Metal Mouth Message Board

I am happy to wear the fixed wires behind my front-most 6 top and bottom teeth forever, but I have some questions...

1. I've heard these wires tend to break a lot. Is this because they're flimsy or because your teeth are still moving and putting too much pressure on them?

2. If they're only on the first 6 teeth, that leaves quite a few teeth to move back to their original positions...is this enough?

3. I've also heard most people have to wear invisalign-style retainers at night (at least) FOREVER. If this is the case, I'm fine with it (if it's only at night), but you'd have to get them replaced fairly frequently I'd say...so how much of an ongoing FOREVER cost is this on top of the initial invisalign treatment??

I know my teeth are prone to moving back, as I had metal braces from age 11-14 and didn't wear my (hawley-style) retainer because I couldn't stand the bit that sat against the roof of my mouth (felt like I couldn't breathe. I do NOT want this type of retainer again. I kept taking it out in my sleep, every single night), and by the time I was 18, I could fit my little finger between my top and bottom front teeth when I bit down. Now I'm 35, it's SO MUCH WORSE.

So...yeah.

I don't know much about the permanent retainers. I don't think my ortho is a fan, which is fine with me because I was pretty adamant about not getting them (I have no rational reason for this, I just... don't want them!). The impression I've got from the naked tooth forum, though, is that a lot of people end up having to wear a removable retainer along with the permanent one for at least a while.

Vivera retainers are included in my plan. They are Invisalign's brand of retainer and I think they're basically stronger versions of the aligner trays. According to my ortho's coordinator Vivera sends a new set of retainers every three months for a year. I think the idea is that the patient would keep renewing the "subscription" ad infinitum... but the coordinator told me that there was no need to change them that often. Their patients just use one set and keep the other three in storage for when the first set is no longer useable. I would imagine that you would still need to get new retainers every few years, but hopefully the cost isn't too unreasonable. They're included in my plan, but I think I recall from another consult that a year (or 4 sets) of Viveras was around $200?

this is something my ortho doesn't even offer and he uses every form of treatment available so it surprises me.ive been meaning to ask him why he doesn't offer them I've been interested in knowing more about them the last few weeks since finding out they even exist..

Yes, this is the type of retainer I want, as similar to invisalign as possible but longer lasting so I don't have to sell my organs to pay for them on an ongoing basis! lol