Metal Mouth Message Board

For those of you who have had both Essix and Hawley retainers, which ones did you prefer more? What are the pros and cons of each?

Thanks

I guess the clear ones are harder to clean

cindygal wrote:I guess the clear ones are harder to clean

I wouldn't say they are hard to clean, but you do have to be careful with scratching them if you take a brush to them or clouding them up by soaking them in a non retainer-friendly cleaner. For now I'm using a very soft child's toothbrush to get into the teeth, but other than that I just wash it with soap & COLD water and soak briefly in a mixture of water & mouthwash. Come next payday, I'm hitting up DentaKit.com for some RetainerBrite!

Hawley retainers can be tweaked to continue some tooth movement after the braces come off.

Guess the clear ones can get more nasty in the morning

I had a big plastic and wire Hawley-like appliance as a kid, and I wear invisalign now.
Here's my perspective on each.

The big plastic and wire retainer messed up my speech really badly for only a week, and then I was fine. It is noticeable, and can look pretty funny in photographs. It doesn't give you that "free from metal mouth" feeling if you are wearing it 24/7 and want to show off your new teeth.

Invisalign never feels clean enough to me. I keep feeling paranoid that I've trapped bacteria right up against my teeth and created a nice little incubator for decay. Ew...especially at night.
Waking up with invisalign for me is the worst part. I can't tell you how disgusting it is to pull this filmy thing off the surface of my teeth.

I find it very annoying to clean as well, especially when out because it's easy to scratch up with toothpaste.

On the plus side, it looks great, it has no effect on my speech, and no one ever notices it.

In the end, I'll be in retainers full-time much longer than I'll have been in invisalign (top) or brackets (bottom), so I plan on investing in *both* a Hawley for the majority of the time, and an Essix for when I want to go out and look presentable.

i'd go with the Essix

Pros: comfortable, feels more secure, solid hold of the teeth. able to speak properly,no drooling, less conspicuous

Cons: not really cons but you have to remove to eat, not able to wash in hot water even if you brush, floss, mouthwash they still smell really bad



Hawley

Pros: you can wash in hot water. ok thats the only nice thing i'll say
Cons: people dodging my spit keanureevesmatrixstyle, people hearing me slurp my saliva , food debris

found these interesting to read

http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve ... 0607006427

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/s ... ient=opera

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retainer_( ... 9_retainer

I'm on plastic Essix retainers.. the only major disadvantage is u've got to brush ur teeth clean before u put it on , cos the retainers completely covers the teeth.. so if the teeth is not cleaned , it will decay like mad!

Btw, can one eat wif the hawley retainers on??

I read online that Essix style retainers can also be used for tweaking, but don't have any personal experience.

I have bonded upper and lower (I have to go to the ortho every 6 months for a check up and she will top up the bonding if necessary) and clear vacuum retainers upper and lower for nights only for a year.

I did ask my ortho about hawley style retainers after seeing some of the recent threads on here but she says she doesn't do them as she thinks they are old-fashioned and not as good as vacuum ones as the latter covers each tooth individually. She did say Hawley-style do last longer (and are more expensive) but my plastic retainers will outlast the time I need them for. Obviously like many ortho stuff looks like horses for courses!

In regards to cleaning my retainers, I'm just putting them in a cup with a retainerbrite tablet every morning whilst I'm on the shower. Hopefully, that will keep them fresh!