How much did your teeth move after getting your braces off and wearing your retainer?

[fixYourPermissions]

Hi! I got my braces off after two years just this past Wednesday. I have a wraparound Hawley retainer for my top teeth and a bonded retainer for my lowers.

I've been so worried every day since my braces came off that my teeth will shift back into my horrible open bite. My orthodontist say open bite cases have a greater tendency to relapse. I've been wearing my retainer diligently and I have no plans of stopping, but dang I have so much anxiety right now that slowly my teeth will start shifting back and those two years would have all gone to waste even with my retainer. I know that my teeth will probably shift a little over time to settle into my bite better, but right now I'm looking into a mirror every couple of hours worried that they've begun to move into unsatisfactory places. I wish I would stop.

Has anyone else had this fear?
How are your teeth doing, those who have been wearing their retainers for a while now?
Did you experience much movement or little to none?

[border]

I had braces about 5 years ago, and literally haven't worn my retainers at all. Which I am not proud of, however they really haven't moved much at all besides two gaps. Which now I am planning to get either braces, or Invisalign to fix these gaps.

[samoorelaw]

I know you don't want to hear this but my posterior open bite on both sides has returned only 8 months after braces: actually it returned pretty much immediately after braces. Not saying this will happen to you but your ortho is right in that open bites are tough to retain, and I wore (still do) my hawley wraparound retainers 24-7: I also have a permanent retainer on the bottom. Unfortunately, retainer wear cannot prevent an open bite from relapsing if it is going to relapse.

[fixYourPermissions]

That's a shame. It's been almost one week for me in my retainer, and so far they're looking okay. I hope things stay put.

[samoorelaw]

Well I wish you luck in retention. I'm also a surgery patient with a more difficult case that also included gum surgery and 8 crowns so my extreme relapse experience is probably not typical.

Today my ortho switched me to part-time wear and after I get new retainers next week (I wanted a regular, non-palate-expander wraparound hawley on top and Essex for comfort on bottom), I will be wearing both retainers only at night for six months so hopefully the teeth will settle a bit more that constant retainer use may not allow happen.

[Snowglobe32]

They only way to keep your teeth from shifting is to wear your retainers. It should be life long retainer wear once the brackets come off.
I've worn my everyday since getting them off in August of 2013. Just make it apart of your life and your beautiful smile will be with you until the end.

And just because the ortho said you can go to part time wear, doesn't mean you can't wear them longer. I think what happens is people are told them can cut back on wear time... they do, then they end up not wearing them at all...don't be one of those people... and don't worry about having them shift back so soon. Enjoy your smile and wear your retainers!

[samoorelaw]

They only way to keep your teeth from shifting is to wear your retainers. It should be life long retainer wear once the brackets come off.
I've worn my everyday since getting them off in August of 2013. Just make it apart of your life and your beautiful smile will be with you until the end.

And just because the ortho said you can go to part time wear, doesn't mean you can't wear them longer. I think what happens is people are told them can cut back on wear time... they do, then they end up not wearing them at all...don't be one of those people... and don't worry about having them shift back so soon. Enjoy your smile and wear your retainers!

Wasn't sure if this post was directed to me or the original poster but my ortho specifically said that I'm wearing my retainers too much and that he wants me to switch to part time (10 hours) to see if my teeth will settle. Yesterday I had my upper retainer out for 14 hours and when I went to put it in before bed, it was very tight to the point of pain: lower retainer felt a tiny bit snug but no big deal.

So I'm going to wear the upper retainer for 12-14 hours and see if that will be better and then slowly taper down to 10: at the end of the day, only we really know our teeth and we have to be our own orthodontist at a certain point.

[mapleleafman888]

I got my braces off 2 months ago for a deep bite and a bit of an open bite on the back right side, my teeth were close to touching at the time of removal of braces but now I'm starting to notice my right side uppers are shifting back up and opening up...I've worn my retainer 24/7 minus eating and brushing. Starting to wonder if I'm going to have to get braces again. Argh.

