Haha, glad I'm not the only one who keeps losing the darn case. Mine seems to vanish into some alternate dimension every few months—I swear there's a black hole in my bathroom drawer. To deal with the disappearing act, I ended up getting one of those brightly colored travel soap containers from the dollar store. It's bigger and way harder to overlook when I'm half asleep and fumbling around. Not exactly glamorous, but it totally solved my issue.
As for airing it out, I've done the window thing too, though usually I just leave mine open on the counter for a bit after rinsing. Never had any trouble so far. Honestly, being overly cautious isn't a bad thing—mouthguards aren't cheap, and neither are dentist visits. Better safe than sorry, right?
"I swear there's a black hole in my bathroom drawer."
Haha, same here. I once found mine hiding behind the toothpaste tube after searching everywhere—still no clue how it got there. Curious though, does the soap container let enough air circulate? I've always worried about moisture buildup causing bacteria or something...but maybe I'm just overthinking it. Might give your dollar store hack a shot anyway, beats buying replacements every few months.
I've tried the soap container trick before, and honestly, I wasn't impressed. It seemed like a good idea at first, but after a week or two, my mouthguard started smelling kinda funky—probably due to moisture buildup like you mentioned. Now I just use one of those retainer cases with ventilation holes. Costs a bit more initially, but I've had mine for over a year without any issues. Might be worth considering before you commit to the dollar store route...
I've been thinking about switching to one of those ventilated cases too—does it really make that big of a difference with the smell issue? I've been using the soap container method for a while now, and yeah, it does get a bit funky after a few days. Maybe it's time to upgrade... Did you find yours online or just grab it from a dentist's office? I'm all for saving money, but not if it means dealing with mystery odors every morning, haha.
I switched to a ventilated case about six months ago, and honestly, it's been totally worth it. I was skeptical at first too, thinking, "how much difference could a few holes make?" but it really helps cut down on that weird morning funk. Got mine online—just a basic one from Amazon, nothing fancy or expensive. I'd say go for it; waking up without that mystery odor is a small but satisfying win in life, haha.
