The Importance of Wearing Your Retainers!!

After an average of 24 months in treatment, a full 2 years of your life, the braces are finally coming off! It’s time to rejoice with a feast of bubble gum, hard pretzels and anything else chewy, gooey, sticky or gummy and to enjoy the pleasure of showing off that new, gorgeous smile that has emerged! But how can an orthodontic patient maintain their beautiful smile for years to come? The answer is to WEAR RETAINERS AS INSTRUCTED!

There are many types and designs of both upper and lower retainers. At Stewart and Labbe Orthodontics, we utilize removable Hawley Retainers that can be customized with fancy colors and personal logos as well as Trutain Retainers, which are clear and similar to the Invisalign aligners. Regardless of the type, the two main purposes of retainers are the same: 1. To allow the bone surrounding the roots of the teeth to rebuild after the braces have moved them and 2. To prevent individual teeth from shifting.

How long should I wear my retainers? This is a question that is heard time and time again after the braces come off. Wearing retainers as prescribed by your orthodontist is the best way to prevent your teeth from moving after orthodontic treatment. At Stewart and Labbe Orthodontics, we recommend fulltime wear for one full year. After that we advise our patients to wear their retainers at nighttime only.

In the beginning, during regular fulltime wear, the retainers feel comfortable. It may seem as if they are doing nothing at all. Then, after several weeks of not so regular wear, the retainers may feel tight and uncomfortable. In this instance you can assume that there has been some shifting. However, after a few nights of regular retainer wear, the teeth will realign into their proper positions.

It is also important to remember that as a patient is undergoing orthodontic treatment, the roots of the teeth are actually being moved through bone. As the teeth are moved, the bone dissipates and creates a void or empty area around the roots of each of these teeth. Therefore, regular retainer wear after orthodontic treatment is important because the retainers will allow the bone to regenerate solidly around the roots while maintaining the desired position of the teeth.

Retainers stabilize and maintain the beautiful smile that was achieved by you and your orthodontist. Slight changes in the position of your teeth are a natural occurrence with age and not a failure in orthodontic treatment. Upon completion of treatment it is the patient that is in charge of keeping things straight! Best advice then is WEAR YOUR RETAINERS FULLTIME FOR A YEAR AND “NIGHTTIME FOR A LIFETIME”!