinds but, listerine or any mouthwash with alcohol is NOT safe for these type of retainers. Think about it! If alcohol can do things such as peel skin from inside your mouth, eat away at plaque and dissolve a lot of other substances....It can obviously destroy "plastic". Now unless you want to be a sucker and pay a lot more for a heavily marketed cleaning solution, or use listerine to wear away your retainers. I recommend the white vinegar/water cleaning solution just once a week. This is a cheap method, it will NOT deteriorate your retainers, it keeps them looking great and at least you don't have to worry about thoroughly rinsing your retainer because it is not chemical or poisonous! Report Spam or Abuse RE: Cleaning a Retainer Post By Alex (Guest Post) (03/05/2008) I haven't worn my retainer in months and months. Should I be concerned with any build up or bacteria on it before wearing it again? Is washing it with touthpaste not enough? Report Spam or Abuse RE: Cleaning a Retainer Post By Raul Duke (Guest Post) (02/29/2008) I got a one week trial of Retainer Fresh for only $4.95 shipping and handling. I have tried all the others like the Retainer Brite and Sonic Brite, which all take like 15 to 20 minutes to work. Retainer Fresh disolves right away and cleans in just 5 minutes. Plus they let you try a little bit for 5 bucks and the others want you to buy a bunch of it right away. Retainer Fresh comes in individual packets and you can take a handful with you if you travel or whatever. Very convenient packaging and easy to try. By the way, it cleaned my retainer better than all the others too. Report Spam or Abuse RE: Cleaning a Retainer Post By Jessica (Guest Post) (01/17/2008) Listerine may make them smell nice, but after a while you're still going to have that white stuff all over them if you don't use anything else to clean them. That's what happened to mine after about 6 months. No problems at all with the white stuff since I started using sonic brite. It took it right off and now they stay really clean. Just thought I'd chime in on the subject. Report Spam or Abuse RE: Cleaning a Retainer Post By OrthoBoss (Guest Post) (12/06/2007) Never use Toothpaste or Mouthwash on your retainer. The plastic or Acrylic that the retainer is made of will become weak and break down... Joy or similar dish detergent is good, but not enough to really freshen the retainer. Use Retainer Brite or Retainer Fresh, or Sonic brite. There may be other brands out there, but these are the ones I know are good. they designed for retainers, and don't damage the retainer material. Report Spam or Abuse RE: Cleaning a Retainer Post By jenny (Guest Post) (10/05/2007) My doc gave me samples of retainerfresh and it works awesome. I ordered through their website (www.retainerfresh.com) and it arrived very quickly. It is a powder, not a tablet so it dissolves super fast! Doc told me not to use denture tablets too! Report Spam or Abuse RE: Cleaning a Retainer Post by pamphyila (465) | (08/22/2007) Profile | Blog! | Contact I swish my mouth with a mouthwash of 1/2 hydrogen peroxide & half water - as I had one retainer fall to pieces when I used denture tablets (1/4) to clean it! Report Spam or Abuse RE: Cleaning a Retainer Post By Rory from Conn (Guest Post) (08/22/2007) Don't use Polident or Efferdent. My goodness My Grandmother used that! And by the results I think RetainerBrite is just the same formula as the others but packaged & marketed differently! I've used them all and SONICBRITE is the BEST there is! My retainer looks brand new and its 7 years old! Report Spam or Abuse RE: Cleaning a Retainer Post By jennifer (Guest Post) (08/08/2007) i use half a cup of vinegar and half a cup of water overnight. Works GREAT Report Spam or Abuse RE: Cleaning a Retainer Post By Will (Guest Post) (08/01/2007) I use any mouthwash whilst doing my saltwater mouthwashes (I had an operation on my upper palette) and I brush it with my toothbrush and sometimes use toothpaste on it. Report Spam or Abuse RE: Cleaning a Retainer Post by ArthurP (1) | (07/27/2007) Contact Love SonicBrite!!! It works like a charm. My retainer is like new again. Read the testimonials on their web site at www.sonicbrite.com Report Spam or Abuse RE: Cleaning a Retainer Post By no name. (Guest Post) (07/17/2007) you can get "effordent" from pretty much any drugstore. its advertised for dentures, but even the side of the box says "cleans reatainers" and something else. they work too. you put a tablet in a cup, let it dissolve, and while its disolving, put the retainer in. id reccommend it. Report Spam or Abuse RE: Cleaning a Retainer Post By Joanne (Guest Post) (07/05/2007) There's a website that specializes in stuff for braces and retainers called Dentakit.com. They sell two types of retainer cleaners. They sell Retainer Brite and also Sonic Brite. Both of these products are designed to clean retainers. I bought both to compare them. They both work really good. The Sonic Brite got rid of the disgusting white stuff that that cememted itself on my retainers. So I use the SonicBrite for a deep cleaning a few times a week. I use the Retainer Brite in between and also when I travel because it's an easy tablet to drop into a cup with