Several times a week patients hand me their dental appliance to have our ultrasonic clean it for them. I'm always more than happy to clean their retainers or any other dental appliance they may be using such as a night guard, retainers, dentures or partials, but I'm always surprised by the amount of patients who don't seem to clean their dental appliance, or at least they don't do a good job at doing so. So today I thought I would talk about an easy way that I personally use clean my own night guard.
How do you clean your Clear Retainer or Night Guard ?
I recommend that patients clean their dental appliance using a cleaning agent that is specific for their dental appliance. Please note that a night guard may require a different cleaning agent than a partial, denture or anything else that has an artificial tooth.
If you have a clear retainer, night guard, sports guard or aligners I recommend that you use Retainer Brite cleaning tablets. I personally have been using these cleanings tablets since I got my own night guard. These tablets were recommended to me by a fellow dental hygienist and we also use this product at one of the dental offices that I work at.
Retainer Bright cleaning tablets are very easy to use, you simply:
Fill a cup or container with warm water
Drop a Retainer Brite tablet into the cup
Place your dental appliance into the cup and leave it for 15 minutes
Remove your appliance and rise thoroughly under warm water.
I suggest that patients do this everyday if possible. Doing this daily can help reduce the amount of odor-causing bacteria that live on your dental appliance and may prevent and reduce plaque and tartar build up on them.
In addition to using these cleaning tablets, I like to use a soft toothbrush to clean my night guard a few times a week. I believe this can help remove some of the plaque that wasn't able to be cleaned by the tablets, but if you do this please remember to use a soft toothbrush and do not use any toothpaste. Using a hard toothbrush or toothpaste can be too abrasive on your appliance and cause it to wear out faster.
Thank you for taking the time to read this blog post. We hope this helps you take better care of your night guard, clear retainers, sports guard or aligners. If you have any questions please leave them in the comment section below. If you enjoyed and found it educational please share it with your friends and family on Facebook and follow us on Instagram. It only takes 1 minute of your time and it helps us out a lot. Thanks!