An irrigator is a device designed for performing oral hygiene procedures. Its difference from other means is the removal of old plaque and dirt using water under pressure. This item is relevant for patients with braces and other permanent inserts who find it difficult to clean teeth in hard-to-reach places. If you are interested in purchasing an irrigator, you can find a large assortment of these devices at this link.
How to clean the inside of an irrigator
The hygiene product cannot be placed entirely in water, but it must be washed regularly from the inside. Pathogenic bacteria can accumulate in the reservoir, which at some point can penetrate the oral cavity and cause inflammation. Therefore, many device owners must keep the tank clean. In order for the device to serve for a long time and be safe, you need to carefully wash the inner surface with a gentle cleaning agent - soda, chlorhexedine or vinegar. It is necessary to carefully clean and rinse the inside of the tank after cleaning, and also take care of the external surfaces.
Causes of pollution
Deposits inside the irrigator form for several main reasons:
- Poor water quality. Limescale and scale appear in the device especially quickly when using tap liquid. But even filtered water contains a small amount of hard impurities. If not cleaned, the latter will lead to the formation of hard deposits in the reservoir and on the nozzles of the device.
- Constantly increased humidity inside the device. If you do not clean and dry the irrigator after each use, then over time mold may form on its walls in hard-to-reach places. Fungus appears especially often if plain water or herbal infusions are used for oral care, rather than special antiseptic liquids.
- Poor quality cleaning products for teeth and gums. Herbal decoctions prepared at home and cheap antibacterial solutions are poorly washed out of the internal parts of the irrigator and remain on its walls. Over time, a dense coating begins to form, which can only be removed by special cleaning.
Rules for caring for an irrigator at home recommend thoroughly rinsing the device after each use and regularly disinfecting the nozzles.
Is it possible to clean mold from an irrigator?
It is simply necessary to clean the surface of fungus, since this type of contamination can cause irreparable harm to a person during use. Cleaning can be done using baking soda, peroxide and table vinegar. The advantages of such products are not only their low cost, but also their functionality - they cope well with mold without harming the device. You need to clean the irrigator from the outside and inside - you need to thoroughly wipe the outer surface with a sponge soaked in the substance, then wipe with a brush all hard-to-reach places and joints of elements.
It is imperative to wash the inside of the device, as otherwise mold may enter the human body. It is necessary to make a solution of soda, vinegar, or antiseptic, turn on the device, place the handle in the sink or bathtub and thus rinse the surface several times, first with a cleaning agent, then with water. In some cases, complete disassembly of the device is necessary if mold has completely affected the surface.
Why do you need to clean your irrigator?
During use, the irrigator for teeth and gums is constantly in contact with water, chemicals and herbal compounds. Sooner or later, hard deposits, plaque, and in some cases mold appear on its internal surfaces.
If you do not regularly clean the device, the stream pressure in the irrigator will quickly weaken. When scale accumulates on metal parts, the unit will begin to overheat and eventually simply burn out.
Plaque particles accumulated in the irrigator can enter the mouth along with the liquid and cause inflammation
Cleaning the WaterPik irrigator
Cleaning the device is somewhat different from washing regular dishes. Since the device is electric, it cannot be completely immersed in liquid. If necessary, you can disassemble the item into parts and wash each part separately. If the contamination is minor, just fill the tank with warm water to the maximum mark, lower the spout into the bathtub or sink and turn on the device, wait until all the water drains out. If the contamination is serious, such as mold or scale, you need to add special cleaning agents and disinfectants, then remember to rinse with clean water.
Unconventional methods
I found interesting information on the Internet that carbonated drinks (such as Coca-Cola, Pepsi or Sprite) are another option for cleaning the irrigator from scale. Reviews claim that the effect is stunning. I don't think I'll try this myself. If the scale is cleared, then you will have to wash the device from Sprite, so as not to brush your teeth with sugar-containing liquids. Somehow I don’t trust such harmful drinks to take care of such a useful irrigator. In addition, citric acid and vinegar are cheaper and more convenient.