water. At the Dentakit.com website, it says that you shouldn't use the products if you your retainers are soldered. Mine aren't and so it's not a problem at all. My retainers just get really clean but nothing breaks on them. Just be careful, read the instructions and ask your dentist before using a product. Report Spam or Abuse RE: Cleaning a Retainer Post By TenderTush (Guest Post) (06/10/2007) I was just at the mall and saw a new product out called RetainerFresh. It is not a tablet. It is a powder. The guy told me the tablets are just denture cleaner repackaged as retainer cleaner. What? Anyway, google it. Report Spam or Abuse Do NOT use denture tablets to clean retainer. Post By Chris (Guest Post) (03/10/2007) Do not use denture cleaning tablets to clean a traditional retainer. According to my orthodontist, denture cleaner will dissolve the silver solder used to hold the retainer together. Over the years, he's had several patients' retainers fall apart after all of the solder was dissolved by denture cleaner. Also, I suspect that the AquaFresh denture cleaner was removed from the market because it also had the same effect (I can see where it dissolved some of the solder on mine.) Report Spam or Abuse RE: Cleaning a Retainer with SonicBrite Post By David (Guest Post) (02/20/2007) The AquaFresh tablets have been discontinued by the company that makes them. But I have found an even better product for cleaning a retainer - SonicBrite. It is a powder with a sonic cleaner and I got it at Dentakit.com The sonic cleaner it comes with is a really nice little portable unit and it has a timer so you don't use up the batteries. Anyways, the SonicBrite really cleaned my retainer well and I use it several times per week. I used to have some white stuff on my retainer but I don't get it anymore and now my retainer never smells bad anyomore either. So that is what I would recommend to you. Like the other person said, you can get free shipping at Dentakit.com (and they ship really fast, too). Report Spam or Abuse RE: Cleaning a Retainer Post By Samantha (Guest Post) (01/18/2007) I use Sonicbrite. It's a great cleaner. I got it at dentakit.com and I got free shipping because I bought a couple of nice retainer cases, too Report Spam or Abuse RE: Cleaning a Retainer Post By Nice Smile (Guest Post) (07/01/2006) Just go to www.dentakit.com/retainerbrite.html and buy Retainer Brite. Since retainers are expensive, I would not experiment with cleansers that might yellow the material. Report Spam or Abuse RE: Cleaning a Retainer Post By Melanie (Guest Post) (06/22/2006) Sounds gross, but if you have calcium deposits (the white hard junk) on them you can take a safety pin and CAREFULLY scrape it away. A last resort, but it's the only thing that worked for me. Report Spam or Abuse RE: Cleaning a Retainer Post By Lorie (Guest Post) (06/20/2006) Every time you brush your teeth, brush your retainers also. When I worked in a dental office, the kids would come in take out their retainers and brush their teeth and retainers before we saw them for the day. Toothpaste is safe for them. Sometimes that just isn't enough, so I agree with other posts that denture cleaners and listerine is safe. Report Spam or Abuse RE: Cleaning a Retainer Post By Colleen (Guest Post) (06/20/2006) I always just brushed mine with a toothbrush/toothpaste. Once in a while I'd soak over night in water and baking soda. Report Spam or Abuse RE: Cleaning a Retainer Post By DIana (Guest Post) (06/20/2006) My daughter uses Efferdent (denture tablets) as her orthodontist recommended Report Spam or Abuse RE: Cleaning a Retainer Post By Memere (Guest Post) (06/20/2006) Try soaking in Hydrogen Peroxcide. It leaves no taste, just rinse completely after soaking. Report Spam or Abuse RE: Cleaning a Retainer Post by Debbie52 (955) | (06/20/2006) Profile | Contact I don't know if vinegar or alcohol might work. I think mouthwash, denture tablets and baking soda would tho. I have been having my teeth straightened with Invisiline so know I will be needing to wear retainers at night. My Dentist gave me a little battery operated machine that cleans either retainers, partials or even my Invisiline. Report Spam or Abuse RE: Cleaning a Retainer Post By Barbie (Guest Post) (06/19/2006) hi just use any denture cleaner it is safe and effective....plus you can buy it for a dollar or so at the dollar stores.....just drop into the solution and rinse when finished...all my kids use it for their retainers and it doesn't hurt them.....you can also use baking soda water and scrub with your toothbrush...that's what I did when I had my retainers before they started recommending denture type cleaners.... Report Spam or Abuse RE: Cleaning a Retainer Post by Xummer's Nana (6) | (06/18/2006) Contact When i had my retainer I used a denture cleaner tablet, Worked like a charm for me Report Spam or Abuse RE: Cleaning a Retainer Post By lauriebrd (Guest Post) (06/18/2006) I would put it in a cup with water and a little listerine added. It is safe for your mouth and very refreshing to put in in the morning :) I also use this formula to clean the cups we put our toothbrushes in ! Any mouthwash will work, but listerine is stronger. Report Spam or Abuse