Metal Mouth Message Board

Hello,

I was wondering how long does someone have to wear a retainer after they take off their braces? From one person i heard that you have to wear a retainer for the rest of your life. Is that true?

Thanks!

It usually goes like this:

For the first 6-9 months, you must wear your retainer 24/7 (except when you're eating). This is because the periodontal ligaments are still "loose" and need to be "solidified" into their final positions. This takes at least 6 months to accomplish, sometimes longer.

Then your orthodontist may tell you that it's OK to wear it only at night. EVERY night.

Then after about another year or so, you can wear it a few nights per week, as long as nothing seems to be shifting.

If you ever totally stop wearing your retainer, you teeth will probably shift to some extent. Some people find that their teeth get crooked again. It depends on the person and the extent of their previous orthodontic treatment.

Having read this thread on retainers and hearing almost everyone say wear retainers for life I'm wondering how it will work with a bonded retainer? In my situation I would only have the bonded retainer 6 years at maximum and then it would be removed completely with no other reatiner on the bottom. Won't my teeth begin to shift after a couple years?

I did actually ask him these questions when I had an adjustment once and he told me that once I stop growing in my mid 20's my teeth won't shift ever again and that a second retainer would be unneccessary. However I had consulted two orthos and she had told me I would ahve to wear the retainer for life. I have a feeling I'll be switching ortho pretty soon because mine doesn't seem to listen to my concerns for after treatment.

My first consult proved to only annoy me the ortho apparently didn't wnat to undertake an adult case. She told me everything was perfect. I have minor crowding a slight overbite and a minor crossbite and my teeth aren't all level either. Perfect bite????? I think not. She also said it would take two years or longer to fix it all and it would be overkill. S I went to my current ortho and he said about a year to a year in a half to resolve the issues. I went with him despite it would cost a little more. I also went ahead and had the wisdom teeth removed there wasn't room for them anyway so they would have had to come out and I didn't want to have to do extractions with braces. Now on Friday I'm bringing this issue up again with him and if he doesn't accept my descison we'll then mom is going to call him and realy lay it down. (This is her money!) if that doens't work she fully plans on telling him to cut off the cost of the retainers and cost of any follow up visits that we will no longer be needing his service. I'm hoping the woman I consulted the first time may pick up the case and if not then maybe the person my friend is going to. I just can't believe that he would provide treatment to someone and then let there teeth shift on them later in life. I'm guessing it's all about money if kids had braces and the teeth shift they go back as adults and get the stuff fixed again? I'm not willing to waste that much money.

Yes, they can shift ANYTIME. My husband was a faithful retainer wearer fulltime for 2 years and thereafter nighttime only for a few years. Its been over 12 years at least since they have been off and he had to have a new retainer made since it no longer fit! He nows wears them every night!!!!

Hmmm, well my ortho told me to only wear the retainers at night, for one year. Then after that, every other day.

Every case is different, and I am sure retainer wear prescribed will depend on how stable the ortho estimates the result to be.

I suppose the "age factor" probably has to be considered too.
The older you are with braces the more likely of a relapse. The teeth want to go back to where they were for so many years.

I say, play it safe, wear them 24/7 for at least a year and nightly thereafter. If you go without them for a few days and notice the retainer is difficult to put on, you'll know you aren't wearing them enough.

I plan on wearing my retainers every night for as long as I have teeth and during the day at least until the ortho says pm only. To tell you the truth, I'll probably get in a few extra hours during the day too, even when I get the all clear to do nights only since I KNOW teeth move. It can take 20 years for them to move, but without a retainer, they move. At least they did in my case. I think it's very likely that if you eventually stop wearing retainers, you will find you need braces again sometime down the road, be it 10, 20 or 30 years later.

Your teeth can definately move in your twenties. I wore braces at 16 until I was 18, and wore my retainer religiously for a couple of years. When I was about 22 I noticed a weird slight shift in my upper canine, and it just continued to get worse until it pretty much moved right back to where it started, and here I am 28 years old wearing braces again, and I have found them to be much more difficult this time around as an adult.

The braces are set to come off in September (keeping my fingers crossed!!) and I'm going to do my best to wear the heck out of that retainer until the day I die! (Inquired about the bonded upper retainer today and apparently since my teeth bite together with no margin, I cannot opt for a permanent upper retainer).

If the idea of wearing a retainer at night for the rest of your life gives you the blues, just imagine having to go through the entire process of getting braces again with the inner-cheek shredding brackets and god forbid those annoying inner molar tubes or expanders! The retainer is your friend

My daughter is 14 and her ortho told her she had to wear her retainer until she is out of college, which I assume is 22. (I hope). I think the younger you are the less likely it is your teeth will move. My sister had braces when she was 10 and her teeth are still perfectly straight. I don't think she wore her retainer for more than 1 year.

But then my sister, brother and Mother don't have any clenching/grinding problems. Me and my Dad and other relatives on my Dad's side grind and clench. You should see my sister's teeth. She is almost fifty and I swear she still has those little bumps on them that you have when your teeth first erupt. It is disgusting!

My son and I go to the same ortho, and we were both told to wear our retainers only at night. They told me if my retainer felt too tight wearing it only during sleeping, that I should wear it a few hours longer. They never told me to wear it during the day, or forever. After about a year, they said I would only have to wear it ocassionally, just to make sure it still fit.

I have had my braces off for 3 years and still wear my retainer at night,2 or 3 times a week. I will always wear it for as long as I have teeth! My lower retainer is bonded and I take special care to clean around it so I dont develop problems. And my teeth have remained picture perfect! I am also post double-jaw surgery, so with everything I have been thru, I'm not about to lose the smile I fought so hard to get!!! Do consider just making that retainer a part of your bedtime routine, for life.

I am nowhere near my end of treatment. My case started as severe crowding on upper and lower. My ortho says that he tells his patients to wear them everyday for at least 6-8 months ,then every other day for another 4 months. Since I am at home I will probably wear my retainers from morning until night . Probably have them on for 11 hrs or so and will sleep without retainers. I know a lot of people find retainers a pain in the rear but after all that I have been and will go through with braces , I am making a commitment to wear retainers for life at least 8hrs a day. I am just paranoid and will probably have nightmares thinking that I will wake up with crooked teeth!

My question is : Does it matter if you wear your retainers during the day or night? I thought that as long as you wear them for the amount of hours that your ortho says then it doesn't matter if it's day or night. Has anyone been told why orthodontist say to wear them at bedtime instead of daytime?

Gennel

I got my braces off three days ago, im now wearing one during the day, two at night, for two months...then ill only need to be wearing them at nights for about a year or two..i guess its different with all cases.