Metal Mouth Message Board

Well, tomorrow is my big day. My braces are coming off after 23 months.. I am excited but in a wierd way they have become a part of me and I'm a little sad to have them removed and after reading all the posts on life in retainers I'm starting to think that braces aren't all that bad.
I'm very happy with my top teeth and for the most part my bottoms, however, I have a slight imperfection (my front bottom tooth is not perfectly straight). I also have one tooth that is longer than the other? Can this be shaved down?? I've discussed this with my ortho and he inists that they are fine and slight imperfections can be corrected with a retainer. I'm not convinced of this and was hoping to get some feedback from some of you in retainers that were perhaps in my situation. I always thought that retainers were used to keep teeth in the place they were in at the time braces were removed and not to further move teeth..
signed...confused and worried..
thanks...

oh yes, retainers can be used for minor and major adjustment

just check out my story

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--Garrett

I also had one of my lower laterals that was still slightly rotated when the braces came off. My ortho gave me a lower positioner, which I wore for 2 1/2 months. It worked like a charm. I now have a lower bonded retainer and everything is in the right place.

Hope everything works out!

Congratulations a day early! I am jealous!!

To answer your question: yes, retainers can be used to adjust teeth. My 15 year old doesn't need braces, but has a retainer which is rotating one lower front tooth into being aligned. He wears it at night and it's working quite well. Don't know about the longer tooth... wish I could tell you more.

Have a great day and post pix!

First of all, congrats!! Secondly, yes retainers can fix slight imperfections like the one you described. Also, that tooth that is longer can be shaved down. One of my top front teeth was just a little bit longer, and my ortho shaped my teeth to make them even. Dont worry about retainers either! I got my braces off a little over a week ago, and I would MUCH rather have this retainer than braces!!! You can eat without having to worry about leftovers being stuck in your teeth. Its so great! Plus, when a photo is taken, you can just pop your retainer out, take the pic, and put it right back in. Its great!