Bonded top retainer broke

[hellocanada]

Hello,

I know this must be a common occurrence, but my bonded top retainer had been loose on one side for a few weeks now and when I saw my orthodontist two weeks ago, she had asked me to return on Tuesday to have it fixed but to continue to wear my removeable retainer. It's Friday, a few days before my appointment, the half that was loose has now broken off while I was eating. The other half is still intact, but I'm wondering if this is something that occurs very often?? I had just had my bonded retainer put in in late April 2016. It was only two months before half of it became loose. This is quite ridiculous.

[Lovespain5]

It's annoying. If the permanent retainer isn't compulsory in your case you can ask your ortho to remove the broken one completly without replacing it so you will use only the removable one. Maybe it will be less stressful for you.

[lmk]

I just had my bonded retainers put in a few months ago too. My ortho told me that the top one is very easy to break and isn't really fond of them. She told me to be careful what I bite into, like no apples for example. She further explained to me it can last a year, two, or if I'm lucky longer. Im curious, how did yours break off? Were you eating something hard?

[hellocanada]

Half of my bonded retainer was detached completely and when I went to the ortho, they said to come back in two weeks because my teeth slightly shifted so I had to wear my removeable retainer in the meantime for two weeks to shift it back. For the whole week, I felt the wire loose and I kept flicking it with my tongue because it was annoying. Three days before my next appointment, I was eating lunch and I noticed that it was no longer attached to my teeth! I thought I had swallowed it but it was in the food I spat out and I threw it out (shouldn't have thrown it out because the ortho charged me an extra $30 to replace that half piece!!). Anyway, I was so annoyed and now my ortho re-cemented the retainer, and found out that my bottom one also wasn't attached properly, so she had to re-cement that one too! I told her that I noticed that cement wearing down the last time she put on my bonded retainer and she says that doesn't happen and that it's probably just my enamel. Now it's been a week and I can tell that the cement has worn down because I can barely feel it anymore. I'm worried it's going to wear down to nothing and break again! What to do?!?

[hellocanada]

oh and I wasn't eating anything hard. I was eating Chinese food...

[EWUgal15]

I have a bonded retainer on my lower arch. Once I got used to it, it felt like there was less cement than there actually is. I check it constantly though because of how easy they are to break. I also have it bonded to all 6 front teeth, rather than just the ends of the wire being bonded to the canines. I think that probably make a difference. If the cement isn't holding up though, I would be worried about what they're using...or potentially what you're ingesting that is mixing with saliva to create something that wears down the cement. I'm totally spitballing here, so don't quote me on anything. It seems odd that the cement would wear down if there's nothing causing friction to grind it off. I don't have to, but I wear my removable lower retainer as much as I can with my upper retainer that I'm supposed to wear 24/7 so that I don't constantly run my tongue over my lower retainer. I don't know if it will help the longevity of my bonded retainer, but I know it will help keep my teeth in place, so I'm doing what I can to really keep this investment worth it.