If you wear retainer, then you surely know that how important is the cleaning of this small appliance. If you go and search for a retainer cleaner in super market, you will have a plenty of choices there but have you ever think that which is best for you or more appropriate is to say that which one has developed originally for retainer, not for dentures.
It’s strange but true that most of the retainer cleansers available on the market contain the cleansers which were originally developed for cleaning dentures. If you say “so what ”, if they are originally for dentures and not for retainers. There are differences between orthodontic retainers and dentures, and traditional denture cleansers are not always the best way to clean your retainers. Remember, retainers remain in your mouth for all the night long, so it’s important to take care of their cleansing. In addition to such products, wrong information floating around on the internet, is also something that can be problematic in this regard.
You will find different methods and tips which were posted as good advice on many different sites but they are actually harmful and never ever practice them to clean your retainer. The most circulating advices include scrubbing your retainers with toothpastes. By doing so you will make the surfaces of the retainer, hence more surface area for bacteria to attach and hide. Never use vinegar as cleansing alternative. Retainer material is pretty porous and the vinegar will leave your retainers smelling awful as well as it will corrode retainer wiring if used long-term. It is also not recommended to soak Hawley type retainers in mouthwashes containing alcohol.
Retainer Brite- Cleaner for Invisalign and Retainers
Most important to remember is ,no matter what type of retainer you have, you should always take time to clean it once a day. Continue to read some relevant information about retainer cleaners.
Traditional Retainers
Always use recommended Cleanser and always used as directed. Best cleaners include Retainer Brite, SonicBrite, Efferdent, Polident. In addition to these, there are some non-persulfate cleanser available which are doing pretty good, for instance, DentaSoak.
Retainers are simply acrylic and a stainless steel wire adapted to fit your teeth and hold them in place. Typical retainer cleanser or denture cleanser are generally used, in order to keep your retainers clean and fresh. Normally you will get a packet of retainer cleanser when you first get your retainers.
Retainer Brite is the most popular retainer cleanser. Main ingredients include:
Potassium Persulfate Compound, Sodium Perborate, Sodium Bicarbonate, Sodium Sulfate, Citric Acid, Soda Ash Dense, Sodium Tripolyphosphate, Sorbitol, Sodium Lauryl Sulfoacetate, PEG 8000, Mint Flavor, Magnesium Stearate, Tetrasodium EDTA, FD & C Blue #2
If you are not comfortable with the ingredients or you just want to clean your retainer without any chemical then as home alternative, you can take a denture bath with some diluted bleach and used this solution to soak your retainers. Make a mixture by using 1 part bleach and 10 parts water for 5-10 minutes
Although you can still use any of the normal retainer and denture cleansers since they are more convenient, your best option is still to use a diluted bleach solution once a day for your mouthguards and nightguards just like you would with any clear plastic retainers. The bleach solution remains good for a week and then you’ll need to fill the denture bath with a fresh batch. Since the metal parts are made of stainless steel and not a base metal like with many dentures, there shouldn’t be much of a risk of the retainer wire corroding and turning black from the bleach, since you are using diluted bleach and soaking for less than 10 minutes.
Avoid Persulfate based cleansers
Persulfate based cleansers are’t consideredgood for everyone due to some reason. First and formost reason is that some people have allergy from Persulfate compounds and second reason is the tendency of Persulfate based cleansers to corrode the solder joints on orthodontic headgear braces retainers.
To avoid corroding your retainer with daily cleaning it is recommended to use a non-persulfate retainer cleanser like DentaSoak, since it’s cleaning action is based on benzoic acid. A solution of DentaSoak in a Retainer bath to last you the whole week. Ask your dentist and follow the directions for use if he gives any.
