Metal Mouth Message Board

So I was just thinking random thoughts, and I thought I'd pose this question to the retainer-wearing world:

How long did you wear your retainer 24/7 before switching to nighttime wear only?

-- OR --

How long has your ortho advised you to wear your retainer for 24/7 before switching to nighttime wear only?

73 views and no replies? Aw, no one wants to play?

When I was a teen, I worte my retainers 24/7 for about 1 year then at night for 1 year before I lost tehm and never replaced. Fast forward 18 years and I am finishing up my second turn in braces and would will be wearing them longer this time.

I was advised to wear for 2 weeks 24/7 before switching to night wear, but I noticed my retainers would feel rather tight when I put them back in at night (specifically my bottom teeth), so I switched back to 24/7, it's now week 7 and I'm sort of gradually moving away from 24/7 wear. I'd rather be safe than sorry

KimC wrote:When I was a teen, I worte my retainers 24/7 for about 1 year then at night for 1 year before I lost tehm and never replaced. Fast forward 18 years and I am finishing up my second turn in braces and would will be wearing them longer this time.

Wow, sorry to hear that KimC. Good luck with this 2nd (and I'm sure LAST) run!

eveningninja wrote:I was advised to wear for 2 weeks 24/7 before switching to night wear, but I noticed my retainers would feel rather tight when I put them back in at night (specifically my bottom teeth), so I switched back to 24/7, it's now week 7 and I'm sort of gradually moving away from 24/7 wear. I'd rather be safe than sorry

I totally agree, eveningninja. I would do the same thing. Two weeks seems awfully fast to me, but I'm definitely not an ortho. When do you go back for your first post-debanding checkup?

Six months for 24/7 then I can switch to nights.

TXMommy wrote:

eveningninja wrote:I was advised to wear for 2 weeks 24/7 before switching to night wear, but I noticed my retainers would feel rather tight when I put them back in at night (specifically my bottom teeth), so I switched back to 24/7, it's now week 7 and I'm sort of gradually moving away from 24/7 wear. I'd rather be safe than sorry

I totally agree, eveningninja. I would do the same thing. Two weeks seems awfully fast to me, but I'm definitely not an ortho. When do you go back for your first post-debanding checkup?

I've already had my first checkup a few weeks ago. I told my ortho I kept wearing my retainers 24/7 and he didn't seem to really care much either way. He just said "it looks fine." I know I wouldn't be in too much a worry to care a lot about my hundreds of patients, but I dunno... now that my braces are off, it doesn't seem like he cares that much haha.

Anyway... good luck with everything.

i am only to wear my essix retainer at night because i have bonded retainers on my top and lower teeth. I go back in 2 months for a check up and to see how things are going

Two weeks of 24/7 wear before changing to nights only for me.

I wear the retainers for 10-12hours a day, putting them in sometime after dinner but before bed (usually around 8:00PM) and taking them out anytime between 6-8AM.

My orthodontist told me 24/7 for at least 3 months, but I cheated a bit as I was working at a busy mall over Christmas and wasn't able to stop to brush my teeth every time I needed to take a drink of something, so I would take them out a few hours here and a few there after about 2 months, now I only wear them at night. When I went to see my orthodontist in December he said everything looks perfect, and I don't need to see him anymore unless there's problems

I had the shortest full time period: 48h full time and then nights only for 2 years. then 3 nights a year the 3rd year, and 1 night a week the 4th year.

I only had to wear mine 24/7 for 3 days. Now I switch each side every 12 hours and I'm supposed to do that for the first 9 months. My bottom retainer fits fine--I have a permanent retainer under my front 6 bottoms--but I also noticed that everything seems tight after I put my top retainer back on. Maybe I should wear it 24/7 and leave the bottom retainer alone since those teeth won't move anyway?

I am probably the only one here... but I just got mine today and the ortho insists on wearing it 24/7 for full 5 months

It is probably because I had really big movements and jaw surgeries, but still... 5 months?

I don't have mine off yet, but my son is getting his off next month and I'm really excited for him. I have a question though. My son was very disappointed when we left the OD's office which surprised me since he had just been given a debanding date. It turns out that he was hoping that he wouldn't have to wear a retainer. I told him that no one, ever, gets out of braces and doesn't have to wear a retainer for some period of time. He claims that he has friends that got their braces off and never had to wear a retainer. I told him that either his friends were saying that because they didn't want to wear it, or they had bad orthodontists! I'm just wondering, is it ever possible for someone to get their braces removed and then be told that it's not necessary to wear a retainer?