(Part 2) Best personal orthdonic supplies according to redditors

It looks like the tool they give to people to help put tiny rubber bands on braces.

Edit: Colorful ones like it on Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/WINOMO-Orthodontic-Interdental-Toothpick-Between/dp/B01NBX2Q9Q?sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwibluDFhpblAhXmm-AKHftLBUYQ9QEwAnoECAoQCA

These dipped in iso are still going to be your best bet most of the time if you're scared of leaving cotton strands behind

Lady here, but I don't do anything that can't fit in a pocket or hang from a carabiner - I have a Retain-It that I can stick a few disposable toothbrushes in and it just clips on to my jeans.

Personally, I keep a travel toothbrush/paste and floss and a retainer case (cheap on Amazon in my car, another set in my gym bag, another in my office, and yet another in my husband's car. (I only ever need the chewies the first one or two times on a new tray.)

Travel size stuff is pretty cheap, and this way I don't have to worry about whether I have some with me or not. My purse is full enough.

My office gave me something similar to this- Elastic Placers - For Braces - Orthodontic / Dental Rubber Bands - 10 pack by Cayenas https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01E7JPX2O/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_6XiNybG66E31W

Tweeters are useful for certain elastic locations, but I found I could use the tool above for any elastic position they told me to use.

There's a thing like this that's kind of a sponge that works great for holding tooth paste and cleaning gums and tongue.

Edit: Ah Ha! There ya go. =]

I brush mine all the time! Personally, I have a makeup bag with a travel toothbrush/toothpaste, my awesome aligner case, floss, eyebrow scissors (to trim the aligners if need be), and finally- and I can't stress this enough, chapstick.

OdontoMed2011 Mouth Gag 4.5" Dental Stainless Steel Molt Mouth Gag ODM

I switched out my nighttime mouth guard for a trainer like this https://www.amazon.com/AZDENT-Orthodontic-Appliance-Alignment-Retainer/dp/B07842SZ3Q/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8&th=1 and felt a huge improvement in my jaw stability. I'm a side sleeper and it keeps my jar from being pushed to one side from the pressure of my pillow. Talk to a doctor or dentist to make sure it won't cause any problems if you decide to try.

I get mine from my ortho and they’re the actual Chewies brand. Those are my favorite but I’ve also used these and they’ve been fine:
IXO Aligner Seater Chewies for Invisalign Aligners, Unscented, Free Carry Case for Travel and Storage (5 PCs) (White) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07K1V9H2R/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apip_6hWrL3WhNJx4i

https://www.amazon.com/Butler-G-U-M-Orthodontic-Mint-Pack/dp/B00VQTO7EY/ref=sr_1_2_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1502974247&sr=8-2&keywords=wax+for+braces

or similar. Call ortho they might have some to give you even. It'll help for sure.

I use this:


QUIST (TM) FarOut - Orthodontic Retainer Case (Confetti) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078XP4W4R/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_NO1RDb6ZW82B9

Here's the (temporary?) final update to my product/brand/listing's practically total destruction:

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Amazon temporarily disabled my listing, but after about 20 calls/emails I was able to get it reinstated so I am not completely dead but I am very close to losing it all. The bad review attack is over(?) suddenly after my rating dipped below their ratings.

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Based on a discussion with the "extortionist", I have 100% reason to believe that parties tied to this product are behind the attack: https://www.amazon.com/COMFORT-LIP-SHIELD-MOUTH-GUARD/dp/B00H2S7TC0

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The attack wasn't necessarily done for me to lose the listing or help them recover sales as much as it was to "bring me down to their level" of mediocre product ranking/rating so that they could keep coasting with their higher prices and cheaper product.

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I will not mince words, this is a cheaply made, overpriced Chinese product in the top 10-15 seller in our category and over 300 reviews. They are the "big fish" of the category I sell in. It makes NO SENSE for them to buy positive review and try to make up for over 120 bad reviews for this product. After all, it's the only "affordable option" in the game so people take it or leave it. However, buying 15+ fake reviews to kill a better product that was eating their market is a lot easier than making a new/better product and improving their customer satisfaction... or worse... lowering their prices! The only thing they do is buy reviews to keep their product from being de-listed! Apparently, when you get a ton of bad reviews calling your product bad and killing your average rating to under 3 stars, amazon considers de-listing the item! I learned that recently!

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I was able to see at least 10 fake verified positive reviews on their side, but here's a few pics of a really obvious one: https://imgur.com/a/fh5tWVC - Interesting how her profile photo has a beautiful smile (with no braces), but her review taken like 3 months ago shows what looks like some of the worst teeth I've ever seen. You don't need a special degree to know that it's going to take a hell of a lot longer to correct those teeth than 3/4 months. Verified and fake.

