Dental retainers.....special cleaner or not?

[Tap]

Did you buy/use the special cleaners for your family's  retainers?  DD16 was given a couple packs of Retainer Brite for hers by the orthodontist, but I don't know if it is really necessary to buy it or not.  I had Invisalign and we were just told to brush it well, give it a light bleach soak periodically (a couple drops in a cup of water) and call it good.

[jenn-]

My DD soaked hers in Polident every night for 10 minutes.  Hers was a standard metal wire style though.  I don't know if the clear ones require something different.

[Btervet]

I just brush it when I brush my teeth and occasionally use a denture cleaner.

[umsami]

I was always told to use Polident from time to time by my ortho way back when.  Had a chance to sample one of the special cleaners.....guess what? It was made by the Efferdent people.

 

It did work well, though.  I normally brush my bite guard with my toothbrush every night....but then about every two weeks, I use this.  

[Ali in OR]

We were told to use denture cleaner occasionally. I got a cheap generic kind for dd.

[zoobie]

I buy Retainer Brite or denture cleaner to use every few days, whichever is cheaper on Amazon when I need to order.

[flyingiguana]

My daughter brushes her clear one with toothpaste.  That's all she does, and is all her orthodontist suggested.

[Stacia]

My dd uses just a tiny drop of dish soap (no abrasive beads or anything like that in it) on hers when washing/brushing it. It's what the people at the ortho place recommended & seems to work well (over a year now...). She has the clear plastic type retainer.

[kitten18]

DD brushes hers and then we soak them in a vinegar/water mixture every three weeks or so.  We use the vinegar because they get a mineral build up.

 Do the denture cleaners remove the mineral build up?

[PrincessMommy]

DD brushes hers and then we soak them in a vinegar/water mixture every three weeks or so.  We use the vinegar because they get a mineral build up.

 Do the denture cleaners remove the mineral build up?

 

this is what my son does too.  It seems to work fine for him.

[PuddleJumper1]

Both ds and dd were told to brush their retainers each time they wore them. 

 

Interesting note - ortho had a fit when ds told him he was using denture cleaner on them. Ds had noticed build-up and we thought that would help. Ds was told the cleaner breaks down the retainers over time (he has the standard plastic with metal wire type)

 

Dd has the newer all plastic ones that fit over the teeth and he told her just to brush them.

[katilac]

dd has had the same one for years, and has never used anything special to clean it (and was never advised to do so). she's had it for over four years for sure. 

[TheApprentice]

Ds soaks his in a listerine/water solution, then brushes it, nightly.

[Night Elf]

Ds's retainers are clear. We use Retainer Brite. I read that it dissolves plaque build up. We were told we only had to soak the retainers every other day. He wasn't told to brush them. He's only had them for 6 months but they look nice at least.

[dirty ethel rackham]

Our kids had the Invisalign style retainers.  They just brushed them when they brushed their teeth and gave them a vinegar soak every couple of weeks.  Whenever they went in to the dentist for a cleaning, they brought the retainer in with them and the staff put it in a cleaner for them.