I hate these retainers!!!! (Long rant and some ?s)

[cinaminsweet]

I got debanded yesterday after four years of wearing braces and the last two of those years involved my ortho saying "in a few months, they'll be ready." Well, two years later, they were ready and he took them off. I think they're nice and straight (I'll try to take some pics later). Anyways, they took molds for a retainer and I went back later yesterday to pick it up.

Now, I had previously only heard of and seen only one kind of retainer, the Hawley kind. So I was surprised when they gave me the Essix, which is apparently the new kind that they use.

I hate them!!! I like that they are clear and they aren't really painful or uncomfortable. The problem is that they are just so gross to me and I hate that I have to take them out to eat all the time. Whenever I take them out, a huge glob of spit comes out with it. And this morning when I woke up, it was truly gross, with all of the nighttime spit and morning breath. I soaked them for an hour in a mixture of water and Listerine mouthwash, is that safe to do on a regular basis? I haven't soaked them with the Retainer Brite tablets my orttho gave me since they said to do that only once a week and he only gave me 3 tablets. Anyway, do people who wear the Hawley retainer experience this same kind of grossness?

I also hate that I have to take them out to eat. I was just thinking this when I was driving home from the Chik-fil-a drive thru. I normally eat a couple of fries on the way home, but I couldn't do that since I had those stupid plastic retainers in. I'm a teacher, so I never have an actual sit down meal while at work, I usually just snack on small things during the day, but I won't be able to do that anymore since I won't be able to stop class so I can take out and rinse off my retainer just so I can eat 5 m&ms. Oh well, maybe I'll lose some weight after all!

One more question: my teeth look really yellow now. I bought a whole bunch of whitening products yesterday: whitening Crest toothpaste, whitening Listerine mouthwash, and the Listerine whitening strips, but I haven't used the strips yet. Is there a specific amount of time I need to wait before using them?

Thanks in advance if you've made it this far through my rant and are able to answer my questions! I'll try to get used to this gross retainer!

[lionfish]

I only wore essix full time for 3 weeks (progressed to a positioner thereafter which - trust me - is far worse than essix). I've been on night time wear for 9 months now.

Yeah, you have to take them out to eat, there's an accumulation of spit in the morning and some stale breath. They can pong a bit, but respond well to being brushed (I use ordinary toothpaste daily and denture cleaning tabs once a week). Like everything, you get used to it.

It sounds as though your diet could be better. Why not use the essix as a catalyst in planning some regular meals consisting of more nourishing foods than fries and M&Ms?

[Gennel]

My ortho tells all his patients to remove their retainers either Hawley or Essix before eating. I wear Essix retainers and yeah in the morning is pretty gross lol. What I do now BEFORE removing them I grab a handful water and rinse my mouth twice before removing the Essix. I also have the water running at this time,as soon as I pop them off I rinse them and my mouth right away. After getting several cleanings and keeping up with flossing and brushing I was so proud to say that I had no bad "morning breath"
Well that changed after I started sleeping with my Essix retainers on. I can't describe it ! It is sort of a salty spit ?
I do like my Essix retainers because I can go out wearing them and most people don't even notice.I wash them about twice a day with a soft brush and liquid soap.Let them dry on a small hand towel.

Gennel