RANKING DENTAL CLEANERS FROM WORST TO BEST

These days so many of us are wearing a dental appliance of some kind and there are so many options on how to keep them clean it can get a bit overwhelming. That’s why we’ve done the legwork and compared the various cleaning options so you can decide what’s best for you.

Whether you wear a mouth guard for sport, night guard for sleep, dentures, orthodontic retainers or whitening trays, we’ve broken down the cleaning options available below.

Psst! If you’re short on time, just skip to the bottom and check out our final verdict.

Standard toothbrush & toothpaste

While this sounds like a great idea in theory, natural tooth enamel is very hard so toothbrush bristles and toothpaste tend to be far too abrasive to use on dental appliances. If you try to use these you’re running the risk of scratching up whatever you’re trying to clean. Eventually germs will get into those tiny scratches and you’ll end up with a smelly, discoloured appliance.

Verdict: Yuck, not advised

Dental Cleaning Tablets

When you wash your dishes after dinner, do you just soak them, dry them and put them back in the cupboard? No, you scrub them or have them blasted clean with water in the dishwasher. So don’t just soak your dental appliance, even if it’s technically disinfected it could still have tiny bits of debris or residue lodged into it or sitting on the surface.

Verdict: Gross, do not want.

Specialised Denture Brush and Paste

Now you’re talking. Specialised brushes with soft or silicon bristles can clean dental devices without scratching visible surfaces. Our Dr Denti denture brush is great for this as it has one firm set for cleaning the fit surface and a soft side for the visible areas.

Specialised cleaning liquids like Dr Mark’s Dentalfresh are also excellent for dislodging debris, breaking down biofilm layers and leaving a minty fresh scent. Dentalfresh also gets extra points for being alcohol and bleach free so it avoids any discolouration issues.

Verdict: Good but time consuming.

Sonic Dental Cleaner

Sonic cleaners use vibrations to remove gunk from your appliance and can be very effective at cleaning. The downside is that you’ll still need to give your dentures a bit of a brush to get them truly clean. Plus they can be a hassle to keep charged/plugged in and the buzzing is a bit annoying after a while.

Verdict: Very good but brushing still needed.

HyGenie

Dr Marks HyGenie is the gold standard for cleaning dental appliances at home. A quick spin in the patented cleaner is the equivalent of using 10 different toothbrushes simultaneously. Paired with Dentalfresh cleaning liquid, HyGenie ticks every box we have by brushing, cleaning and rinsing devices in one handy package. As if that wasn’t enough, it doesn’t need batteries and a full clean can be done in under 30 seconds (see the video for a demo).

Verdict: Excellent, earns bonus points for ease and speed.

Professional Dental Lab Cleaners

If you don’t mind spending £1,000+ on a cleaner, professional equipment like Renfert’s Sympro is hard to beat. It uses hundreds of tiny pins, a series of magnets and a detergent to offer the ultimate clean. It’s so effective that it can even remove nicotine stains.

Verdict: Outstanding but way too expensive and time consuming for home use.

The Best Home Dental Cleaner

For home use, the HyGenie cleaner simply cannot be beaten. Whatever dental appliance you own, this is the cleaner you should be using. The protective cage keeps your appliance safe against accidental drops and doubles as handy storage for travel so you can keep your gear clean on the go.

HyGenie is totally new to the UK for 2021 and you can buy it directly from specialist retailers like Denture Medics or through your dentist. If you’d like more information on where to buy, drop us an email at info@gapdental.com or call on 01474 560 618.