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On a funny note, I also found a customer who reviewed both our products poorly (good old "money lips" Suzan who put my product on upside down!). She was the only reviewer of late that I suspected to be real. Poor lady can't get no relief. Maybe next time she should ask for help?

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Over the past few months, I built my sales to a level that surpassed/killed their rankings and ate their sales (by approx 60% from my research). The following month after I took "amazon's choice" for the keyword we both use, and started outpacing them considerably in sale, a wave of negative reviews occurred that only recently stopped almost exactly after my product's rating fell below theirs.

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Here is a chart showing their sales rank over the past few months: https://imgur.com/a/XSTrB0K

Each spike coincided with my product getting random 1 star reviews. First spike mid January, around the time I reached my best sales rank for the year. I quickly sold out of the first batch I sent in, then send in another shipment, finally selling out of my total inventory early February, this coincides with a "Dead area" of no new reviews until march. The final "jump" in march coincides with the main attack on my listing. Also saw that someone is "helpful"ing all the bad reviews. No manipulation here, move along!

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From mid january until today, I sold approximately 1000 units and got 28 separate reviews back to back, of which 24 of them were net negative. Luckily, 3 of them were on my seller page and removed, 1 was the chinese fake that got caught and removed from my product listing. It only took 1/3 of the units I sold in total since October 2018 to somehow generate 66% of my total reviews, all things being exactly the same since I started selling this item.

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Let's break this down:

I had received 14 reviews (good and bad) in total from over 2,000 units sold, which is a .7% review ratio to sold units over an entire year.

Magically, in the past 2.5 months, my review ratio average has jumped to 2.8%, which is a 4-fold (400%) increase.

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So let break them down and see which side is being manipulated, maybe we can find something amazon can't!

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Positive reviews: 4 out of the 28 new reviews (5 positives were not counted as they were in my seller area instead of product. yay). This is a positive review ratio of .4% to .9% (if we include people who mistakenly reviewed products in my seller page). Almost zero change from last year's review ratio, all things considered.

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Negative reviews: I went from 3 bad reviews (.15% ratio) in all of 2018 with 2000 units sold, to approximately 24 total bad reviews (2.4% ratio) on 1000 units This is a 16 FOLD INCREASE IN NEGATIVE REVIEWS FOR THE SAME PRODUCT, PACKAGING, EVERYTHING. Who the hell sees a 1600% jump on anything out of nowhere and go "oh that's normal". Amazon does apparently.

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I did find another common theme in both our listings... and it's this seller: https://imgur.com/a/CqhVlo9
Not sure why, but after the end of the attack, this seller came in and tried to sell on my listing. Not sure if they are the party causing this issue, but it's suspicious how they just showed up... until I saw this: https://www.amazon.com/Bestseller-Orthodontic-Braces-LipGuard-Protector/dp/B0734BCYXQ

Boy, this looks familiar. Apparently they have a very similar product of mine that they've been selling all along for 2x the price! Looks like their sales on this product were getting killed by my whole "same item for 1/2 the cost" thing. Oops!

Just look at these charts: https://imgur.com/a/2HsjQLI They must be so glad that my product just happened to get attacked by 200% higher reviews than my 8 month average for so their product could start selling again... hmm.

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I dunno guys, I don't see any manipulation going on. Nothing to see here!

I only brush 3 times a day (when I wake up, after lunch and before bed). I bought two kits like this one: https://www.amazon.com/Sunstar-724KK-GUM-Orthodontic-Kit/dp/B06XY65XQY and I have one at home and another one at work, I like the brush cause it's softer and it doesn't hurt as much as the normal ones (I also felt like my old brush would break something) so this one is great; and the small brushes are soooo helpful for whatever's left between your teeh.

You're lucky it doesn't hurt as much, I couldn't chew for like a week!

I bought these floss fish thingies that work great and are really cheap. They slide between the wire and the tooth. Flossing is really fast with these except I do have a couple of spots where I can't fit the device.

I saw these on Amazon, haven’t tried them Dental Disposable Orthodontic Ortho Elastic Placer 25 Pcs/Bag US SELLER https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01AU6FNHI/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_owkRDbCZ7G9YJ but I just use a big magnifying mirror and my fingers. Mine are all the way in the back and this helps.

Got mine from Amazon. This is what I got about a month ago:

Aligner Chewies for Invisalign Trays - Yellow/Pineapple Scented - 3 Chewies per Bag https://www.amazon.com/dp/B014TEN0F4/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apip_XD5NeFAwMgs8j

Looks like the “pineapple flavor” I got is out of stock, but there are other flavors. There really is no flavor, it has a slight scent