Hawley wire not touching teeth

[francis29]

I have been debraced for 2 1/2 months, and my lower Hawley has been excellent; wire touches teeth.

I had an upper Essix and it broke in half as I was cleaning it after 8 weeks, so we made a Hawley. I didn't want another Essix as it was bad for my bite and hurt my back molars and it broke after 8 weeks.

This past Wednesday after 2 weeks with no upper retainer I picked up my Hawley and was shocked that after 2 weeks without a retainer it fit and didn't hurt at all.

Today, 3 days after I got it I noticed the wire doesn't touch any of my top teeth, at all. Maybe a little tiny bit where the bows touch the canines but that is it. How could my orthodontist have said it 'fit perfectly' and sent me on my way on Wednesday? How is the retainer working if the wire is not touching my teeth at all?

Are my teeth even being 'retained' if the wire is not touching them? The plastic behind the teeth feels snug and fine and the palate part of it fits fine, just not the wire part of it. The ortho had me put it in, he looked at it and said its good and I didn't realize it wasn't touching the teeth until today.

TIA

Frances

[Labguy]

The acrylic behind the front teeth are keeping them stable, but the wire should be touching. Make an appointment for the ortho to have them adjust it. It is a simple fix. Your ortho may not have even realized it was not touching. Good luck!

[francis29]

Thank you labguy, I am sure the ortho didn't even notice and it just barely don't touch the teeth, and even I didn't even realize the wasn't touching until yesterday morning and being a 'mature' patient in braces/retainers and obsessing over my teeth all the time I was really surprised I didn't see it. The acrylic behind fits perfectly as does the palate so I'm glad the wire part will be an easy fix.