I've heard several different answers as to how to clean your retainer, but I need to know which is most efficient. My orhto people gave me a "sonic cleaner" that had no cleaning "tablets" that is called for. So now I'm stuck. People told me that you could hand wash it or brush it with a toothbrush, but neither of those get rid of the smell that they emmitt (and that smell is very bad!). I tried washing them in mouth wash, but I'm a little worried because the retainer seems to be losing some of the plastic around the metal wires. Is this normal due to teeh and gum rubbage (not a word, I know) or is this something that I need to get fixed?