Share your retainer wear instructions:

Message

#1 Post by **oceanblue** » Thu Sep 27, 2007 7:58 am

It seems that there are a lot of different instructions given to people once their braces are off! Please share what type of retainers you have and how long (hours, days, months, years?) you have to wear them!

For me - I have a lower bonded wire that I have to keep on for at least 1 year. I also have a top essix that I have to wear 24/7 for only two weeks and then I have to wear it 10-12 hours per day, every day, for the next 2 years.

What about you?!

#2 Post by **Anticipator** » Thu Sep 27, 2007 8:02 am

Was told 24/7 when I first got my retainer. After first six week retainer check, I was told that I could cut back to only nighttime wear.

It's still tight everytime I put it in though, I can tell my upper arch gets a bit narrower when it's out.

EDIT: That's for upper and lower hawleys.

#3 Post by **Betty Bat** » Thu Sep 27, 2007 9:36 am

Got my upper Essix in April, my lower hawley two weeks ago.

My instructions were the same for both - wear them 24/7 for the first two weeks, then 12 hours a day.

Yep, I really did wear them 24/7 except during meals (which last about an hour for me because I like to sip my coffee or tea!) and brushing. And, yep, I really do wear my Essix about 12 hours. I'll wear my Hawley for 12 hours starting today.

#4 Post by **urfutureortho** » Thu Sep 27, 2007 1:33 pm

My lower retainer is a bonded wire, which is for life.
When they gave me my essix, they told me to wear it 24/7 for the first year, then after that it was at night.
Then it got messed up from wearing it, so they gave me a hawley, which is at night also.
All in all, the wear is pretty much for the rest of eternity. To put it in different words. So yeh.

#5 Post by **mogwai** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 8:12 am

I've been given a lower essix and will be given an upper essix to wear for 3 months 24/7.

This is followed by a Hawley (not sure if it will be top or bottom or both) for night time wear for a year.

Followed by this, I will be getting a bonded retainer for the lowers only (though this might be the same time as I get my Hawleys, not sure yet).

I have been pretty good about wearing my retainer, the longest I had them out for was an unavoidable 4 hours once, and it did feel tight when I put them back in but not too tight. My ortho also told me he thinks my teeth will be pretty stable

so I can stop the night time wear completely in a couple of years! (although I think I will probably keep a check on them every now and again with the retainer anyway, just in case!)

As for the bonded retainer, they are semi-permanent, as Merytan said, if necessary, they can be replaced. I think the life of the bonded retainer is also affected by how well you keep it (cleaning etc)..

#6 Post by **katmc_tx** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 8:33 am

I have a bonded retainer on top four teeth and a bonded retainer on bottom six teeth. They are supposed to be for life(assistant's reply when I asked for how long) I have an Essix retainer for the top (which I will go back in 8 weeks to see how its doing) I only have to wear at night, not sure how long.

#7 Post by **jennielee81** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 10:09 am

I have an upper Hawley that I wear about 18 hrs a day 7 days a week. I was instructed to wear it "full time" for 1 year then to wear it nightly for another year then a few nights a week for ever.

I have a lower lingual bonded retainer that I will keep until it decides to let go of my very clean lowers. When it gives out, I will probably get another.

My upper teeth are fairly mobile. My two centrals move a bit every time I have my retainer out for more than a couple of hours. (even 10 months after debonding)

#8 Post by **mogwai** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 2:39 pm

jennielee81 wrote:My upper teeth are fairly mobile. My two centrals move a bit every time I have my retainer out for more than a couple of hours. (even 10 months after debonding)

Thats unfortunate! Did your ortho tell you how long that would continue to occur before things stabilise properly?

#9 Post by **jennielee81** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 3:04 pm

No, he says, "wow, that sucks." (he's a fun guy and we enjoy each other's sense of humor so I'm not concerned by this!!) He calls me back in every 8 weeks for retainer checks rather than every 6 months. This really makes me believe that he's on top of the problem and is monitoring it closely.

I will hit the 1 year mark in January. They seem to be slightly less mobile as time goes on, but they still move daily!!!

Sometimes I wonder if he'll put an upper bonded on there at 1 year. I don't want that, but I want it more than I want my teeth traveling on the hour, every hour for the rest of my life.

We will see. I will continue to comply with his instructions AND be patient....

#10 Post by **smile2006** » Sat Sep 29, 2007 8:06 am

I had an upper hawley and had some shifting upward in two teeth quite quickly. I had braces put on the upper arch again to get everything in line. Initially my ortho said he was planning on no retention (I actually posted on this not long agao)on the top this second time because the hawley only deals with alignment rather than up and down movement which seems to be my problem. I had some concerns with this so he is going to do a composite upper permanent retainer for about a year. The composite retainer is tooth colored, flatter to the teeth and can be perfectly formed to the teeth. It is made of carbon fibers that are light cured. Very interesting to me and they are supposed to be nearly indestructable as they are thousands of time stronger than wire permanent retainers. The neat thing is they are also invisble.

#11 Post by **genxsis** » Sun Sep 30, 2007 11:41 am

I'm finding it kind of weird that most people have to wear their retainers 24/7 when my ortho said that when my braces come off in a couple months, I will only wear it at night. Why is their such a difference?