If you have finished with your orthodontic treatment and are wearing retainers (or will be soon), this is a special place to connect with others in your (enviable) situation. Ask a question or make a comment about life post-braces.
After 2 years 5 months I finally went naked on Monday and was so happy I couldn't stop smiling! However yesterday I had Hawley retainers fitted top & bottom which I'm told I must wear 24/7 for up to 9 months and I'm now very depressed.
I initially asked my ortho for bonded retainers top & bottom, but he insisted on Hawleys for all the usual reasons, hygiene etc and after a day & a half with them, I wish I'd stood my ground. It's not that they are uncomfortable, but I need to use the phone a lot in my job and find that speaking is very difficult. My wife has a bonded retainer on the top and doesn't even notice it.
Does it get better and should I stick with the Hawleys, or should I got back and insist on having bonded retainers fitted, I'm pretty miserable at the moment?
When I was younger I had them. They took a while to get used to, but I could talk normally eventually. Maybe your ortho can shave down the bulk a little bit to make it thinner, or cut out a bit from the middle. If it's interfering with you doing your job (which it sounds like it is), why not give the ortho a call and see what he can do for you? Best of luck finding a solution that works for everyone!
The reason orthos don't just use bonded retainers is because they only go across the front teeth. If you had a bonded retainer without any other retainer your back teeth would go back to their origional position, completely defeating the purpose of having braces in the first place.
Just like braces, you'll get used to wearing retainers. You won't wear them 24/7 for long.
I've never had bonded because I don't want all of the cleaning problems associated with them, but I have had both essix and hawleys and I prefer the hawleys. They're hard to get used to at first, but the discomfort goes away quickly if you wear it alot. If the discomfort doesn't go away within a few days of constant wear, I would call the ortho. Good luck.
This probably isn't very encouraging at all, but i just got top and bottom hawleys, and now i'm calling my ortho to see if i can get a bonded lower retainer. I can talk semi-fine with top one in, and not at all with both in.
My bottom is just so terrible, it's giving me sores and everything...sore worse then the ones i got when i had braces
I don't even want to give them a chance, i just want a bonded one, and i would be happy lol.
This is bad of me, but I had to take out my upper Hawley at work when I first got retainers. I simply could not speak clearly with it. I only worked four hours a day at the time, and I could not afford to endanger my job. And I was constantly gagging and still do sometimes, it never went away. I am six months out now and pretty much just wear the upper retainer at night. My ortho has only been positive at my recent visits, so I guess it's working for me. I do wear the lower one more, since I deal with it well as it never bothers me.
I know the right answer is to wear the upper 24/7 and get used to it, but I did what I had to do, since I need to work!
Debanded in May, 2006! Total sentence: Three years and two months. Now in hawleys which make me gag! Before braces, I had dracula fangs in their own rows, and everything else was crooked, crowded, with a cross-bite, too!
Oh my gosh today I got Hawleys on top and Essix on the bottom, bottom ones ar fine but as for the hawleys, I sound like an idiot, I look like an idiot (they are ugly) and I am GAGGING!
I just cannot see how I am going to get used to this big lump of plastic in my mouth....
Well - the gagging stopped after a couple of days. I still lisp and I dont think that will ever go away - I just know know if I am in an important meeting I just take them out!
I've found they're not as good as the essix for actually keeping teeth in place - or maybe that's just me - but my front two teeth have flared out
Well - the gagging stopped after a couple of days. I still lisp and I dont think that will ever go away - I just know know if I am in an important meeting I just take them out!
I've found they're not as good as the essix for actually keeping teeth in place - or maybe that's just me - but my front two teeth have flared out
I just got hawley retainers today, they are AWFUL. I can't speak in them and I always feel that I'm collecting saliva. In the top hawley, the plastic touches my teeth, but doesn't touch the roof of my mouth... there is like a little bump. Is this how it's supposed to be? I can't even fully close my mouth... it looks like I have a little open bite. I'm not wearing them right now, even though I'm supposed to wear them 24/7 for a month. I'm putting them on again tonight though
In the top hawley, the plastic touches my teeth, but doesn't touch the roof of my mouth... there is like a little bump. Is this how it's supposed to be? I can't even fully close my mouth... it looks like I have a little open bite.
That doesn't sound normal if you can't fully close your mouth.
Mine are actually quite comfortable.
Top Braces June 2004
Bottom Braces November 2004
Debanded January 2007
I am supposed to wear my retainer (hawley) 24/7 as well. However, I am a claims adjuster, and am on the phone virtually ALL day. It's so hard for me to speak clearly with them in. I have tried it and I get so extremely frustrated that I take them out. When I first got my retainer I cried the next couple days at work because I couldn't get used to it and I didn't feel like explaining to EVERYONE that I talked to on the phone that I had a retainer in my mouth and that I wasn't just mumbling. I haven't been back to the ortho yet, of course it's only been ten days, and in ten days it hasn't gotten better for me. I just hope that I'm not doing anything bad to my teeth by not wearing my retainer at work.
