Metal Mouth Message Board

Hey {Peeps}

I have been having this really strange feeling lately.....
I was talking to someone the other day who recently had their
braces off and now has a retainer.....well, they said that if you don't
keep your retainer in (at the beginning most of the time) that your teeth
can easily move and fall out of place rather quickly.

Well, here's my point in all of this - - I am going to miss having my
braces on {hence} keeping my teeth straight. I am so scared that
after all this hard work, pain, etc. that my teeth will end up ugly
like they used to be and move as soon as the braces come off !!

Yikes! Anyone has strange feelings????

from what i understand, you should keep your retainer forever pretty much.

some orthos recommend you put it in every couple of weeks or so, and, if it's tight, it indicates your teeth are beginning to shift, so, you then wear it for a little while until things go back to normal.

things shouldn't get all wacky as long as you keep the retainer on hand and use it as needed.

Lyn, You should really talk to your ortho about this.

I had the same fear as you. I'm getting my braces tomorrow but one of my thoughts was that I don't want to spend all this time and pain not to mention money on something that won't stick. I asked my ortho about it and he told me as long as I follow exactly what I am told and keep my retainer in place when said to I will be fine. I'm having surgery after a year of braces so I can't have any mistakes.

I wish I could tell you not to worry about it however I know it's hard not too. If you feel better you should really talk to your othro about it. He/she will let you know your risks.

Rebecca

I've already decided that I will wear my retainer every night for the rest of my life! And i haven't even got all my braces on yet. LOL!
I'm not paying out thousands of pounds just to be back where I started in 10 years time.

I am so scared that after all this hard work, pain, etc. that my teeth will end up ugly like they used to be and move as soon as the braces come off !!

Me too!

I've already decided that I will wear my retainer every night for the rest of my life!

Same here. Even if my ortho says it's not necessary, I will. I would rather be safe than sorry.

I get worried a lot as well...especially when people tell me they used to have braces...sometimes I get so surprised because it seems impossible that some have had braces...so I worry about my teeth shifting...

I also worry about how my teeth will look once the braces are off...I have high expectations so I'm worried about being disappointed.

I've already decided that I will wear my retainer every night for the rest of my life! And i haven't even got all my braces on yet. LOL!
I'm not paying out thousands of pounds just to be back where I started in 10 years time.

I totally agree Lisa! Here I am with only my back teeth banded so far, and I've already made a vow to myself that I will wear wear my retainer every night for the rest of my life as well. Braces are definitely not something I want to invest in twice....once is enough for me!

I agree ... this is a scary area ... especially when reading posts from a number of people who are here for their second and third times!

Yeah!! I mean how is it possible for teeth to move so much - I will definitely being wearing my retainers - as prescribed!

I also worry about how my teeth will look once the braces are off...I have high expectations so I'm worried about being disappointed.

Yeah! and how about if peeps look at our teeth after the braces come off and make comments, like they don't look good or something?

Thanks for sharing in my concerns!

Hi! I don’t think you should be too worried about it. Just use the retainer as much as possible once you are done and follow the instructions of your ortho. You should be fine!

Joanna

Well if it takes your teeth x time to move straight, itll take them x time to move back, right? So they're not going back in 5minutes
Just follow your ortho's instructions and im sure you'll be fine.

I know I will be happy to wear my retainer when the time finally comes... think about how long you have waited to have perfect teeth (I'm 38). That should help! Plus, I've heard too many stories from people who stopped wearing theirs and how sorry they are... a couple even got braces a second time! Horrors!

I once read somewhere that Heather Locklear still wears her retainer EVERY night... never was a fan of hers but that's when I decided she was really cool! I think of that whenever I see her somewhere.

Anne


Braces on: 7/19/06
Tx time: 18-24 months

What the heck--- my 38 turned into a Smiley with shades!!

Please don't beat up on me for saying this but...everyone that is saying "I'll wear my retainer 24 hours a day!" doesn't have a retainer yet. I do and I don't want to scare anyone but the reason people end up not wearing it much is that IT IS AWFUL! I'm not kidding folks - it's awful! I have a Hawley on top and yes, I've gotten used to it and yes, I wear it as much as possible and always all night but it is awful and I really hate it.

What I'm trying to say is I have sympathy for people who are trying to deal with their retainers but maybe are not wearing them as much as they should. It's easy to say now that you'll wear it all the time but honestly, I cannot stress this enough, it's hard. I mean, you've dealt with probably at least 2 years of braces-hell and you finally get them off and you think it's going to be easy and it's not - it's very uncomfortable, very embarassing when talking, very much a hassle to take it out all the time to eat, just a hassle all the way around! And I guess it's easy to start thinking, gosh, I deserve to relax a little bit.

Please...I KNOW it's not the "smart" thing to do...don't blast me with "Wear your retainer!" - I AM wearing my retainer...it's just that before I got my braces off, I thought people who didn't wear their retainers were just stupid but now I understand a little better.

That's all I'm saying...just that I understand...

Don't worry, flowertowngal, you are absolutely right. I have no idea what it's like to have a retainer, but I know that I'll be as good as I can when the time comes because I have waited WAY too long to fix my teeth. There is nothing that has bothered me more than my teeth, and I never thought I'd get it done.

flowertowngal wrote: "I'll wear my retainer 24 hours a day!" doesn't have a retainer yet.

I really don't think they mean 24 hours a day...I know for a fact though that once my braces are off I will be wearing my retainer every night. I used a retainer before I got braces to stop me from clenching my teeth so what difference does it make. From what I saw of the retainer it's smaller and better then the one I used to wear so it's nothing for me.

Rebecca