Metal Mouth Message Board

A few people I know who had braces said wearing retainers was the worst part of having braces. Dont know if they were exaggerating or if there is some truth to this.

Just got mine today and initially caused some salivia to build in my mouth. Gotta wear em 24/7 for a week and then at nights thereafter. Dont know how much they take getting used to.

Anybody have any experience with retianers?

Hi there,
I've been wearing retainers now for around 3 years. I have an upper clear fitted retainer and a permanent wire lower. At first they can be a pain (not literally of course) because you have to take the time to take them in and out when eating and brushing, if you follow your orthodontist's directions, over time you'll only have to wear them a partial of the day, and then only nights, and then only a couple of nights a week and so on (like you noted). I still wear mine ever three days or so because I feel the shift of my teeth if I go past a few days. I don't want to risk it not fitting properly and having to go for more impressions, eek!

To answer you though, no, they do not hurt if you were them properly! You will get used to them and forget they are even there.

Now if you forget to wear them, then yes they can feel uncomfortable because you teeth will shift a bit out of place and fitting your retainer back in will make your teeth return to the their appropriate place!

Hope this helps :)

-Alix

After braces round one, I wore mine nearly 24/7 until they wore out about ten years later. Other than food getting caught in them (I got really good at flipping it down and cleaning it out with my tongue) they weren't that bad.

Although you can guess I wasn't real concerned about my appearance...