Ueofen Ultrasonic Retainer Cleaner review - Shaking the ewww away

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REVIEW – People are gross. We spew all kinds of disgusting odors and goo. For those who rely on nighttime dental appliances, they’ll quickly agree. My wife wears a bite-guard retainer nightly, and it gets yucky, quickly. She brushes it regularly and soaks it in mouthwash, but overnight, mouth goo still sticks to it. When I mentioned an ultrasonic retainer cleaner, she wanted to try it out. Luckily, this Ueofen ultrasonic retainer cleaner popped up for review, so let’s shake out the details.

⬇︎ Jump to summary (pros/cons)
Price: $37.99-$49.99
Where to buy: Ueofen ($49.99); Amazon ($37.99 – $42.99 based on color)

What is it?

The Ueofen ultrasonic retainer cleaner is a cleaning device that uses ultrasonic vibration to produce millions of nano-scale bubbles. These bubbles work into every nook and cranny, effectively scrubbing off built-up grime. The cleaner also bombards the dirty item with 254nm ultraviolet (UV) light. UV light in that wavelength has been proven to effectively sterilize items, killing 99.99% of harmful bacteria. In addition to cleaning dental appliances, the cleaner can be used to effectively and safely clean jewelry.

What’s included?

Ultrasonic cleaner
Power cord
Plastic tweezers for placing/removing items in the tank
User manual

Tech specs

Tank Dimension: 1.125″ deep x 3.3″ wide
Capacity: 200 ml
Vibration frequency: 45 kHz
Cleaning cycles: two – five-minute quick clean; ten-minute deep clean
Santitization: 254 nm UV light – auto-off when lid is opened
Noise when cleaning: <45 dB
Colors (on Amazon only): White (tested), black, pink

Design and features

The top of the unit features a single control button in the center and two toothbrush head holder pass-through windows, one on each side.

The cleaner has a clamshell-like design with a hinged lid that opens to reveal the non-removable steel cleaning tank. The tank can hold 200 ml of water plus whatever you want to clean. Cleaning tablets can be used, but are not included. The lid holds four LEDs that emit the 254 nm UV sanitizing light when the lid is closed. The two windows on each side are rubber pass-through openings that can hold toothbrush heads.

The back features the lid hinge and power connection port.

The bottom has four non-slip feet and the requisite info label.

When you plug the unit in, the center of the control button lights up with “000”.

Pressing that button one time starts a five-minute (300-second) cleaning cycle. The display counts down to 000. The cleaning cycle runs continuously. You can see the blue of the UV light shining through the brush holder windows.

Pressing the button a second time starts the deep-cleaning ten-minute (600-second) cycle. It cleans for two seconds and pauses for one second for the first five minutes before switching to continuous cleaning for the last five minutes.

The pulsing cycle is claimed to increase the cavitation, producing more tiny bubbles, and therefore, improving cleaning effectiveness.

Pressing the button a third time turns the unit off.

Assembly, Installation, Setup

To use the cleaner, you plug the power cord into the back of the unit and the wall. Fill the tank with water and you’re good to go.

Performance

Let’s start with the main attraction – a bite guard. Again, I want to stress that my wife regularly cleans this, but with several years of use, some stuck-on areas of overnight mouth gunk simply won’t come clean.

I dropped it into the cleaner and fired off a ten-minute cleaning cycle. When it finished, the nice, clear water was quite cloudy. I decided to run it again. The instructions do say not to run it more than three times in a row without allowing the unit to rest for ten minutes.

After two deep-cleaning cycles, the water was quite warm and very cloudy. I rinsed the retainer.

It’s hard to see in these photos, but it was noticeably cleaner. Was it perfect? Absolutely not. But, there is gunk that has been stuck on there for quite a while. We plan to continue cleaning over the next few months and see how much scale we can remove. I do like the fact that after each cleaning session, the retainer is not only cleaner, but it is sanitized as well, thanks to the UV light. And each session appears to remove a little more of the long-term buildup.

Next up, I decided to try cleaning jewelry. I dropped a gold bracelet and a ring into the cleaner. The ring had two tiny rows of four very small diamonds. Over time, grime had worked into the channels, making a couple of the stones look black. I had previously tried rinsing and brushing it with little luck. After one deep-cleaning session in the cleaner, a bunch of dirt was left on the bottom of the cleaner. The bracelet and ring were shiny again. Yea!

We both use electric toothbrushes. The toothbrush heads seemed like a logical choice for a cleaning and sterilization session. My Oral-B head dropped right in. My wife’s longer Oclean head was a little too long to fully fit into the tank. Still, the bristles did fit, so it was all good. Worst case, I would have used the toothbrush holder windows to hold the bristles in the water, but that wasn’t necessary. After a deep cleaning cycle, both heads were nicely clean and sanitized.

One thing that I wish were different is the integrated cleaning tank. Since it is not removable, I have to place the entire unit under the faucet to fill the tank. Likewise, I have to dump the dirty water out by picking up the entire unit and dumping the water out. A removable tank would make use a lot easier and not expose the electronics to potential water damage.

Final thoughts

The Ueofen ultrasonic retainer cleaner is a nice little cleaning device. It works well on dental appliances and toothbrushes and doubles up on jewelry. This makes it more versatile and justifies some counter space. I can see us cleaning our dental tools regularly, and that can’t be a bad thing. We may look into cleaning tabs and see if that will up the cleaner’s effectiveness on the bite guard. We will also be sprucing up jewelry more often, adding more sparkle to our style.

What I like about the Ueofen Ultrasonic Retainer Cleaner

Effectively cleans items
The UV sterilization is a nice plus
It is quiet

What needs to be improved?

The tank could be a little wider
It would be better if the tank could be removed for filling and emptying

Price: $37.99-$49.99
Where to buy: Ueofen ($49.99); Amazon ($37.99 – $42.99 based on color)
Source: The sample of this product was provided for free by Ueofen. Ueofen did not have a final say on the review and did not preview the review before it was published.