How To Clean A Retainer: The Ultimate Guide To Cleaning Your Retainer - YouTube

Hi my name is Seth and I'm with sporting smiles  and since 2009 sporting smiles has been serving  

over 1 million customers across the united states  we know a thing or two about replacement retainers  

or retainers that have become too stinky that's  why this video is going to show you your ultimate  

guide to clean your retainer but sometimes that's  not enough and that's where sporty smiles comes in  

if you're looking for a replacement retainer  or if you've recently had orthodontic work done  

head to www.sportingsmiles.com to shop  our selection of replacement retainers

at sporting smiles we've conducted a lot of  research into how to properly deep clean your  

retainer if you're looking for chemical solutions  that you can buy at the store you're in the right  

place or if you prefer to give your retainer a  natural deep clean you're also in the right place  

or maybe you're on vacation or you need a quick  cleaning we also got you covered with one of our  

methods we also have recognized that there  is a lot of misinformation on the internet  

and in orthodontics the past couple decades of how  to clean your retainer that's why in this video  

you're gonna see the most up-to-date and approved  methods on how to properly give your retainer  

a deep cleaning how about we get started one of  the most common ways of cracking your retainer  

is actually during the cleaning process and  that's why i'm going to show you a couple of  

approved methods to properly clean your retainer  the first one is you want to cup your hand  

place your retainer in the palm of your  hand gently grip it and using a soft bristle  

toothbrush gently scrub a little bit that way  you avoid tension on other parts of your chainer  

from your fingers the other approved method that  i'll be showing you is a pretty simple one have a  

cloth put your retainer right in the middle  of it and gently pinch it just a little bit

and clean it with a soft bristle toothbrush  these are the safest ways to clean your retainer  

one of the most common questions that we receive  is how often should you clean your retainer  

well there's two answers to that we recommend  giving your retainer a daily cleansing  

after you wear it throughout the day  what you want to do first is you want to  

rinse off the biofilm from your retainer just  run it under warm water for about 30 seconds

once you're done with that you'll need a soft  bristle toothbrush this is easily found in any  

convenience store between one and four dollars  but make sure it's the soft bristled toothbrush  

then you're going to want to use antibacterial  unscented hand soap make sure it's liquid  

all you do is simply put a little bit  on the toothbrush take your retainer  

and gently scrub it make sure you get the  inside and make sure you get the outside

do this for about 30 seconds

and then you're going to want to wash  it under running warm water again

you also want to air dry it by shaking it to  get all the moisture off it and then simply  

put it back in your storage case we talked  earlier about misinformation things that you do  

not want to clean your retainer with is a hard  bristle toothbrush and you also do not want to  

clean it with toothpaste and we have found  that toothpaste is abrasive and it's gritty  

along with the hard bristle toothbrush that  can damage your retainer with micro scratches  

micro scratches are a breeding ground for  bacteria so do not use toothpaste or a  

hard bristle toothbrush so for our first deep  cleaning we will be using the fresh guard soak  

you'll want to take a clean container or a glass  and fill it up with warm water about halfway

once you have your glass half full with warm  water you're going to want to take one of the  

fresh guard packets all you do is tear it  open and put some of it in the glass container

now that the water is blue and it's foamed  at the top that signals that's ready to clean  

your retainer take your retainer and after  washing it for about 30 seconds to get it wet  

you're going to want to put it  fully submerged in the water

the process of cleaning the  retainer in the fresh guard soap  

should take about five minutes after the five  minutes is up what you're going to want to do  

is you're going to want to remove  your retainer from the solution  

dip a soft bristle toothbrush in it and  just gently scrub for about 30 seconds

once you've finished scrubbing your retainer wash  it under warm running water for about 30 seconds  

and pop it back into the retainer case  fresh guard is great for deep clean your  

retainer but it's also a one use so once you are  finished with the solution go ahead and dump it  

freshgard cleaning soak solution is on amazon  for about six dollars we estimate that this  

cleaning process will take between six and seven  minutes let's move on to the next cleaning process  

that involves retainer bright now we're going  to show you how to clean your retainer with  

retainer bright clean tablets what you're  going to want to do is have a clean glass  

