How to Clean Your Night Guard: Cleaning Night Guards 101
Dental night guards have a lot of benefits that can help you take better care of your teeth and mouth. Oral hygiene is essential for leading a healthy lifestyle, and if you wear a night guard for your teeth, cleaning them regularly is an important part of your oral hygiene that’s easy to overlook.
Night guards can be valuable in protecting your teeth from the harsh impact of clenching and grinding teeth at night. This unconscious activity can cause a lot of damage, such as sensitivity, fractures, or premature wear. In addition to wearing protection, it’s important that you know how to clean a night guard.
The first and most crucial step in protecting your teeth is to get a custom-made night guard. You can look into your options and choose the mouth guard for sleeping that suits you better based on your level of teeth grinding.
Clear Comfort Night Guards offers an extensive range of night guards at affordable prices. We’re a team of professional dental technicians who have many years of experience. We only use premium materials and never compromise on quality. Order your custom-made night guard with confidence.
Once you have your custom night guard, follow this guide on how to keep a night guard clean.
How to Take Care of a Night Guard
Learning how to clean a night guard is easy! The first step is to always rinse your mouth with warm water immediately after using it overnight. This rinsing will help remove debris and, at the same time, will loosen any plaque that might be stuck to the night guard. If this gunk isn’t removed after every use, it may cause the accumulation of bacteria, which can lead to cavities over time. That is also the reason why experts recommend that you replace your dental guard every 3 to 6 months.
After rinsing your sleeping guard with warm water, the next step is to brush the night guard. If you’re not sure how to clean a night guard, just make it part of your routine after you brush your teeth!
You can use the same toothbrush that you use to brush your teeth. However, some people may prefer using a separate toothbrush for cleaning a night guard. It is not necessary to apply toothpaste to the brush, as toothpaste can be abrasive.
While you can use water alone, we highly recommend using our patented dental appliance cleaner. Our powerful formula eliminates 99.99% of bacteria and stains within just one minute!
How to Dry a Night Guard
Now that you know how to clean a night guard, the next step is to dry the night guard out. It is of utmost importance to dry out the night guard completely before storing it further. If the night guard is not entirely dry, that residual moisture can cause rapid bacterial growth. You have to choose a flat, clean surface where you can lay the night guard and let it dry completely. The typical time for drying a night guard is 15-30 minutes.
How to Store a Night Guard
As you learn how to take care of a night guard, don’t overlook the importance of proper storage.
Even though you know how to clean a night guard properly, you must keep it stored in its case when you’re not wearing it. You may think storing it in a bathroom right next to your toothbrush and other oral hygiene products would be a great idea, but over time, the steam and humidity in the bathroom can build up bacteria and cause damage to the dental guard.
Our recommendation would be to store your night guard in its case on your bedroom side table or nightstand when you’re not wearing or cleaning your night guard. Avoid extreme hot and cold temperatures, as they can cause severe damage. Keep it out of the reach of children and pets. It can easily become the new favorite chew toy for your pets or a playing toy for children.
Monthly Cleaning
Now that you know how to clean a night guard after every use, let’s talk about long-term maintenance.
You should know how to keep a night guard clean on a monthly basis to prevent damage and keep bacteria at bay. One way you can deep clean your night guard is by using a non-abrasive denture cleanser. For this, you can place your night guard in a bowl or glass of water and pour the denture cleanser to dissolve in the water completely.
Another way you can deep clean your night guard is by using a mixture of hydrogen peroxide and vinegar. This method for how to clean a night guard is a bit of a lengthy process, but it produces great results.
Soak the night guard in distilled white vinegar for a minimum of 30 minutes. Then, for the next 30 minutes, soak the night guard in hydrogen peroxide. Make sure the night guard doesn’t soak for longer than one hour. After the soaking process is done, rinse it in water and let it dry completely.
Order a Custom-Made Night Guard Today
As you can see, cleaning a night guard isn’t difficult, but it’s very important. Of course, knowing how to take care of a night guard only matters if you own one! Browse our selection of custom night guards to find the one that’s right for you. If you have any questions about how to clean a night guard or need personalized recommendations, contact us now.
Why choose us? We’re a professional dental lab that offers professionally made night guards at affordable prices. You’ll enjoy an easy ordering process, free shipping, and our generous 45-day trial with a 100% money-back guarantee. Shop now!
