Retainers are specialized parts that hold the toothbrush, mouthwash, or toothpaste in your mouth. They can become broken or detached, making it difficult to apply or remove a medication or cleaning agent.
Broken retainer pieces can get stuck in the cheek and/or trapped in the gum as it grows. This is very rare, but if it happens, it is beautiful to see!
These pieces are very expensive to replace, so when you have your retainer fixed, you should take care of it until a new piece arrives. You can do this at your doctor’s office or at home using a clear tapered piece.
Contents:
Apply super glue to broken piece
If you can’t repair the retainer using a normal glue stick, use super glue to fix it. Super glue will also stop it from sliding off your teeth when you bite down on it.
Now that the piece has been glued in place, let it dry before continuing with the rest of your oral care routine. This will prevent problems such as cracks or loss of shape when holding the piece in place.
Set broken piece into retainer
When your dentist removed a piece of plastic from around your tooth, do not throw it away. Instead, get some clear tape and set it in place. This will allow you to fix the broken piece of plastic later on.
Now take the time to carefully remove the piece of plastic using an alcohol wipe and gently push apart the edges. Once that is done, take some sandpaper and smooth out the rough edges of the plastic.
Now you are ready to re-adhere it onto your tooth! Make sure you use a strong adhesive as this can prevent future problems with loosening or breaking off.
Let dry for 5-10 minutes
After placing the retainer in the mouth, allowing it to settle in place, and letting it rest while you do other things, now is the time to fix a broken plastic retainer.
After removing it from your child, run a warm washcloth under the tap to remove any water or blood that may have been involved in creating the impression of a circle on your child’s face.
Once that was done, place the plastic retainer on your child’s upper jaw and gently push down onto the bottom end until it was seated. Now pull up and twist off to wash.
This process takes about 5 minutes all together, but could take longer if you were running out of time! When done, let them sit for a few minutes before putting them in another container and sending them back home.
Wash and dry your mouth carefully
After using the dental cleaning device or the manual retainer, try washing and drying your mouth for a minute or two on your own.
This helps to prevent any leftover chemicals from collecting in your mouth and causing harm to your teeth and gum. It also helps to remove any residue from the device or manual retainer that could cause you harm subsequent to usage.
If you still have trouble removing the residue after this, then you may need to call a dentist or other specialists. The dentist can then use specialized technologies or processes that return them back to normal.
Wearing a retainer until your next appointment is another good way of keeping it clean. You can put some gentle cleansers and toothpaste with baking soda on it to help with this.
Try on retainer and check for fit
If your retainer seems to be falling off or coming off by itself, try a few different ones. Your retainer should fit your tooth size and comfortably rest on your teeth.
If it doesn’t, you may need to add some force to make it stick. Try moving the retainer around in its holder or placing a little pressure on the counter or table. If that does not work, you may have to remove the retainer completely and find another one.
When removing the retainer, make sure to leave some skin behind so it can re-adhere back onto your teeth! If doing this at home, try using something smooth and soft to prevent causing any skin damage or injury.
Reapply glue if necessary
If your retainer is breakable at other times, do not try to fix it during these times. It may risk causing more harm to yourself or your child.
Instead, keep a note of the time and place you tried to fix the retainer and give it to a nurse or doctor immediately after the attempt if it did not work. A doctor can possibly re-fix it for you if it was too big of a break.
A nurse can try putting some glue on the end of the plastic, then placing a small piece of paper over that to make sure it does not dry up.
Leave in overnight
If you have a lot of time to wait for your retainer to set, then this is the way for you. If you have more time, then try leaving your retainer in the morning andgoing back to it at night to make it stick.
If you have difficulty removing the piece of plastic from your mouth or if it falls out, then it was successful!
If you have difficulty getting it to set at all, try leaving it in overnight again and trying again. If that does not work, try some warm water and gentle brushing to see if that helps loosen up the polymerized areas on the piece.