The Importance of Wearing Retainers after Treatment
After all the effort and orthodontic appointments, the time has finally come when your child’s braces are coming off. Congratulations! Braces were the initial, and vital, first half of the treatment to ensure that your child has a lifetime of healthy, well positioned, and straight teeth. Now starts the second half of the treatment that will keep those beautiful teeth in their current condition for the rest of your child’s life; the retainer.
Here are some of the typical questions and answers that our patients from Covington, Mandeville, Metairie, Uptown, Franklinton, Ocean Springs, Harvey, and Pascagoula often want to know about retainers.
What is the use of a retainer? A
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This is a removable apparatus and, depending on your preference, you can choose from a variety of colors.
The Essix Retainer:
This type of retainer is clear and it fits over all of your teeth. Your individual retainer is formed from an impression of your teeth and it does not contain any wires or other metals. It is comfortable to wear and fits snugly around your teeth.
The Bonded Retainer:
This type of retainer involves cementing, or bonding, wires to the inside surface of your lower front and canine teeth. Because this style of a retainer is permanently fixed to your teeth, you need to take extra care when cleaning the wires.
Do I have to wear the retainer all the time?
If you have removable retainers, your orthodontist will instruct you on the amount of time that you’ll need to wear them. Generally, retainers are initially worn all the time, except for when you clean them or when you are eating. Your orthodontist will provide you with a personalized schedule for when you can alter the time required for wearing the retainer.
Are there any risks if I stop wearing the retainer?
If you do not follow the timetable your orthodontist prescribed, or if you completely stop wearing the retainer, you are taking the risk that your perfectly aligned teeth will start to shift back to their former condition. This is not something that you will want. Your orthodontist will evaluate your progress during your routine appointments
A treatment plan is created and in the next visit, brackets are cemented to each tooth and linked with an arch wire. The patient returns monthly for retightening and adjustments. At the end of treatment, the brackets are removed and replaced with plastic retainers. Some of the reasons why orthodontists choose traditional braces over Invisalign are credibility, cost and low level of patient compliance.
Shorter treatment times – Some patients have to wear braces for two years or longer. But Invisalign only takes about 12 to 18 months. Just be sure to wear your aligners for at least 20 hours a day to stay on your treatment timeline and to achieve optimal results.
Invisalign is regularly updating and improving the technology, and dentists and orthodontists who are not regularly staying informed on the improvements may have a more challenging time achieving the desired results.
Convenience – Invisalign Teen aligners are removable! This is great for making eating and cleaning easier for your child. However, the longer the aligners are out of your child’s mouth, the longer the treatment time will be. We recommend that your teen wears his or her aligners for at least 22 hours every day for optimum results.
For the first few months, my teeth felt so different from the lack of metal pressing against my lips. Afterwards, I got into the habit of taking off and putting on my retainer each day, and making sure I took
We offer a variety of high-quality dental services, including dental implants, dental veneers, crowns and bridges, Invisalign, teeth whitening, oral surgery procedures, and more. We also offer general and family dental services. We work hard to ensure that we can employ
You would be advancing to the next phase of your Invisalign treatment by wearing a new set of aligners approximately every two weeks apart. You will need only an occasional checkup to have your progress monitored by your doctor after every six weeks. With each new set of aligners, you would be nearing that perfect smile.
We recommend that the aligners are worn at least 22 hours each day, but they are removable for eating, cleanings, and for special occasions. Visit our service page to learn more about Invisalign.
Have you ever had braces to fix your teeth? They help make your teeth straight. They also make them look nice, so that they aren’t jagged. Orthodontists are the people who work to fix your teeth the way they are supposed to be arranged in your mouth.
Quite a few patients wonder if they really do require orthodontic treatment. They imagine that the problem is easily handled by a general dentist. First, it is important to remember that the orthodontist is a specialist that is educated and trained to treat a number of teeth alignment problems. A general dentist does not have the training required to perform more complicated teeth alignment problems. Clearly, orthodontic treatment is required if you have any of the following problems.
Here, like any other professionals, the orthodontists too have different opinions to carry on a suitable treatment for you. However, these treatment procedures can affect
Once the teeth have been realigned using braces or headgear, your orthodontist may recommend using a retainer so that the realigned teeth do not begin to draft back to their original positions. Retainers are usually worn for a few months or until the bone underneath the teeth has reformed into the correct position.
Although having braces is a big privilege that will allow your child to have straight teeth, it is also a big responsibility for you a young child. Hear are three ways you can help your child manage this large responsibility.
many cases, orthodontic treatment is a necessity. In other cases of minor alignment treatment, it may just be one of many options.
The biggest problem is if you have a preexisting dental implant. An implant cannot be moved, and could cause the Invisalign process to not be completely effective. Your orthodontist will be able to look at the placement of your existing implant, and determine if it needs to be moved. If the implant can stay where it is at, you may still be a good candidate for receiving Invisalign.