Since the bottom retainer only cover front six teeth...

[timbra]

I am 29 and had my braces removed in March. The braces were put on because of TMD issues and I had upper and lower jaw surgery also. Currently the teeth fit together and align perfectly but I am always worried about them moving. I have a permanent upper retainer and lower retainer for the front six teeth. I also have a wrap around hawley retainer for the upper teeth that allows my teeth to still occlude properly while wearing it. I was thinking tonight that my upper teeth will not be able to move because every tooth in the arch is held in place by something. However with the lower teeth the permanent retainer only cover the front six teeth and there is no removeable retainer for the rest of them like with the uppers. This seems to be standard practice but what is to stop my lower molars and adjacent lowerr teeth from moving? Do rear lower teeth not move as much? Or do the upper teeth rear teeth help hold them in place because they fit together? I am very curious about this!

Thank you!

[rhomboid]

Good question and it does appear to be standard practice; I asked an assistant that same question she said that the lower posteriors just don't move. I would like to hear the answer to this from one of the Doctors.

[Rach44]

I'm also wondering about this. When my braces come off (a long time from now) I'll be getting a bonded/permanent retainer on my bottom teeth only. I'm concerned that I won't have some sort of supplemental retainer for my back teeth to prevent them from shifting. I'm also worried that the bonded retainer will break and I won't have a removeable retainer to temporarily wear until I can get it fixed. I know I still have a long time before I'm in retainers considering I have 27 months left in braces, but it's still something I think about often.

[Lynette]

Not having anything to support my back teeth is one of the reasons I am back in braces again.

The last time I had braces I got bonded retainers top and bottom. A couple of years later the back teeth started shifting because nothing was keeping them in their place. It didn't bother me because they were at the back and you couldn't see that they had shifted when I smiled.

Then my bottom retainer fell out and I didn't bother to get a new one. That's when the bottom front teeth started to shift and here I am again in braces.

Some people are lucky and their teeth just anchor into the new positions, but some people (like me) have teeth that will always want to shift.

[Jethro]

I had braces removed 2 weeks ago and received permanent retainers on top and bottom, as well as an essix for the bottom and a hawley for the top. This was my 2nd time in braces and my posterior teeth required correction due to crowding and rotations that had occurred over time. My ortho didn't want to take any chances with potential relapse (and I greatly appreciate that).

I find it a bit ironic that all these retainers are far bulkier and more annoying than the braces, but it's all part of the process...lol !

[rhomboid]

I don't disagree, getting used to a top only Hawley retainer is difficult at first, but braces were at first too. I can almost but not exactly talk normal now after a month.

[timbra]

What is an essix retainer for the bottom? I have permanent retainers for both the bottom and top upper six teeth and then a permanent hawley wrap around retainer for the back teeth that I literally cannot feel is in there except for the plastic on the roof of my mouth. I made the original post. Also, my ortho did something very smart! He said that a lot of people develop tongue posture issues which we had already worked very hard to correct because the soft plastic creates a smooth surface and the tongue doesn't know where to place itself since it has no reference point! This happened to his wife and opened her bite up. What he did was take his cutting device and made several small grooves in the proper place on the retainer so that now my tongue has a reference point and it always wants to go there while in my mouth. My orthodontists work with 50 percent adult patients and work with people with TMJ problems all the time so they do know what they are doing.

Still, I want to know what the bottom essix retainer is! Should I request one be made?

I suggest everyone get the tongue reference point thing done.

If your ortho doesn't know how to do it and wants to contact mine to find out how to do it properly then contact me.

Also my ortho is one of the best in the DFW area and my Oral surgeon was the absolute best in the DFW area and they both knew each other and worked well together. They are also both on the D Magazine Dental list. So if you need a great ortho or oral surgeon contact me and let me know.

Still please let me know about this special bottom retainer.

Also, sorry for my grammar and punctuation as I am doing this on a smart phone.

[Lynette]

An essix retainer is just a clear plastic retainer that covers all of your teeth. I guess it's kind of like a really thin plastic mouth guard, but instead of protecting your teeth, it keeps them straight.

Go to google images and type in essix retainer and you will see what I mean