Retention

When we remove your braces, we will begin the retention stage of your treatment. Typically, we ask you to wear the retainers full-time for two months, followed by nighttime wear. Your final orthodontic result depends on your retainers, so follow through with the hard work you’ve put in so far. Remember to remove your retainer before brushing, and brush your retainer before placing it back in your mouth.

This Phase of Your Care is Very important, so Please Follow Our Instructions Carefully!

IF YOU REMOVE YOUR RETAINER FOR ANY REASON, IT MUST BE PLACED IN THE RETAINER CASE WE PROVIDED FOR YOU

  1. Retainers are full-time appliances, which means 24 hours each day until Dr. Dean instructs you to wear them less hours.
  2. There are different types of retainers. An acrylic and wire (Hawley) retainer can be worn while eating. A clear retainer (Tratain) that covers the eating surfaces of the teeth should be removed while eating. It takes only a few days of wearing them full-time to get used to it. The proper care of the retainer is the patient’s responsibility. No retainer breaks if it is being worn properly. The cost to replace a retainer varies.
  3. The plastic taste found in the new appliance disappears quickly. It may make you salivate more than usual at first, and it may make speaking difficult for the first day or so.
  4. The only way to clean your retainer is by brushing it with your tooth brush and some tooth paste, and then rinsing it thoroughly with water. When you remove your retainer, massage the roof of your mouth with your toothbrush. Please do not attempt to clean your retainer by boiling it or soaking it in any solution, this will destroy your retainer.
  5. Do not wear your retainer when swimming in the ocean or at the lake. We have had a lot of patients go water skiing or surfing and consequently lose their retainer when falling. If you are swimming in a pool where you can see the bottom, it is fine to wear the retainer.
  6. If you have a fixed direct bond retainer, you will need to be cautious of the foods you eat. It is important that you continue to avoid biting into hard foods, such as carrots, apples, celery, etc. The areas around the bonded retainer need to be brushed thoroughly and flossed daily to avoid plaque build-up.
  7. Although we are not attempting to move teeth at this time, we are controlling how the teeth “settle in” to their final permanent position. If you are lazy or careless at this time, you will waste much of the hard work that you’ve done up until now. The possible relapse could be severe enough to require placing all or part of the braces again!
  8. Tooth position is constantly changing, this is a normal thing—it happens to all of us, even if we have never worn braces. In order to keep the teeth in their new position, a retainer(s) must be worn for a period of time. Just how long a retainer is worn will be left to the patient after a year. For patients long finished with treatment, occasional retainer wear or a watchful eye is generally recommended to ensure teeth do not move. Like anything else, retainers do not last forever. If old ones need to be replaced, a fee will be charged.