Orthodonic Retainer Advice

[dairyou]

Hi,

Both of my kids have had their braces off for 2 or so years. I can't get them to wear their retainers every night.

My question is: For those of you who were lazy teens and did the same, did your teeth move back to where they were originally? Can you tell the difference? The orthodontist tells me they should wear it forever at bedtime.

I'm tired of nagging them...plus who wants to remind their kids about their retainer at 40 years old

Deb

 

[Lisa_M]

DH never really wore his and he says his teeth have not shifted back. I didn't have braces, but my teeth are shifting, so I have a retainer to keep them where they were. I have the hardest time wearing it. I wake up at night and gag, it's terrible. I don't blame your kids for not wanting to wear it.

 

[clh2]

Hi,

Both of my kids have had their braces off for 2 or so years. I can't get them to wear their retainers every night.

My question is: For those of you who were lazy teens and did the same, did your teeth move back to where they were originally? Can you tell the difference? The orthodontist tells me they should wear it forever at bedtime.

I'm tired of nagging them...plus who wants to remind their kids about their retainer at 40 years old

Deb

Their teeth will move back. Just tell your kids that if they refuse to wear their retainers, their teeth will move back. Next set of braces is on their dime, not yours.

Luckily - my DD hasn't had an issue with retainers!

 

[linda0706]

Yes! Yes! Yes!

I wore braces for 3 years during high school. I wore my retainer half-heartedly (is that a word?) for maybe 1 year. My teeth have shifted back nearly to where they started. I'm even strongly considering getting braces again because my front bottom 2 teeth are so crowded.

What about a permament retainer? It's a cemented wire around the backside of the teeth. Maybe at least have it in for a few years? (If my kids ever need braces I'm going to gently insist they get this done.)

Good luck with it. One day many years from now they'll WISH they listened to their mother. I know I do.

 

[dairyou]

Their teeth will move back. Just tell your kids that if they refuse to wear their retainers, their teeth will move back. Next set of braces is on their dime, not yours.

Luckily - my DD hasn't had an issue with retainers!

I've tried to tell them that but they really don't are at this age. Ugh...

Their teeth are so beautiful.

 

[AshleyW]

Yup. I wore braces for 4 (!!!) years, 8th-11th grades. My teeth were super crowded. I wrote my retainer for about a year.. maybe less. They're not back to where they were, but my bottom front teeth are definitely crooked and 2 of my top teeth (the ones next to my front teeth) are sliding behind my front teeth. It's not bad, but I definitely wish I would have stuck it out with the retainer for a couple more years.

 

[tinkgurl]

I've had my retainer for years now. I give myself a break on Friday and Saturday nights. When I put it back in on Sunday night, I already notice a difference! They definately need to wear their retainer every night until they get older and can take a break from it a night or two.

 

[Imzadi]

I never wore my retainer, not even once. One front tooth shifted back about 5 years later. I got thick bonding over the tooth so it would be aligned with the rest.

I'm in my forties now and the other top teeth have been shifting & crowding. It has ruined the alignment of my bottom teeth, too, now. My perfectly aligned teeth from 3 years of braces is totally gone. I got laminates a few months ago to cosmetically cover a couple teeth and correct the top alignment. That cost $3500. The cosmetic dentist/orthodontist gave me an Invisalign retainer to stop the teeth from further shifting and moving.

I love the Invisalign retainer. For me, I only have to put it in a few nights a month, when I feel my teeth start to want to shift again - probably for the rest of my life. If I get a couple thousand dollars, I may go for full Invisalign braces to push my teeth back into place and correct the crowding already done.

It would have been simpler if I had just wore my retainer when I was supposed to. I thought I was smarter than the dentist. I didn't wear my retainer. I wasn't smart, only a smart alec.

 

[Mom21]

My dd had horrible teeth. For some reason they ended up straightening up decently. SHe has seen an orthodontist since she was 6. He monitored her and had a few teeth pulled. At 10 or so she only needed a retainer on the bottom for 6 months. She now has a permanent retainer on her bottom teeth. Never need to worry if she put it in or lost it. Not sure but maybe you can talk to the ortho about that. My dd's teeth are gorgeous at almost 13yo.

