Retainer Care Instructions: How to Protect Your Smile for Life

After orthodontic treatment, retainers play an important role in protecting your new smile. Wearing and caring for your retainer properly helps keep your teeth from shifting and ensures your orthodontic results last as long as possible. Follow these orthodontist-recommended retainer care instructions to keep your retainer clean, safe, and effective.

Nighttime for a Lifetime

The only times that your retainers should be out of your mouth are when you are eating, brushing your teeth, or wearing a mouth guard for sports. When your retainers are not in your mouth, they should always be in the retainer case. Never put your retainer in a napkin or leave it laying out on a counter. It should either be “in your face or in the case!”.

Getting Used to Wearing Your Retainer

When you first begin wearing your retainers, you may notice your speech sounds slightly different. This is completely normal. Your tongue simply needs time to adjust to the retainer. The more consistently you wear it, the faster your speech will return to normal. Most patients adapt within a short period of time.

How to Clean Your Retainer Properly

We recommend that you clean your retainers twice a day by gently brushing them with cold or lukewarm water. Brushing will:

• Remove plaque and bacteria
• Eliminate odors
• Keep your retainer looking clear and fresh

It’s ok to soak your retainers in denture cleaner once in a while to freshen them up. If they get very dirty, you can soak it for one hour in a 50/50 solution of white vinegar and water. This helps loosen any particles that may be stuck to the retainer. After soaking, gently brush and rinse thoroughly.

What NOT to Do With Your Retainer

To avoid damaging your retainer, never do the following:

• Clean your retainers with harsh cleaning products, dish soap, or even toothpaste!
• Rinse your retainers with hot or boiling water
• Put your retainers in the dishwasher

Heat and strong chemicals can warp or damage the material, making the retainer less effective.

Protect Your Retainer From Damage

Retainers are more fragile than they may appear. Dropping them, stepping on them, throwing them, or excessively playing with them can cause retainers to crack or break. If they are properly taken care of, your retainers can last for many years.

Something that people might not know is that pets love retainers. It only takes a few seconds for a pet to destroy your retainer. Dogs in particular are known for chewing them up quickly, so always keep your retainer safely stored in its case and out of reach of animals.

What to Do if Your Retainer Is Lost or Broken

If your retainers are lost or broken, please call our office during regular business hours to schedule an appointment to be fitted for a new retainer. Remember to bring your retainers to retainer check appointments. Your Orthodontist will need to check to see how they are fitting, and they may require adjustments from time to time.

Join the Lifetime Retainer Program to Save Big on Replacements

Life happens and retainers can get lost, damaged, or accidentally thrown away. That’s why Children’s Dental Health offers a Lifetime Retainer Program designed to help protect your orthodontic investment and keep their smile looking great. With this program, patients have access to replacement retainers if theirs become lost or broken. Because replacing retainers can be an unexpected expense, enrolling in the program can help families avoid larger replacement costs down the road.

The cost can be built into your orthodontic treatment, and provides peace of mind knowing that your child’s smile is protected. Ask our team about our Lifetime Retainer Program during your orthodontic consultation to learn how you can help protect your child’s smile for years to come.