A very real problem... How to clean your retainers?

Ever since I removed my braces, I’ve been a rather good girl, wearing my retainers every night as per instructed by my orthodontist.

Why a “rather” good girl?

I recall his instructions were to wear the retainers 24/7 for a period of 1-3 months, then every night when I sleep.

So, the rebellious thing I did?

I only wore the top retainers for a month for 24/7. And, then I started wearing the pair only at night.

The reason was simple.
The retainers were somewhat in the way when you talk. Knowing that my bottom teeth are stable for more than 6 months, didn't help (He said the bottom teeth were in place at least 6 months before I removed my braces). However, since the top teeth are always cheeky, moving around a lot, I kept to my promise to wear them for at least a month.

Then came the issue.

The plastic retainers started to smell a little. I could always taste a little bit of ‘sourness’ when I put them back on. Sounds disgusting? I know right! That’s why I say it’s a very real problem. Hahaha. So, before my next appointment with Dr Stanley, I tried googling a few ‘remedies’ and what I gathered were mostly:

1. Brush retainers with a new brush (use it only for your retainers)
2. Use antibacterial hand soap to brush your retainers (since the sourness is created by germs/ bacteria)
3. Soak your retainers in salt water

On my next visit to the dentist, I spoke and raised my concerns to Dr Stanley. He mentioned that plastic retainers are bound to smell as plastic does absorb your saliva, unlike the traditional stainless steel retainers. The best way to prevent it from smelling is to wash it with retainer cleaner like below.

It’s similar with Denture Cleaners, except that it is more gentle for clear soft plastic. However, these retainer cleaners are hard to find in Singapore. Even online, you may be required to ship them from overseas into Singapore.

So his alternative suggestion? Use Denture cleaners.
He mentioned that the ingredients of Denture and Retainer cleaners are basically the same. Just that one is stronger than another. Because for dentures, we eat and chew and food gets stuck. But for retainers, we are mainly washing off the bacteria and grime.

The thing to take note when using denture cleaners is to dilute the mixture more than usual. Logically, since the standard dentures would require 1 denture cleaning tablet, I would only use half for my retainers for each wash. I used denture cleaners from Daiso.

A box of 12pcs retails at the standard SGD2 and I use them on my retainers each week.
That’s SGD2 for 24 weeks! Each week will cost you even lesser than $0.10!

Nowadays, most Daiso products come with English translation. For those of you that don’t understand the 'curt' instructions on the box. There are 3 steps illustrated.

1. Add the tablet into warm water approximately 40-50 degrees, or room temperature.
2. Immerse your false teeth (or, in our case, retainers) immediately.
   What it means to say is that you should not wait till the tablet completely dissolve before putting your retainers in. They should go in while the tablet is "bubbling".
3. Cleanse your false teeth thoroughly after

Basically it does not tell you how long you should keep it soaked but they do advise to soak it overnight for thorough cleaning. That's what I usually do on the weekends, taking them out in the morning and soaking them till I need to use them again at night.

Do note that these cleaners are soapy in nature. So, after a good soak, you should always brush your retainers clean with your ‘retainer brush’ and rinse them thoroughly. Just get a brush from the hotel room of your recent travel, or buy one cheap soft brush off the shelves and use it to clean your retainers.

With this ‘deep clean’, your retainers should be able to stay smell-free and clean for a week before the next cycle starts again. On a daily basis, please still brush and soak your retainers in lukewarm water.

An extra bit of advice.
Sometimes you’d notice that when you had meals with strong spices (especially garlic), brushing your teeth alone doesn't get rid of the smell. You probably need to rinse your mouth couple of times with Listerine.
That said, the same thing applies to your retainers. Simply brushing it with lukewarm water won’t help!
So if you know you had meals with strong spices, it would be a good idea to ‘deep clean’ it the next morning when you remove your retainers and prevent the smell from being absorbed.
Keeping your retainers clean and bacteria free (as much as possible) is very important in maintaining good oral hygiene which may affect your health. 

Hope this little bit of information is helpful for all out there who are using retainers or are removing their braces and using retainers soon.
Cheers!

P.s., I know I mentioned in a previous blogpost that I will be doing a review on 'Beautiful Teeth Whitening Kit' but I have yet to be able to follow through with a treatment plan. Any reviews written at this point in time would be biased so please bear with me. I'll complete the suggested treatment plan and share my #elliehonestreview soon.