Fixed Retainers After Linguals

Discussions relating to Lingual Braces (behind-the-teeth) only, such as iBraces and LingualCare.

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iob
Posts: 97
Joined: Mon Aug 17, 2015 9:58 am

Fixed Retainers After Linguals

#1 Post by iob »

Normally, I guess these posts go in the Naked Tooth section, but I figured it's more specific to lingual braces and anyone doing linguals will catch it here and probably miss it there by the time you switch from braces to retention. Sorry for the long post.

As you might guess, I was incredibly happy to get the braces off last month! Everything turned out great even though it went a little over the original time estimate. They put permanent retainer wires on both the top and bottom, which I think is pretty common. I also have clear essix retainers, which seems like overkill, but they only need to be worn at night. Maybe the permanent wire eliminates the need to wear the essix retainers 24/7 initially. If so, that's a good trade off.

After having lingual brackets, the retainer wire feels like nothing and took no time to get used to. I'm not sure if people that have regular braces take some time to get used to the feeling of having something fixed to the back of their teeth.

The only difference between the two permanent retainers is that the top one is only attached at the canines while the lower one is attached to each tooth. Coming from linguals this means that flossing the top is now so much easier because you just thread it above the wire once and then you can slide it across from one tooth to the next. Much faster. Unfortunately, flossing the lower ones in the front is the same as before because you still have to re-thread each time, just like when you have a bracket on the back of each tooth. At least you're used to it, and since it's only six teeth (five gaps) it's still faster. Threading behind is probably a new skill to be learned by people coming from regular braces.

Having the bottom wire attached to each tooth makes it bulkier along the inside surface compared to the top, but I don't think it sticks out any further than the lingual brackets. It's hard to really tell because everything feels different and "less" with all of the brackets off, and I always thought that the lingual brackets were pretty small and smooth anyway. I wonder if I'd still have an occasional lisp at the end of the day if the top wire were also cemented to the back of each tooth. Probably not since there's so much less going on with just a retainer wire.

Regardless of what kind of bracket someone had previously, I'm sure they're excited and relieved to transition to just a retainer. It just seems that if you've had linguals it's probably an even easier switch. Good luck when you get there! Really happy with the result, and to be done!

FlyByNight
Posts: 208
Joined: Sat Mar 18, 2017 11:07 am

Re: Fixed Retainers After Linguals

#2 Post by FlyByNight »

Congrats on getting them off! I don't have bonded retainers, just the Essix, but I've considered getting the bonded one on the top out of fear that my gap will open again.

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