Retainers After Braces

Need Retainers After Braces?

Yes, you do. If you are so patient to get the braces done, might as well spend the time in wearing retainers. From all of the other answerers' testimonies you know by now that if you don’t use retainers, there will be a relapse. So, don’t let the time, money and energy invested in the treatment go to waste.

Why do you need the retainers?

If you ever saw a diagram of a tooth you would notice that a tooth is held inside the socket of the bone. However, there are delicate fiber like tissue called the periodontal ligaments that hold the teeth into proper position. Those ligaments allow certain physiological (within normal limit) movement when we chew food. In other words, produces a cushion like effect.

That is exactly why the braces work. If teeth were fused to the bone, no tooth movement could be achieved. So, braces achieve that desired effect by pulling or pushing the teeth in a planned way. All the while, those ligaments on one side get compressed and the opposite side get stretched.

Interesting fact is that these ligaments come with own memory like the muscle fibers or a rubber band or a titanium spring. If you let it go, it will have a tendency to go back to its original position. On the other hand, if you hold it in the new position long enough, it will lose the memory and stay at that final position. That is why even after getting done with the braces, you do need to get retainers.

What kind of Retainers After Braces are most widely used?

Many people get the removable retainers that you use mainly at night. The problem with those is if you go on a trip and forget to take those with you, you’re doomed. By the time you come back and try to put those in, your teeth have already shifted and those do not go in anymore….talking about disaster!

Is there any way around it?

Yes. Some orthodontists these days use a wire retainer that can be bonded on the back side of the bottom front teeth. Those are not very obvious. You should look into that. You can get that placed and forget about everything else.

If you check, you’ll see that your top teeth always overlap the bottom teeth, and the fact is that teeth mostly have a tendency to shift to the front. So, once you get the lingual wire retainer in the lower anterior region, the back bottom teeth stay fixed in their position. Also, because the top front teeth rest on the bottom teeth front teeth, they remain stable. The rest of the top teeth don’t shift by the same mechanism described for the bottom back teeth.

Should you get charged for the Retainers after Braces?

No, it is a standard practice. Therefore, the total cost of the orthodontic treatment should include the cost for the retainer.

Note: Sometimes if your teeth are rotated and braces move it the other way (i.e., de-rotate it), the orthodontist may have to resects the periodontal ligament fibres to prevent relapse on top of inserting a retainer. Otherwise, relapse may become inevitable.