Teeth shifting even with retainers

[itsabouttime22]

Well I finally was debraced a little over a week ago and I was given Hawley retainers. I've been wearing them and my bottom teeth are staying put, but my top teeth are another story. When I got my braces off, all of my top teeth were perfectly straight and aligned. A few days later I noticed my incisors which were brought down and in line with the rest of my teeth about a month into braces look like they are starting to creep up again. Also, none of my front four teeth are in line with each other any more.

It is a slight change, but definitely not what I'd thought would happen so soon after getting my braces off, especially since I've been wearing retainers. I am freaking out, because if they have already moved in a week, I can't image how bad they will continue to get. The main reason I got braces was because I was embarrassed of my incisors, so I'd be devestated if I went through all this treatment, not to mention money, just to have my teeth go back to the way they were.

Sorry for my long vent, but I was just wondering if anyone knew if this could be fixed? Can my retainer possibly be tightened or something? I wasn't supposed to go back to my ortho until next month, but I called an have an appointment next week. I was just wondering what to expect and if anyone knew if there was an easy solution to this.

[Jethro]

Congrats itsabouttime22 on getting debanded! You made the right decision to make an appt with your ortho to find out what is going on.

I have top and bottom permanent retainers as well as Hawley/Essix retainers which I wear every other night. About 2 months ago I noticed that my top central incisors began to shift forward slightly and made an appt with my ortho. They made an adjustment to the wire on my upper Hawley retainer, and with full-time wear for a few weeks, my incisors have moved back into alignment. Hopefully, a simple adjustment will work for you too...best of luck.

[itsabouttime22]

Thanks for the reply Jethro- your situation sounds similar to mine so hopefully my Hawley wire can be adjusted and fix things.