Metal Mouth Message Board

bbsadmin wrote: It's especially important to wear it as much as possible in the first 4 to 6 months after the braces come off.

It's interesting that you say that Lynn - my ortho has told me that only need to wear my Essix full time for the first month (so tomorrow!) then after that only at nights - maybe this is because I have a bonded retainer behind my front 2 teeth, and also because my top teeth were pretty much done about 6 months ago, but they needed to stay on so that I could wear elastics for pulling my bottom teeth in a bit?

\The lower one is no problem at all, and I wear that one all the time since it has a spring in it, which is pushing a wayward lower tooth upright (this tooth could never straighten during my three plus years of braces!). \!

Sue, can you post a photo of that retainer in your mouth with the spring?
Is it correcting a molar?

hmm.. kind of looks like i'm in the minority here. My retainer was in my mouth 24/7!!!!! Of course I took it out to eat ... but then it would go straight back in.
I went back to the ortho after the 1st month of retainer wear and now only have to wear it 12hrs a day. I always make sure I reach the limit of hours.
If I wear it 12hrs straight and then leave it out for 12hrs it is really tight to put back in. After wearing it for an hr or so it feels normal again though.

Sue, can you post a photo of that retainer in your mouth with the spring? Is it correcting a molar?

Here's a photo of my lower Hawley retainer:



The spring in there is pushing up one of my lower middle teeth - I guess it's a lateral, between the canine and my lower front teeth. This tooth NEVER straightened in over three years of braces. It always tilted back towards the back of my mouth. It's like it couldn't stand up straight or something! This tooth was pushed way back before braces, so I guess it just is stubborn. But the retainer is doing what the braces couldn't - that little spring is pushing the tooth upright. It's still not perfect and may never will, but it looks better.

My upper Hawley also has a spring in it, which is currently inactive but will help push one of my laterals out a bit, so it doesn't bang against the lower tooth that is being uprighted. Here's the upper:



I still feel like gagging sometimes in my upper retainer, but my speech has improved a little bit, but still garbled. I was told I need to wear my retainers full time for eight months, then at nights forever, which is standard I was told.

Well i shall be honest...i try to do my best wearing both of them 24/7 but it's so hard...my speech keeps improving but the combination of the 2 of them still makes me lisp heavily enough... Things are much better with my upper only so i wear them both when i'm home (and nobody cares of me lisping... and i try to do that at work as well but it's hard making myself understood...but as u all say... can i just throw all these braces years in the bin???

Question for those people with retainers - if you have a permanent bonded retainer behind the top teeth why do you still have to wear a removeable retainer as well?

Cheers

I saw my ex-husband last week, he was seeing me in braces for the first time. He said to not do what his current wife did, she got her braces off last year (odd coincidence, her birthday is also the day before mine ), and would go several days without wearing her retainer. Then when she would put it in, it was uncomfortable, so she wouldn't wear it much, and so one, and so on to the point that she never wore it, and now her teeth have shifted. So if you ever put it in, and it hurts, you know you're not wearing it enough!

Naomi, that really sucks. My ortho told me just to wear my retainers at night but I still HATE them. I have the clear essix kind and feel like you, they are huge, annoying, I talk with a lisp, at first actually was gagging every time I put them in. I'm getting more used to them though. I guess with enough time, you will. I will look forward to the day you only have to wear them at night.

AND I LOVE YOUR AVATAR!!! It makes me laugh every time I see it!! (Plus, I love frogs

SUE - thanks for posting the retainer photo. Does the LAB put the spring into the mold? I suppose if it had to be put in later it could be...or would they have to make a brand new retainer?

What did you mean by "currently inactive"? How does it become activated?

Chris wrote: SUE - thanks for posting the retainer photo. Does the LAB put the spring into the mold? I suppose if it had to be put in later it could be...or would they have to make a brand new retainer?

What did you mean by "currently inactive"? How does it become activated?

Hi! Yes, the retainers came with the springs already inside them. It took almost two weeks to get my retainers after I was debanded, so I don't know if it takes longer to make these or what! I also wonder if I would have to get new retainers once the lower tooth is standing upright as it can get, and the spring is no longer needed. Ortho hasn't said much yet! The upper retainer's spring is "inactive" since it is still basically inside the pink material (not sure what it's made of!). The ortho seems to pull the spring out with pliers to "activate" it, so it will be touching my teeth. So far he hasn't done anything with the upper spring, as it doesn't touch my teeth at all right now. I fear the day when he "activates" it, since then I HAVE to wear it more often! Right now I fully admit I wear it about 70% of the time, as I have to take it out to speak correctly at work.

Hope this helps! So far I am THRILLED with how the lower one pushed that wayward tooth upright! Braces couldn't do it, but this little spring can!

How interesting!!!!! Thanks for sharing, Sue.

These are really interesting reads, all the people i know that have had retainers, didnt seem to be bothered by them though! This is kind of making me wonder just a little! I suppose everyone is different, but maybe im in for a tougher battle than i first thought!

I plan on wearing mine as much as possible but sort of regulating it myself. If I leave it out for a few hours and it feels tight, obviously I can't keep leaving it out for a few hours, but if it feels okay I might try to leave it out even longer because I work 5-10 hour shifts at work depending on my schedule. I plan on always using it at night though.

I have a Hawley for the top and a bonded retainer for the bottom. At first I hated the Hawley-(I couldn't speak properly and I felt like I was drooling). So I just didn't wear it at all for the first week and a half or so. I didn't get any teeth removed for my braces-so I think they may be more prone to go into their original positions. I noticed after a week and a half my front teeth were going into their "pushed back" positions again, and that freaked me out and I started to wear it again. It's very important especially once the braces are removed to wear the retainers all the time.
After about 6 months, I'll only wear it at night when I go to bed. But I think I'll be wearing it to bed the rest of my life. I've heard that your teeth still move around years after the braces.

Your supervisor sounds like a big jerk. Lucky escape, eh!

And I can't really contribute to the retainer discussion (not at that stage yet) but the quicker you get used to it, the better. And that can only happen if you wear it as much as possible.

Easier said than done though, unfortunately!

Good luck!