Metal Mouth Message Board

Hi Guys,

I'm getting my braces off next week and I have been reading through this section of the site and was just wondering what determines what kind of retainer you get. Is it an individual thing depending on your case and treatment or does it depend on what your orthodontist uses/prefers? Do you have any say in what retainer you end up with?

Thanks in advance

~serendipity~

Hi Serendipity. Congrats on your up coming debanding. My orthodontist likes to use the Hawley retainer. That was good, because that is what I wanted. That being said, he would not give me a lower Hawley, said that most people would not wear them as they were bulky. He put a permanent retainer on my lower teeth. But I also have to note that he places all his patients in bite positioners at the end of braces to fine tune everthing. Even at 3 months, I am wearing it every other day for an hour just to make sure things stay put. Without the positoner, I think I would have had to have something in addition to the permanent retainer on the bottom.

Enjoy your son to be new found freedom.