Top 7 Tips To Properly Care For Your Retainers
While retainers guarantee you a beautiful smile and improved oral health, they come with new responsibilities of maintaining them. Retainers are beneficial in many aspects, but the most common one is that the clear trays help hold your teeth together and prevent shifting. For years, retainers chapel hill procedures have yielded positive outcomes for most patients, and you aren’t exemptional.
However, though the results from retainers are pleasing, it takes commitment and effort to ensure they serve your needs longer. For this reason, let’s examine how you can properly care for your retainers.
1. Wear your retainers appropriately
Generally, you don’t have to wear your retainers round-the-clock. You should remove your retainers during cleaning, eating, participating in contact sports, or the case of orthodontist specifications. While retainers are made with strong, durable material, this doesn’t mean they cannot be damaged. Therefore, you should constantly handle them carefully and avoid wearing them when engaging in vigorous activities.
2. Clean properly and often
Though many people confuse this, retainers should be cleaned daily like natural teeth. This is usually beneficial as it contributes to oral cleanliness and fresh breath. By cleaning often, you can eradicate tartar buildup on the surface of the retainers. Also, you can apply specialty care with Retainer Brite or soak it in water mixtures. Furthermore, rinsing your retainers after every meal eliminates odor and plaque buildup.
3. Properly store your retainers using a protective case
Because you will not use your retainers 24 hours a day, they should store properly using a protective case. Improper storage of retainers can cause damage or misplacing them. Therefore, whenever you’re not using the retainers, you should store them in a case or bag to avoid losing them.
4. Often keep your retainers moisturized
Retainers are designed to dry out quickly, especially if not kept moisturized. Though they receive the needed moisture when worn in your mouth, you should ensure they are moisturized when removed. It would help to soak them in cool water, mouth-fixed water, or specified liquids to keep them from drying out. This will safeguard your retainers from being damaged.
5. Keep them off from the heat
Typically, heat can melt the plastic material, so it’s important not to leave your retainers in areas with heat exposure. It would help you avoid leaving your retainers on a windowsill or in the car. Also, don’t expose the retainers to direct sunlight or near the stove or heater. Furthermore, remove them when drinking hot beverages and avoid cleaning them with boiling water.
6. Tidy your teeth before and after wearing them
Before you wear the retainers, you should thoroughly brush your teeth to prevent placing them in an unclean area. A dirty mouth will harm your retainers and cause more oral health complications.
7. Stay on top of your follow-up visits
Orthodontic care is essential in ensuring proper retainers care and checkups of whether you need any adjustments. Since an orthodontist understands what is best for you, they can help fix your retainers where necessary and guide you on the cleaning techniques. If your retainers are uncomfortable, don’t hesitate to talk to your orthodontist.
Without any doubt, retainers are a great option to improve your oral health and prevent teeth shifting. However, you should adopt the discipline of properly caring for your dentures if you want them to serve your needs in the long run. Additionally, since you can’t navigate this journey alone, you should consider engaging your orthodontist often.
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