HUZZAH! IT’S TIME TO CELEBRATE. Your braces are off and your teeth are looking great but, you’re not quite done yet. You have a retainer now and it needs to be cleaned daily. If not, dry saliva will cause tartar buildup on your retainer compromising your healthy, clean smile.
Cleaning Your Retainer
The two most recommended methods for cleaning your retainer are:
1. Toothbrush And Toothpaste: While brushing your teeth at night, feel free to put a small dab of toothpaste on your retainer and brush away the saliva and bacteria. If you do this every night and then set your retainer in distilled water, your retainer should stay clean.
2. Castile Soap: Castile soap is basically olive oil and coconut oil. It lacks the harmful materials that might break down your retainer. Regularly rinsing or soaking your retainer with castile soap will keep your retainer clean and fresh.
Of course there are other options if you feel that neither toothpaste nor castile soap are doing the job. Baking soda or denture cleaning tablets are useful. Be careful not to use either products too frequently. They are both very strong and can damage your retainer.
Make Sure You Don’t…
Cleaning your retainer should not be a complicated or intense process. Just make sure you:
- Don’t clean your retainer in boiling water or a dishwasher. This will warp and shrink your retainer to the point that you can no longer use it.
- Don’t use alcohol based products. Alcohol based products will dry your retainer and break it down and crack it.
- Don’t use multi-purpose cleaners or bleach. These have harmful toxins that can damage the metal or acrylic properties of your retainer. Needless to say, it is smart to keep things you put in your mouth far away from harmful and poisonous toxins.
You worked so hard to get to this point. Don’t give it up by forgetting to take care of your retainer. If you have any questions or feel that you need a little help, contact us! We would love to see you and help you take care of your beautiful smile.