 

[themilesfamily]

I had braces in early-adolescence. I repeatedly lost my retainer and rarely wore it.

At 26 I had to have braces put back on for about a year and a half. It really sucked having braces as an adult.

I'm 41 now and am still wearing my retainer at night!! My DH thinks my retainer is cute and my 5 year old DD thinks it's cool!

 

[dismom2]

I never wore the retainer and my teeth never moved back---they look great, and it's been over 20 years. After you finally get braces off, the last thing you feel like doing is wearing a retainer for who knows how long (did you say "forever"????).

 

[dbogen]

My DS wasn't wearing his retainer and his teeth shifted. I took him back in and they told him he had to wear the new ones for 2 weeks straight. He still isn't as good about wearing them at night. If I notice it has been a while, I make him wear them when he is home. It makes me the bad parent, but I didn't spend all that money for his teeth to go back where they were.

Our Ortho told us he needed to wear the retainers until he got out of college.

 

[Christine]

My daughter was very lax about wearing hers (those stupid little plastic ones which I hate). Her teeth shifted.

When my son got his braces off a few months ago, I made the ortho put a permanent retainer on the bottom. This will help the shifting even if they neglect to wear the top retainer. My son is a lot better about his retainer than my daughter and his teeth are doing well.

 

[Eeyore'sthebest]

I had a permanent retainer on my bottom teeth for over 10 years. Orthodontist said he likes to see how the patients have grown up when they come back to finally have it removed. And he said that most people don't come in until it breaks. I know that was the case with me. My bottom teeth have now shifted and I almost want to get new retainers but I'm 44 and don't really want to deal with it. But I do have to say that I had them until I was around 35. And I had my braces put on in 6th grade.

I would look into permanent retainers if I were you.

 

[Melrosgirl]

I wore my retainers until I was probably 30. My teeth haven't moved a ton. I did put them in recently and they were very tight, so I guess they moved a little bit. (It had been several years since I wore them last.)

I do know people who never wore them and it looks like need braces all over again.

I did have a permanent retainer (bottom) until I was 22 or so. Then I wore the temporary ones for another 8 years.

 

[crz4mm2]

I wore a retainer only as a kid (back in the day that braces were not readily available) and wore it out. It broke just before my wedding day. By a year later my teeth were almost back to the way they were before I started wearing it (HUGE gap between the front teeth- and 'bucky').
I had cosmetic filling done between the two front teeth for years to help hide the gap.
I had braces in 99. Wore them for only 9 months and the gap was gone, and bottom teeth straight. I STILL wear my retainers. Have had to replace the upper one as it broke last year.
I can not go without mine more than a night or so or it is hard to get back in. I can just see myself as an 80 yo still wearing my retainers!

 

[fakereadhed]

We waited until DD was 14 to get them but most of her friends started at 9. She watched them get their braces off at 13 and saw their teeth shift back. She wears hers every night because she doesn't want that to happen to her.

 

[MickeysMommy]

I am 34 and have had permanent retainers for about 15 years. I had them taken off about 2 years ago and my teeth started shifting - they were immediately put back on. I am not happy at all about them shifting after all this time because when I had them taken off my teeth were perfectly straight - now there is a little crooked-ness ... no one can tell but me but I am still upset about it.

Definitely invest in the permanent retainers.

 

[ZephyrHawk]

I had braces/retainers/headgear/elastics/you name it from 3rd grade through about 10th (yes, my teeth were really awful). I stopped wearing my retainer at night soon after my teeth were where they should be, despite my ortho's insistence that I wear one for life. In the 15 or so years since then, my top teeth (the ones you actually see on a person regularly) have not moved appreciably. My bottom teeth have moved a little, but you can't see it. I always get comments from my dentists about how lovely my teeth are.

 

[Pooh_Friend#1]

I had my braces taken off when I was in 7th grade. I wore my retainer until my senior year and a few months after I stopped wearing them my bottom teeth shifted.