When I began my Invisalign journey in the fall of 2021, I knew I would need to keep my tray clean, but I didn't realize what a chore this would end up being. In the first few months of the treatment plan, I was wearing my trays 22 hours per day, taking them out only to eat or brush my teeth. As you can imagine, those things got gross. Even when rinsing and cleaning after eating, I was very ready for the week to be over and my new tray come out of the package. Bedtime was a whole other challenge. While I am diligent about my oral hygiene, brushing my teeth before bed is not my favorite activity, and adding brushing your tray after that seemed like torture. I would end up sleepy, somehow covered in water, and cranky that my husband was already tucked snuggly in bed and I wasn't. I'm really not a night owl.
So after months and months of struggling to keep up with the up keep, I decided to look for other means of cleaning everyday. By this time I had received my permanent retainer. The retainer was different from the weekly trays. If my weekly tray got stained or especially gross, I always knew there was a fresh one coming soon. It was more important that it was kept hygienically clean than stain free. I was given 4 retainers when I finished my treatment plan. I do have the option to purchase more retainers but my goal is to make these 4 retainers to last me a very long time. I had been using the crystals given to me to clean my trays, and it did work, but I was still having to brush my trays and this was really the activity I was trying to get away from.
To Amazon I went. My search brought up many tablets, foams and different chemicals to clean the trays, but they did not solve my problem. I was looking for a hands free solution. Not to mention, I was scared to use a product that was too strong and might breakdown the plastic of my retainer. Scrolling way down, I came upon two possibilities; Ultrasonic cleaning and UV light disinfectant. I found one product that provides both, and I ordered it immediately.
I received the Smile Direct Club Smile Spa Ultrasonic and UV Cleaning Machine and immediately pulled it out of the box and found a spot for it on my bathroom counter. After rinsing it out and plugging it in, I dropped the item holder in the bottom of the machine and filled it with water to the max line. Upon situating my retainers in the tray and lowering the lid, I pressed the power button. BUZZZZZ! It turned on and began dancing my Invisalign around cleaning the whole time. 10 minutes later, my retainer was crystal clean and ready to wear. No stains, no smell, no problem.
I did buy one more item in my quest for mess free cleaning. This retainer case has a built in UV light to disinfect while on the go. I bought it to take on vacation and it worked just fine, but I was very happy to get back to my ultrasonic cleaning machine.
And so I wear my retainer every night knowing it is sparkling clean and is no longer a Petri dish. Happy shopping!
Your Friend,
Rae
P.S. While I do make commissions for the purchases made through links in my posts (at no cost to you), I will only promote products that I myself have used and loved.