Welcome to the new you! You have worked hard to have a healthy and beautiful smile. Now you must maintain what you have created. Retainers are critical to the success and stability of your orthodontic results. Here are some reminders about retainer wear and care.
- Unless otherwise instructed by the doctor, wear your retainer day and night for at least three months.
- Take it out to eat, brush your teeth and play sports where there is a chance that they will be knocked out of your mouth.
- After three months of full-time wear, you should be able switch to night-only wear. It is recommended that the retainer be worn every night for at least another nine months. After a year, it may be possible to wear the retainer less often, such as three to four times a week. Remember that everyone is different and requires varying amount of retainer wear.
- A general rule: if your retainer fits more tightly when you skip a day, then you still need to wear it every night. All teeth, both those treated with braces and those without, will continue to move during your lifetime. Because teeth are never completely stable, some people will need to wear a retainer every night for years to keep their teeth in the position where they were when the braces were taken off.
- If you stop wearing your retainer altogether, then your teeth will move. If you want to move them back to their original position there will be an incurred cost for retreatment. Please wear your retainer!
- If you lose, break or stop wearing your retainer for any reason, please contact us right away so that we may determine an appropriate course of action. Otherwise, your teeth may begin to shift.
- There is a replacement fee for lost, broken or improperly fitting retainers due to lack of wear and neglect of proper care.
- When you are not wearing your retainer, keep it in your retainer case and place it in your pocket, purse, backpack, etc. Retainers placed in napkins or on food trays will get thrown away eventually. Pockets are not a safe place for retainers.
- Your pets will enjoy a retainer more than any human ever could. A dog’s mouth is not a safe place for a retainer.
- To clean your retainer, simply use a toothbrush and toothpaste as you would for your teeth. Do not place a retainer in boiling water, the dishwasher, or any other heat source, as it will distort the plastic. Household cleaners and colored mouth rinses may discolor or erode the plastic.
- The normal retainer check-up appointment schedule is: six weeks, six months and 12 months after the braces are removed. Bring your retainer to all visits. After one year following braces removal, the retainer check-ups will be at your discretion. There will be a small office visit fee for check-ups after this point.