Metal Mouth Message Board

Hi guys,

So, a question or two on refinements and the retainer at the end of treatment.

At what point are the attachments (speed bumps) taken off? Before or after the refinement stage? Before or after the retainer stage?

My ortho tells me the retainer must be worn for 6 months, during both day and night, as per the other trays. (It seems a real shame to be stuck in these things 6 months longer than I thought I would). How strict have you been with this?

I ask because I have, of course, occasionally cheated and had my trays in for less than the recommended amount of time over the fortnight. How lax can you be with the retainer tray? After all, it is just to 'retain', and not so much to move the teeth anymore, right? So is the 20+ hours still necessary?

What happens after the retainer tray 6 months is up? Naked teeth for good, or a night-time one?

Thank-you in advance for your answers! I'm on tray 14 of 22 so I'm over half way now I'm very happy with the progress so far.

Hi there,
As far as my ortho has told me, there may be different attachments for refinement- maybe less, maybe even more.

As for retainment my ortho told me that I will have to wear mine at night only, right from the start. Originally I think he said more than that so I was surprised when he told me that last visit. However I have now seen other people being told to do this too.

I'll clarify again with him when I go back in a couple of weeks.

Hello,
I don't believe there is standard time for full time retainer wear. It seems to depend on the type of problem that was corrected, degree of tooth movement during your treatment etc. Per various posts I have read over the last year, orthos can recommend straight to night time wear, or 3 months, 6 months, sometimes even 1 year! of daytime wear.

Unfortunately, if you want to keep results, you can never go back to naked teeth. It really is a lifetime commitment of night time wear (possibly every second night in the longer term).

On the retainer question - naked teeth for good is probably not going to happen. Adult teeth keep moving throughout life and typically crowd in the front. Also, if any bone structure issues are involved for adult treatment, the likelyhood of problems increases. This can determine recommended wear time.

Also relapses can happen very slowly over a long period of time and occur so gradually that neither you or your regular dentist will notice until its too late to address with simple corrections. This happened to me where my teeth moved back over a period of 20 years.

A retreatment can be more difficult than the initial treatment as well. Patient age and any problems from the first treatment (such as resorbed tooth roots) can require treatment times longer than the first. I'm finding this out first-hand now.

Its better to play it safe with retainers than have to do it all over again later. No ortho recommended long term retention in my two prior treatments - so I'm back again.

Removal of attachments for refinements is a "it depends". I just had a mid-course correction where they were all filed off and replaced. I have seen posts where they were left on. If you are concerned, your ortho can probably tell you.

My attachments were removed at my last visit, when I completed my last tray. I was told I only had to wear the retainer at night. I have found that I much prefer wearing my last invisalign tray to the wire retainer I received! My ortho told me I could wear either one.