How long without Invisalign until the teeth relapse?

[Phantom Muse]

When my daughter was ready to get her braces off, her ortho took all the wires off (just leaving the brackets fixed on her teeth) for a full two weeks. He was checking to see if the teeth would stay where they were. Then he took the brackets off, took impressions for a retainer, and left her teeth naked for another two weeks (so basically no retainer for 4 weeks after getting the braces off). She had a tiny bit of relapse on one lower tooth (it was the same one that was crooked before braces), but he adjusted her retainer to fix the relapse. It has fixed it somewhat, not "perfect," but fine.

She now wears her retainer 24/7 except when eating (will do so probably for three months), and then she will go to nighttime wear.

I wonder if there is a difference in the way children's teeth behave versus adult teeth after braces come off... Or maybe everyone is so different that it is difficult to predict how the teeth will behave after braces?! Two of my older brothers have never worn retainers after braces, and they have had no relapse whatsoever (and their treatment was MANY years ago)!

[kezzakattami]

I remember having a conversation with my ortho that went along the lines of, if a child wears braces and the teeth are forced to move in a certain direction as they form/grow, then theyre more likely to 'retain' their position after ortho work. Its when an adults teeth are forced to move away from their natural position into an unnatural one (for the individual), that relapse occurs more easily. I think the gums in an adult mouth after ortho work are more spongy or something, so the teeth can move back more easy.....or something like that anyway lol

[Second Time Around]

I guess that makes a lot of sense. I had braces from age 11-14. I remember wearing a fixed wire across my front teeth for a short time. Other than that, they didn't prescribe permanent retainers in those days. My teeth stayed in perfect alignment until my late 30's. Even then, the movement was minimal compared to the original problems at age 11.

For that reason, I do consider it a pain to wear the retainer for life. Luckily I was able to go straight to night time post Invisalign. I wear them 12 hours a day approx. 7pm to 7 am, and they do seem to shift a bit in those 12 hours.