Retention after surgery?

[bracesland2000]

I'm wondering so I've gone through braces and surgery. How long must I be in a retainer for and why is there this huge range? Some folks seem to go straight to night-time wear, others seem to have to wear retainers for a year or more ALL day - finally there's the fixed option.

I have a fixed lower already, but have been hesitant to have an upper fixed placed, because you have to wear an upper retainer anyway at night I am struggling to see the necessity for it other than the complications of it possibly breaking and causing way more inconvenience in cleaning, but if it really is vital who am I to say anything?

Are patients after jaw surgery somehow different than other ortho patients? I'm over 8 months out now. I have clear plastics and a bottom fixed. Ideally I'd just wear this upper plastic at night, maybe 12 hours a day and then go the other 12 normal style. I've been wearing this upper thing all day for a month, another 5 months of it will indeed feel very long, especially because i didn't end up with a particularly good bite anyway and if i were wearing this thing could probably be using that time to get retreated with invisalign or something.

[keeponsmiling]

I don't have any answers I'm afraid, but I do agree with you the whole issue of retainers seems a complete mystery. I know I will need one after surgery, and I will wear it 'more hours than not' for the first few weeks/months, then gradually reduce it to night time only. I asked about permanent retainers but the surgeon seemed to think they weren't such a good idea in terms of hygiene, though not out of the question. I didn't get round to asking whether the 'nighttime only' type was something that I'd need forever. I was under the impression that one of the main reasons for surgery was that the resulting tooth position was stable, whereas if you just straighten teeth with braces then within a few days of having them removed your teeth start to revert to their old positions. But if that's the case, then what's the point of retainers at all? Like you say, you may as well just get invisalign. It's very confusing. Hope someone who's already had surgery can shed some light.

[amyD]

have the same question... is this answered anywhere ?

[jsb350]

I had double jaw surgery in Dec, 2010, coming up on a year ago. I had my braces removed in July, 2011, and I was supposed to have a fixed wire glued to the inside of my front four teeth on both top and bottom, and additionally wear a retainer on top. Instead, at my request, they made clear splints that fit over all of my teeth for both top and bottom that I wear 12 hours a day (at night).

Being an engineer, from what I can understand, the idea with either of these approaches is to keep the teeth in a stable orientation and prevent them from shifting around. As was mentioned in the second post, the teeth naturally want to shift back to their "natural" state, so these devices keep them from doing that.

What I've gathered from talking to various orthodontists and dentists in the past year is that the splint approach works just as well as a fixed/glued device such as wires and retainers, however only if the user of them is diligent to wear them as much as they're supposed to. Because you remove them each day, its easy to lose interest and stop using them over time, and this is the downside. On the other hand, being able to remove them makes it great from a brushing and flossing perspective.

[RMF7825]

Teeth want to return to their presurgery position. Retention is, for many people, maybe all, a lifetime issue. The pros/cons mentioned of permanant retention such as difficulty cleaning but not having to think to put them in etc. are things to think about. Some surgeons want patients who have had TMJ issues to have tooth to tooth contact after surgery so this would rule out the plastic retainers since they cover your teeth. This leaves the wire retainers and the permantant bonded ones.