Is that napkin empty?

It happened again. It’s the most common scenario for lost retainers. The patient removed his retainers to eat (this time while at a baseball game for his traveling team) and wrapped them in a napkin. His mother put them in the car; His father thought it was just a dirty napkin and threw them out (with the napkin.) Sometimes it’s the waitress who throws out the crumpled tissue; sometimes it’s a family member. Once it was during a black out, and the father of that patient was looking for kindling for the fire place; he found the crumpled napkin on the dining room table and threw it in the fire- with the retainers enclosed.

So the message is clear. If your retainers are not in your mouth they belong in a retainer box in a safe place. If you don’t have the box with you don’t take out your retainers. Dr. Okun always makes sure that you are able to close your teeth properly so that it is safe to chew food while wearing retainers.