Stages of cleaning an irrigator with vinegar
Vinegar is one of the cheap products that will thoroughly clean the surface of the irrigator without harming it. Despite the fact that this substance smells unpleasant, a strong aroma remains for some time, it is one of the safest substances for humans when used correctly. To clean a contaminated surface, soak a sponge or rag in vinegar and wipe the tank and surfaces clean. When working, you should wear gloves only, protecting your respiratory organs. Vinegar is used to combat fungi that are dangerous to human health. It is necessary to start fighting mold in the irrigator - using such an item is unacceptable, harmful bacteria can enter the oral cavity and cause various diseases. Author of the article: Vsevolod Bobrenkov (stommarket.ru)
Precautions when using the irrigator
Although the developers of Waterpik irrigators have included in the design all the necessary elements to protect against possible electric shock and ensure maximum safety, we still recommend paying attention to some points and be sure to explain them to children. Basically, the safety precautions for using electrical devices are the same:
- Do not touch the charger with wet hands.
- Do not immerse a live device in water or any other liquid.
- Carefully monitor the condition of the cord - mechanical damage and exposed wires are not allowed.
- Do not use while in the bath or shower unless directed to do so.
- Store it only in places from which it cannot accidentally get into the aquatic environment.
- Do not try to immediately get the waterpik if it falls into the water. Be sure to unplug it first.
- Do not throw the device, keep it away from heating devices.
Do not use mouthwashes containing iodine or bleaching solutions. For effective cleaning, use a special cleaning agent for the irrigator.
Call us and get advice on how to properly and comfortably care for your teeth and oral cavity!
Author of the article
What will you need for this?
Cleaning an irrigator at home begins with choosing the products that can be used during the work process. All of them are divided into specialized chemicals and safe compounds available in every housewife’s kitchen. Each of these options deserves special attention.
Available means
In the fight against scale and mold on the internal surfaces of the irrigator, well-known substances are used.
- Vinegar. It helps to disinfect metal elements and effectively destroys mold and mildew. For rinsing, use a solution of 7% vinegar in a volume of 100 and 400 ml of water.
- Lemon acid. The best home remedy for scale. You can use a concentrate of lemon juice and 500 ml of water, or dissolve 25 g of a powdered substance used in cooking in the same volume of liquid.
- Baking soda. Another descaling agent that has an additional disinfectant effect. 1 tablespoon of powder is dissolved in 0.5 liters of water.
You should not follow recommendations that suggest pouring sweet carbonated water inside the device. Such a composition will lead to failure of the irrigator.
Special solutions
Specialized products for cleaning irrigators can be purchased at medical equipment stores and pharmacies. The most popular are formulations from the brands Revyline and Doctor Elephant. The products effectively fight scale and prevent engine overheating.
For disinfection, you can use medical solutions: chlorhexidine, hydrogen peroxide.
Attempt to repair and replace the handle of the Nicefeel FC168 irrigator
Product. Almost four years ago I bought a purebred Chinese irrigator Nicefeel FC168 and for about two years everything was fine with it, then for some reason I abandoned it, and when I took it out again (about a year ago), problems began with the handle. It began to leak. Both during use and, more sadly, in a standby, so to speak, which led to puddles under the device when I forgot to drain the excess water. To make matters worse, the pressure almost disappeared. And, of course, something had to be done about this, since the irrigator really proved its benefits. Since they say from every iron that the Russians do not give up, the first thing I decided was not to give up, but to disassemble the original handle to detect a malfunction. Based on the fact that the handle was leaking, I was hoping to find a loose hose or something like that there and quickly eliminate the leak using improvised means, even with a silicone tube for an aquarium.
Here, from the location of the plaque, it is clear that the leak was coming from the handle, and not from the irrigator itself:
Not so. The Chinese don't give up easily either. The handle, which did not seem very strong, in fact flatly refused to understand it. Studying our YouTube literally showed that there really is a squiggle: the halves of the handle are simply glued together and it is almost impossible to disassemble this structure non-destructively. There was something else. Please note that the handle has two springs: for the nozzle lock and the water shut-off button. It’s okay to lose the second one, but it’s better not to lose the first one, because without it the nozzle won’t hold on.
