How to Clean Buildup on Retainers

Wearing a retainer might seem anticlimactic after celebrating the removal of your braces. But your retainer does exactly what the name suggests: it retains the corrected position of your teeth. Metal retainers come in all different colors, while clear retainers are designed to be invisible on your teeth. Even if you remove your retainer while eating and drinking, the acids from saliva in your mouth, along with natural bacteria, create a cloudy, foul-smelling buildup on the plastic surface. Cleaning this buildup makes your retainer more comfortable and pleasant to wear.

Things You'll Need

• 1 cup white vinegar
• toothpaste
• toothbrush
• bowl

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Instructions

• 1

  Brush your retainer with toothpaste and a toothbrush to remove any easily-loosened surface particles.

• 2

  Rinse your retainer with cool water. Always avoid using warm or hot water on your retainer; the heat will alter the plastic mold.

• 3

  Pour 1 cup of vinegar into a small bowl and submerge the retainer face-up for 1 1/2 hours.

• 4

  Empty the bowl and add fresh vinegar. Submerge the retainer again face-down for 1 1/2 hours. The vinegar becomes less effective as the retainer buildup dissolves, necessitating the need for fresh vinegar.

• 5

  Remove your retainer from the vinegar and brush it again using toothpaste and a toothbrush. Soaking in vinegar loosens and dissolves some of the buildup, but the final brushing actually removes the buildup from the plastic of your retainer.