As a college student, I debated whether to spend $100 on the Dental Pod, but I thought it would be a smart long-term investment. The design is great and I still think it’s a clever idea—but the advertising is really misleading.
In every ad, and even in the “How it works” section of their website and Instagram, it says you just add water and place your retainer in. There’s no mention of needing to use their cleaning tablets. But once the product arrives, they describe the tablets as the “toothpaste” to the Pod’s “toothbrush”—in other words, they’re necessary for proper cleaning.
You only get 5 tablets with your $100 order, and they recommend using one every time your retainer has been worn for more than 6 hours (which, for most people, is every night). That adds up to about $100/year in recurring costs.
I wouldn’t mind if this had been clearly disclosed, but it wasn’t—and that’s frustrating. What’s worse is that I’ve now seen a few other reviews pointing out the same issue, and they’re still marketing it as “just add water.” At this point, it feels like an intentional omission.
I’m not trying to be harsh—I just want honest advertising. This could have been an easy fix. Knowing about the tablets ahead of time wouldn’t have stopped me from buying, but it would’ve set realistic expectations and made me feel like I was making an informed decision.