Need a general consensus on permanent retainers

[fluffybottom]

It depends on your orthodontist. For example, my retention plan is: bonded retainer on the lower front six, night time wear of my removable retainers every night for the first year and then night time wear a few times a week for the rest of my life. Other people have to wear their removable retainers 24/7 for a period of time (I've seen weeks, months, even for the first year) before changing to night time wear.

The best thing would be to ask your orthodontist what his/her plan is, what your options are and the pros and cons of each.

Yeah I mean like I said, I have good few months left at the least. When I started getting into it with him one of the last times, he told me not to worry about all that at the immediate moment lol. I just wanted to start this thread to get some of your guys' opinions.....

Weird! My ortho told me about her plans for retention during my consultation -- although she didn't bring up the possibility of the permanent retainer until close to my debanding. But she did tell me about the nightly wear of the Essix retainers even before I had my braces on.

[alimommy1]

I still have a solid few months left, probably more like six. I know there are a couple threads back there where permanent retainers were discussed, however I'm looking for a solid general consensus on them. My ortho told me that he will have no problem fixing them on if that's what I want. The upside he says, is that it simply tends to retain your teeth a little better due to the fact that you can't take it off. The downside is that it is tough to clean back there. I remember on one of those threads that somebody linked to a brand that made it easy to clean. Anybody know what I'm talkin about? I imagine that technology is only improving....

Thanks peoples

I think bonded retainers are a great idea.... but I agree that a removable should be included. A bonded only keeps the front teeth stable, it does nothing to keep the rest of your bite correct, which can be a problem if you had really wonky teeth. I had a lower bonded for years and years and I still had some relapse.

I think you may be talking about the flossable retainers, I have no idea if my ortho does those or not. I think I WILL get a bonded again, after the removable I have tilts my teeth back up.... not sure. I really like being able to floss, I only used proxy brushes because threading floss where there was no space was kinda painful.

[alimommy1]

Soooooooo are you saying that generally you if get a permanent retainer you also wear a removable 24/7 (for the time necessary) or just at night??


Ugh, nothing is easy with this crap......

Heh... when I first got my braces off, my ortho said I didn't need more than the bonded, and then I was supposed to wear my other removable 24/7. Turns out I didn't - and that the bonded by itself wasn't enough. I've discovered there really is no consensus, different orthos and dentists will tell you different things.

Experience pretty much is... follow what your ortho says. If your teeth feel like they are shifting, then wear them more often, or as close to 24/7 as you can. Eventually you can cut down to just night and just pay attention to how tight they feel. I have seen everything from 'full time one week and then nights only' to 'full time for 2 years and then nights only' to 'wear them as much as possible for as long as you want your teeth to stay put' lol.

[Steph in Sac]

I only have a bonded retainer. If it matters--I'm 37 and had full braces from 13-16. I had a removable upper retainer that I stopped wearing shortly thereafter. My bottom teeth crowded, so I just had lowers for the last 9 months. My long-term plan is only for a bonded retainer behind my bottom 6 teeth--no removable.

Flossing for me is fine with the threaders except between two teeth. My contact is so tight, I can't even fit the threader through. The ortho jammed it in low in my gum, but I can't seem to accomplish that (or don't want to). They have flat threaders that I'm going to have to hunt down.

[jxds]

I wonder how do you floss with a bonded retainer? I just can't figure out how would that be possible but I'd love to find a way to floss!