or jar and fill it with warm water about halfway  after you have your jar filled with water  

you're going to take a retainer bright tablet  from the package and drop it into the water

so now that you see that the retainer bright  tablet is almost done fizzing i'm going to  

take the retainer and fully submerge it into the  water now you're going to wait 15 minutes for it  

to do the cleaning once the 15 minutes is up  you're gonna go ahead and take your retainer  

remove it from the solution and wash it under  warm running water for about a minute we advise  

you not to let your retainer sit for more than  15 minutes in the solution retainer bright can  

sometimes be difficult to find in stores and it  may be a little bit expensive at fourteen dollars  

but it really is the premier retaining cleaning  solution if you also have a ultrasonic machine  

that'd be a great way to implement it into  your retainer cleaning process retainer clean  

tablets are a great way to remove retainer stink  retainer smells in retainer yellow or white spots  

now that we've shown you two separate  retainer cleaning solutions that we recommend  

we're going to show you natural ways to clean  your retainer if you don't like chemicals maybe  

chemical solutions aren't your thing and you're  looking for natural ways to clean your retainers  

well again you're in the right place we have a  few natural clean solutions for your retainer  

that involve common ingredients you probably  already have in your home our first natural  

solution is clean your retainer with vinegar  you can purchase white vinegar for between two  

and four dollars at your local supermarket as  well as apple vinegar for around the same price  

after rinsing your retainer off in warm water for  about 30 seconds you're going to want to fill up  

a glass halfway with warm water next you'll take  the apple cider vinegar and make a 50 50 solution

or if you choose to use the white vinegar do the  same exact step 50 50 solution if you want you  

can take a toothbrush or a spoon and just stir  it a little bit to make the solution a little  

bit more mixed now you'll want to take your  retainer and fully submerge it into the mixture

after your retainers are fully submerged the  next step is to wait 20 minutes after 20 minutes  

remove your retainer from the natural  cleaning solution and wash thoroughly  

vinegar is a great natural cleaning source for  retainers but it can leave the retainer with  

a strong odor or a weird taste so that's why if  you're extra sensitive to smells we recommend the  

apple cider vinegar because it has less of a harsh  odor after thoroughly washing your retainers off  

take the newly cleaned retainers and  put them back in the storage case  

and you have two deep clean retainers naturally  done with apple cider vinegar and white vinegar

vinegar can leave your retainer with a harsh odor  

and if you don't want to deal with that we  have another solution for you that's natural  

that's right it's found right in  your fridge and it's baking soda

baking soda is a common kitchen ingredient and  is often used to prevent or remove bad smells in  

the fridge which makes it a great selection  for naturally deep cleaning your retainers  

you can purchase baking soda from your  local supermarket for less than a dollar  

what you're going to want to do is take a  clean glass and fill it 3 4 with warm water

once you have your cup all filled up you're  going to take 2 tablespoons of baking soda  

take it and mix it into the water then you're  going to gently stir it for about 30 seconds  

you'll see that the water becomes  a cloudy cleaning solution  

next take your stained or stinky retainer  and fully submerge it into the water

this process will take between 20 and 30 minutes  to deep clean your retainer so we recommend taking  

a shower in the morning or walking your dog or  any other morning routines that you have that take  

that time frame after the time has passed remove  your retainer from the natural cleaning solution  

and rinse under warm water for about a minute  you should have yourself a naturally deep  

cleaned retainer that is odor free our last  natural cleaning solution for your retainer  

involves castile soap castile soap originated  in europe and was originally made with olive  

oil it can now be made with hemp oils coconut  and other natural ingredients but it remains  

