preview

The Importance Of Wearing Retainers After Treatment

Decent Essays

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 …show more content…

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

Get Access