Retainers
Keep Your New Bright Smile
So you've put in all that work getting your new bright smile, including getting your teeth whitened, and now it's time to show it off! We get it! But we want it to be permanent. After your braces or clear aligners have done their job, retainers help keep your smile in place. These low-maintenance appliances easily slip onto your teeth at the roof of your mouth, providing the necessary support to maintain the shape your teeth achieved throughout your treatment with braces or clear aligners.
Why Are Retainers Necessary?
Braces are needed to achieve the significant correction of your smile shape initially, as the severity of the necessary movement is high with any smile. As effective as braces are, your teeth will still have an immediate tendency to shift to their original position for as long as 18 months they're removed. This is where retainers come in. While significant movement is no longer necessary, retainers simply keep the position of your teeth in place while your bones are solidifying and developing. After all, you've just put in so much time and effort to get that bright smile. To see it reversed would be a tragedy!
What Are Retainers Anyway?
Retainers themselves aren't terribly complicated appliances. They're simply a fitted plastic device, manufactured specific to the bite shape of each patient, designed to slip over your teeth and hold them in place. We'll take an impression of your new smile, and using that, the retainer is created in that exact shape. Then, we trim and smooth the edges of the plastic so you don't experience any rubbing, scratching or discomfort when wearing it. We'll go through a trial & error period where you'll try it on and let us know if it's sitting improperly or hurting anywhere, which we'll fix with further shaping. Once it feels comfortable for you and sits how we need it to, you're ready to go!
Do I Have To Wear My Retainer?
Based on your treatment, Bright Orthodontics recommends a certain amount of time that you should wear your retainer full-time - typically 12-18 months. Don't worry, you can take it out to eat, brush, participate in sports, or anything else like that. But this full-time application really allows your teeth to set in their new position and maintain that bright smile you've just worked so hard to get. Afterward, you’ll switch to wearing it at night. If you skip a few days, slight shifting may occur, but extended gaps can lead to major shifts, possibly requiring braces or even a mouth widening treatment with a mouth expander tool.. But extended periods of time without it will lead to your teeth shifting beyond the retainer's fit, and may require braces again or clear aligners, like Invisalign.
How Do I Take Care Of My Retainer?
Ideally, your retainer will stick around with you for years to come so you can keep that bright smile. But to do that, you'll need to take care of it and keep it clean. Some things to keep in mind when caring for your retainer:
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Remove To Eat - Not only can food lead to plaque build up and hygiene issues with your retainer, certain foods can damage it. The shape of your retainer is exact, and damaging it could limit its ability to keep your smile looking like it should.
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Keep It Clean - You can clean your retainer by brushing it with toothpaste and a tooth brush, just like you do your own teeth. Baking soday or denture cleaner can be an option once you're able to only wear it at night.
