Metal Retainers - Chelation?

[Soul_Guy]

Does anybody know if permanent metal retainers in the mouth have any heavy metals in them and if it is safe to do the chelation process with a metal retainer?

[Gregory1]

I would be interested in that too! I had some in my mouth and removed them half a year ago when I started chelation

Edited December 22, 2021 by Gregory1

[Yarco]

My guess is that they're made of stainless steel, but it doesn't really say anything definitively online, and it probably varies from orthodontist to orthodontist, so you'd have to ask to be sure. But if it's stainless then mostly iron with some cadmium, copper, and other metals. Probably doesn't contain lead/mercury in most cases.

I had my top one start to come off when I was living overseas and no dentist would touch it, so I just pulled it off myself. A couple years later I had the lower one removed, I forget if one piece popped off or if I just wanted it off.

Be aware that when they remove it you're gonna be breathing in pulverized glue dust too. They basically grind the glue off with a Dremel tool, I don't know if there's any way to avoid that without risking damage to your enamel.

If you've had your braces off and not had to wear a retainer at night for 3+ years then I'd feel pretty confident just getting it removed. I haven't had any noticeable shifting of my teeth. It's way easier to floss (if you're like me, then you just didn't bother to floss those teeth at all because it was so much work.) Plus I'm not rubbing my tongue against it and feeling uncomfortable.

[Ima Freeman]

@Yarco Cadmium is a toxic heavy metal

I removed mine because the rubbing made my tongue numb 

[Joel3102]

It's safe to do chelation with a mouth retainer. I checked the Andy Cutler Facebook group