Polident and Bite Plates: A Guide to Effective Cleaning

Bite plates prevent the wearer from grinding their teeth. Dentists and orthodonists create devices similar to retainers, only the resin or plastic encases the teeth -- preventing the top teeth from touching the bottom ones. Some orthodontists make bite plates that are retainers for their patients who have finished wearing braces, who have Temporomandibular Joint Disorder (TMJ) or teeth grinding habits. Cleaning bite plates is similar to cleaning retainers and dentures, which sometimes also use full-mouth plates to hold in upper-mouth sets. While many orthodontists recommend simply brushing bite plates, others suggest using Polident, a denture cleaner by GlaxoSmithKline, to clean them more thoroughly.

Instructions

• 1

  Place your bite plate in a glass and add water until it the bite plate is immersed.

• 2

  Drop in a Polident tablet, which will create gas bubbles, turning the water fizzy. The effervescence of the solution is one of the features of Polident and other similar brands of tablet denture cleaners designed to actively clean dentures.

• 3

  Leave your bite plate in the solution for the time that matches the product. Three-minute Polident claims to clean effectively in "as little as three minutes," however the manufacturer says they can be left in for as long as overnight using any of the Polident products, which include Polident for Overnight Whitening, Smokers and Partials.

• 4

  Remove the bite plate from the solution and brush it using your toothbrush and the remaining Polident solution, then rinse thoroughly. The eliminates any loose debris.