In my over ten years of fitting oral sleep apnea appliances, a continuing concern has been how to keep them clean and sterile. There are over 100 brands of oral appliances and each one is made out of different combinations of materials. If you make a mistake and clean them the wrong way, they can be totally destroyed in short order and your expensive investment goes up in smoke. I have seen it happen many times. And many times, patients find the cleaning regimen specified by the manufacture to be inadequate and the appliance ends up smelly and unsightly. For the first time, there is a new universal cleaning agent for all oral sleep apnea appliances called Prodentclean. The manufacturer states that it is safe for all appliances, kills bacteria, removes biofilm, is non-toxic, environmentally friendly, and leaves the appliance clean and fresh-smelling with no aftertaste. See: www.prodentclean.com. This product is long over-due. a.b.luisi,d.m.d.
Perhaps I should present a little more information for your evaluation. I am fairly new to this forum, but was a heavy contributor for four years on the past forum www.apneasupport.org. This forum seems to be more liberal than that one about revealing information so you can find my bio at www.naplescenterdentalsleepmedicine.com. I think they will allow this now. a.b.luisi,d.md.
I clean my tap device daily with dish detergent and a toothbrush rinsing with water. The adjustable part, the hook and the part "nut" part that is plastic got really nasty smelling. So I bought a bottle of the prodentclean, it really has not helped much with the hardware part. I have also tried exposing as much as of the threads as possible, adjusting minimum to maximum. This removed a lot of gunk, but it still does not smell good and clean. Would an ultrasonic cleaner be a safe way to clean the device? As a side note, I am not experiencing any more jaw pain, facial pain or headaches! go to see the sleep doctor at the end of the month, hoping for a follow up study.
thanks Wiredgeorge. I have tried hydrogen peroxide, maybe not long enough soak though. I figured it was safe, as the prodentclean contains peroxide. Last night i did a quick soak in vodka, that seemed to help a bit.
The Vodka soak helped you or the appliance?
Alcohol is bad for all acrylics used in oral appliances and will lead to premature cracking and breakage.
Stay with cleaners recommended for orthodontic retainers and be aware there are special cleaners if the appliance contains any metal parts; these are normally sold with a sign saying "Safe for Partial dentures".
Some companies recommend use of an antiseptic hand soap and a soft tooth brush because there is less chemical reaction with appliance components. This does leave a soapy taste that will go away if you then soak the appliance in clean water.
B. Gail Demko, DMD
Sleep Dental Consultant to MyApnea.Org
Assoc. Editor of the Journal of Dental Sleep Medicine
Expert Advisor to the FDA on Oral appliance Therapy
Past President of the Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine
American Board of Dental Sleep Medicine
I think that it is important for the reduction of unwanted smells in oral appliances to make ABSOLUTELY sure that it dries out completely between uses. I would try to dry it as completely as possible after use and then let it dry with the (completely dry) case open to the air. Arthur B. Luisi, jr., D.M.D.
Arthur,
Have you bothered to check the ingredients?
The address for ProDent.com is a UPS store in Carlsbad, CA.
Just wondering.
B. Gail Demko, DMD
Dr. Demko, The web address is actually prodentclean.com - Product was developed by a sleep dentist Dr. Todd Morgan and is trade marked but doesn't seem to be patented. Dr. Morgan's website is toddmorgan.com His website bio (in part):
"Dr. Morgan is internationally-recognized as a leader in the field of dental sleep medicine. He has conducted several clinical trials, published numerous research papers, patented two oral appliance designs, and authored peer-reviewed articles and books on the treatment of headaches, sleep apnea and snoring."
The business does have a box at a local UPS store in Cali. Business info is clouded because of confusion with the UPS store I suspect.
Dr. Morgan is part of a practice and on that practice's website, do not see mention of sleep dentistry as a core expertise.
https://dentalsolutionsofencinitas.com/expertise/
If you want to get scared and start using this stuff (prodentclean), look at the top picture on their BIOFILM webpage. Eerie blue sea creatures, a horrible fanged monster and a gap toothed grin from someone who didn't use their product: https://www.prodentclean.com/Articles.asp?ID=256
Actually, no, I have not evaluated the content of the product, because I do not consider myself competent to judge such things. Let me be absolutely clear about the circumstances here. I had no knowledge of ProDentClean until literature was provided to me by Airway Management with my new Taps. Airway Management now officially sanctions ProDentClean for all their products. In the interest of full disclosure, I have had a long and close association with Airway Management, primarily as an unpaid consultant to evaluate their products. However, I have no financial interest in the company. what-so-ever. Dr. Keith Thornton, the founder of the company, did personally mentor me at the start of my career, when formal education in dental sleep medicine was very limited. In my opinion, Dr. Thornton is one of the best sleep dentists there ever was and a man of the highest character. I value his judgement on the merits of the product. In my opinion, Airway Management has always been very responsible in presenting safe products to the public. So, if they say it is O.K., that's good enough for me. Maybe I am naive, but there you have it. Never-the-less, I take this forum very seriously, and try to be fair and balanced and not to let my personal relationships cloud my judgement. I do also know that Dr. Morgan, the founder of ProDentClean, enjoys a good reputation within the profession. Arthur B. Luisi, Jr., D.M.D.