Hopefully things work out well for you. Good luck.

[Snowglobe32]

Samoorelaw~ my comments were just general, not to anyone in particular... but I find it interesting that he said you are wearing your retainers too much.

So, if the plan is for your teeth to settle.. you wear the retainers less... when you put them back in, they are snug...how is that going to help your teeth settle?

I know the teeth will settle on their own but I don't think the settling should effect the retainer.

Are you going back for a retainer once the teeth have settled? I guess I don't know how wearing retainers less, which will cause them to move a bit...then putting retainers back in and they are snug because they teeth may have shifted...isn't that like a back and forth tug of war? Do we want the teeth to be in constant tug of war? He may know what he is talking about and I may have no clue... I would ask for clarification and then share because I am very interested.

How long did you wear them? What were your issues? These answers might be why you can wear the retainers less.

[Snowglobe32]

Mapleleafman888~ what kind of retainer are you wearing?

I have read that an essix could cause an open bite to reappear because you can't necessarily close your teeth together when wearing one. I didn't have an open bite, I had a cross-bite so maybe I am wrong.

What has your ortho said regarding retainer wear?

[samoorelaw]

Samoorelaw~ my comments were just general, not to anyone in particular... but I find it interesting that he said you are wearing your retainers too much.

So, if the plan is for your teeth to settle.. you wear the retainers less... when you put them back in, they are snug...how is that going to help your teeth settle?

I know the teeth will settle on their own but I don't think the settling should effect the retainer.

Are you going back for a retainer once the teeth have settled? I guess I don't know how wearing retainers less, which will cause them to move a bit...then putting retainers back in and they are snug because they teeth may have shifted...isn't that like a back and forth tug of war? Do we want the teeth to be in constant tug of war? He may know what he is talking about and I may have no clue... I would ask for clarification and then share because I am very interested.

How long did you wear them? What were your issues? These answers might be why you can wear the retainers less.

Braces were removed 8 months ago and I've worn my retainers full time ever since: I had a Lefort I upper jaw surgery to fix my underbite. I relapsed 3 weeks after braces removal so we put them back on for 3 months to fix the posterior open bite only to relapse again: he thinks my upper teeth (the six remaining uncrowned teeth) are so worn down that contact can't be achieved without getting 6 more crowns or onlays to build them up.

Funny thing is, I didn't even have a posterior open bite until after the surgery and braces. My understanding is the retainers I get next week are my final retainers. No idea why wearing the retainers less will allow them to settle in more but that's what he said.

Will probably go the onlay/crown route but he wants me to wait at least the 6 months to see if the teeth are finished settling. before getting any further work done. It never ends...

[mapleleafman888]

Mapleleafman888~ what kind of retainer are you wearing?

I have read that an essix could cause an open bite to reappear because you can't necessarily close your teeth together when wearing one. I didn't have an open bite, I had a cross-bite so maybe I am wrong.

What has your ortho said regarding retainer wear?

it's an essix...he said wear it 24.7 for 8 months then go to night time wear forever.

[bbsadmin]

I had an open bite (4 teeth removed with braces -- that was 10 years ago). I had worn my retainer diligently until last year, when I was having various problems that prevented me from wearing it for almost 6 months in a row. Yes, the teeth shifted and the bottom retainer was extremely tight -- so tight that I was afraid to force it. I went back to my orthodontist. He said that it was OK -- just start wearing it again (even though it was extremely tight at first). After about a week of wearing it nonstop, I switched to wearing it only at night. Soon it was fine again. I've been wearing every night ever since.

So it just proves that yes, if you stop wearing it for a period of time, your teeth WILL shift! I was lucky that it wasn't too long, and although the retainer was tight, within a few weeks everything was back to normal again.

[plugnickel69]

I don't understand why more orthos don't use fixed retainers whenever possible to complement the removable ones.

[BracedSurgeryStudent]

a year.