Metal Mouth Message Board

Hi I have had my braces off 4 weeks ago and now wearing essix retainers. My ortho plans to put the permanent retainer wire on in 6 months. I asked the assistant why in 6 months and not right away, she said 'thats his plan and every case is different', but I'm not sure exactly why. He did mention BEFORE I got my braces off that once I got retainers he was planning to tweak my retainer for 2-3 months.

What kind of tweaking would the ortho do and how is it done with the essix? Or do I get new ones made? Also I have noticed that the front tooth on the right side is slightly higher than the other (1/2 mm) and the incisor on the same side is also slightly higher than the other incisor which bothers me. Can the ortho make those teeth come down a little with the retainer?

Any one had a similar experience with the ortho still making tweaks with a retainer after braces are off?

QT wrote:Hi I have had my braces off 4 weeks ago and now wearing essix retainers. My ortho plans to put the permanent retainer wire on in 6 months. I asked the assistant why in 6 months and not right away, she said 'thats his plan and every case is different', but I'm not sure exactly why. He did mention BEFORE I got my braces off that once I got retainers he was planning to tweak my retainer for 2-3 months.

What kind of tweaking would the ortho do and how is it done with the essix? Or do I get new ones made? Also I have noticed that the front tooth on the right side is slightly higher than the other (1/2 mm) and the incisor on the same side is also slightly higher than the other incisor which bothers me. Can the ortho make those teeth come down a little with the retainer?

Any one had a similar experience with the ortho still making tweaks with a retainer after braces are off?

Yes, my ortho can't seem to stop tweaking, 6 months after my braces were off.

For an essix, an adjustment can be made by impressing small dimples in the plastic to force either side of a tooth back (or forward). For a Hawley, obviously he can bend the wire and shave plastic behind the tooth, although I found Hawleys weren't retaining my teeth very well and went back to essixes.

Wow he is still tweaking after 6 months..what is he tweaking may I ask? So after all those dimple impressions will you need to get a new retainer eventually? Do you think the ortho can move a tooth down a little at least? He tweaked my retainer just before I first wore it, it looks as though my right incisor has come up a little - he was tweaking that tooth rotating it out abit more.