These are the springs:
And the complete set in parts:
In general, armed with new knowledge, I quite successfully unscrewed the handle only to discover that everything was in perfect order with the hose.
The victim after the repair attempt:
Since I was discouraged, I also disassembled the irrigator itself. The inside, by the way, is quite nice and clean - the leak was clearly not there. As you can see, searching for the fault turned out to be fruitless, so I finally decided to order a new handle. I couldn’t find a handle specifically for my irrigator, but I found a bunch of outwardly identical handles, some of which were stated to be compatible with an irrigator similar to mine and some others. Using these same “some others”, I looked for a suitable pen with the lowest price, ordered it and began to wait.
By the end of the second month of waiting, I had almost lost hope that I would get what I wanted, so I decided to dig into the faulty pen again to see what I might see. And saw. I won’t say one hundred percent that this was the problem, but it seems that all the troubles literally stemmed from a faulty o-ring that should seal the joint between the handle and the nozzle.
Ring in depth:
The ring is kind of tricky; its profile is not cylindrical, but U-shaped. Plus it is also concentric:
The ring in my pen had either worn out or lost its properties because I had not used the irrigator for quite a long time. Since I was almost sure that this was the reason for the water leakage, to test the hypothesis I made an analogue of the gasket from (it seems) the nozzle on the piston of a medical syringe. I cut out something like a washer and punched it into the skin. Since the characteristics of the new gasket did not exactly match the original, it was not very easy to assemble the handle. In addition, the nozzle became much more difficult to insert and remove, and it became more difficult to rotate.
But the irrigator stopped leaking and finally began to produce normal pressure. So now I could more or less calmly wait for the new pen, which was still in no hurry to arrive. The hysteria in messages to the seller did not give anything, they answered philosophically in the style of “Dear friend, according to our information, the pen is almost ....”
I won’t tempt you, the pen ordered on January 11th arrived on April 1st. Well, around the same time I began to attach it to the irrigator.
There is nothing exclusive about the pen: the plastic and hose look exactly the same as the original pen. There are two cardinal differences:
1) The new handle did not have a locking ring at the point of attachment to the joint with I don’t even know what to call it, the mounting unit on the irrigator pipe, or something.
2) The new handle does not fit on the irrigator stand.
Old and new:
But these are probably minor things compared to the fact that the handle fits into place normally. True, there are peculiarities. With the new handle, the water consumption has become two times less, although I can’t say that the outer diameter of the tubes is somehow significantly different: the old one is 4 mm, the new one is 3.7 - 3.8 mm. In length, as far as I could stretch, they are also identical. True, the new tube is somewhat softer, although I am inclined to think that the reason is due to age - the old one has simply become stiff from time to time.
The attachments from Nicefeel FC168 also fit the new handle. They lock with a click and rotate, although they do not “eject” when changing, as was the case with the original handle - you need to remove it with a little force. Another minus is that the pump’s operation is much better felt on the new handle; the nozzles knock on the teeth much more noticeably.
To sum it up, if it is impossible to find an original pen or its price is astronomical, you can take it. Not from my salesman, who is extremely sadly slow.
What kind of liquid to fill
The most versatile and neutral liquid for an irrigator is water, preferably filtered and boiled. And special liquids or balms for irrigators have a specific focus: to strengthen tooth enamel, eliminate unpleasant odors, destroy pathogens, reduce bleeding gums and reduce sensitivity.
Popular balms: antimicrobial "Terasol", universal solution "Denfil" without alcohol, therefore suitable for children, "Asepta" - for the prevention of plaque and caries, non-foaming "Irix" with menthol - to eliminate unpleasant odors, "Professor Persin" on based on herbs for preventive oral hygiene. Many of these products are concentrated and foam, so they must be diluted in water according to the instructions.
The instructions for the irrigator always have a section with recommendations for the use of solutions. Before choosing a product, consult your doctor.
In addition to special liquids, you can use mouthwashes or homemade strained herbal infusions.