100 percent animal free and vegan the soap comes  in both bar and liquid form but to clean your  

retainer we recommend the liquid form it can be  purchased online or found in a supermarket for  

around ten dollars depending on the size in the  bottle the first step that you're going to want  

to do is take a clean glass and fill it with  warm water once your glass is half full with  

warm water you're going to take the castile  soap open it and pour some into the glass

you can see that the water is  starting to fog up and you can  

take a soft bristle toothbrush or  a spoon and gently mix it around

once it's mixed in nicely take your dirty  retainer and place it fully submerged in the water  

you're going to want to let your retainer soak for  between 10 and 15 minutes once your retainer has  

been soaking for around 10 minutes go ahead and  pull it out take a soft bristle toothbrush dip it  

into the mixture and gently scrub your retainer do  this for about 30 seconds and when it's all fully  

scrubbed up you're going to take your retainer  and run it under warm water for about a minute

after your retainer has been washed go  ahead and place it back in the storage case

those are three natural ways of cleaning your  retainer without any chemicals this castile soap  

is 100 vegan and animal free we've demonstrated  five separate ways to deep clean your retainers  

but we also understand that sometimes you don't  have a lot of time or you're on vacation when  

this happens we recommend cleaning your retainers  with a retainer cleaning foam this can be found  

online for about 15 this method is not to  be used as a deep clean method but one that  

can quickly clean your retainer moderately when  you're on vacation first you're going to want to  

take your retainers and apply two pumps of foam  inside the retainer and spread it evenly around

using a toothbrush brush the retainer for 30  seconds and remember use a soft bristle one once  

you've scrubbed your retainer for about 30 seconds  rinse the retainer thoroughly in warm water  

and here's a little tip if you have stubborn  stains like those yellow and white ones that  

we discussed earlier leave the foam inside  the retainer for 5 minutes before brushing  

we've discussed the best tested methods of  cleaning your retainer including clean tablets  

and natural solutions now let's go over the  misconceptions or dangerous products that have  

been used before to clean retainers that are  considered ineffective or even dangerous the  

first thing that we want to remind you is that you  do not want to use a hard bristle toothbrush or  

toothpaste when daily cleaning your retainer  the hard bristles and the toothpaste  

is abrasive and gritty and that can cause micro  scratches on your retainer which is a breeding  

ground for bacteria the next solution that you  don't want to use is hand sanitizer it's great  

for your hands and killing bacteria but terrible  for your plastic clear retainers hand sanitizers  

contain alcohol and that alcohol will dry out your  retainers making them brittle and easy to crack  

that also goes along with mouthwash again  mouthwash contains alcohol so that will dry  

out your retainer and that also goes for rubbing  alcohol some may think that salt water is a good  

solution to clean your retainers but it's actually  not the salt won't properly dissolve the bacteria  

or yellow in white spots in your clear  retainer and is generally seen as ineffective

denture tablets and how they both have  

persulfate in them they're meant for dentures not  retainers so if you are looking for a chemical  

solution to deep clean your retainers make sure  that they're made for retainers and not dentures  

bleach is a product that can clean almost anything  but you don't want bleach on your mouth or in your  

retainer and finally boiling water clear plastic  retainers are made from essex and that material  

can change under extreme conditions from heat if  your retainers are boiled then it may distort the  

shape of your retainer rendering them useless and  protecting your teeth from shifting some cases  

even see the retainers becoming droopy so boiling  water is a no-go when cleaning your retainer

now that you've seen our approved methods for  sporting smiles ultimate guide to cleaning your  

retainer i'll give you a quick little recap  you'll want to use a soft bristle toothbrush  

an unscented anti-bacterial hand soap for a daily  cleaning of your retainer but when you're fighting  

those yellow and white tough spots sporting  smiles recommends a clean solution from freshgard  

retainer tablets from retainer bright  

or if you are looking for a more  natural solution there's white vinegar

apple cider vinegar baking soda

castile soap and when you're on the run or on  vacation we recommend using a cleaning foam spray  

for your retainer specifically made  for retainers this one is called rxdent  

these ways we have found best cleans your  retainer and we've put them to the test today  

how you choose is up to you even though we've  shown you a lot of great methods to deep clean  

your retainer there are retainers that are at the  point of no return sometimes your retainer is too  

stinky or too dirty or even a deep clean won't  do the job that's where sporting smiles comes in  

head to www.sportingsmiles.com to shop  our catalog of replacement retainers  

that's www.sportingsmiles.com to shop custom  do-it-yourself retainers in three easy steps. How To Clean A Retainer: The Ultimate Guide To Cleaning Your Retainer