Bonded retainer - shouldn't it be completely glued to teeth?

[gwynneth23]

Hi there,

I'm now brace-free - hurray! and getting used to the permanent retainer on the inside of my teeth. (To be joined by a Hawley retainer once it's been made).

I was picking at the back of one of the teeth where I thought I had a bit of food in between two of my teeth, when I realised that the inter-dental brush would actually slide up underneath the retainer, ie between the retainer and the tooth. It's only a very narrow gap (it was a 0.4mm brush) but I was surprised.

I thought the retainer would be glued completely flush to the teeth, so that there were no gaps anywhere. I'm concerned now that it'll be hard to keep that clean and free from decay, because I can't really clean in there, but I guess food and bacteria will get up into the gap.

Anyone got any experience with this? Has the ortho 'missed a bit' and not glued it on properly, or is it normal for there to be gaps?

Would be grateful to hear any thoughts!

Thanks