Metal Mouth Message Board

I am curious as to why some people are given bonded permanent retainers AND removables, JUST one or the other, and sometimes both essix and hawleys.

I know that all orthos do things differently but I'm surprised at the differences I see just reflected here at this site. A good percentage of people here seem to have been given both, which really makes me wonder why my ortho didn't give me both initially. Then when reading all the comments about how bondeds can come loose without you even knowing bothered me even more - in fact, I have some tiny spaces opening up on my lower - AND I HAVE A BONDED RETAINER. I don't know what's going on with that at all, my ortho said it was still attached fine but then what would cause the spaces?

Is this just a matter of every ortho does it differently or is there some certain 'gold standard' that is not happening? I'd also heard that types of retention and possibly length of full time use is also dependent on how much moving occurred.

My original treatment plan called for me to come away with Essix retainers. Due to sever crowding on my lower arch, my ortho was afraid that my teeth might shift even with proper retainer wear and, towards the end of treatment, recommended that I consider a bonded retainer on the lower arch in addition to the Essix.

I also have a Hawley for the top but that is only because I needed to have a tooth extracted and a temp-bridge put in place immediately after getting my braces off and she and my dentist felt that a Hawley would be more accommodating to that than the Essix.

I was given a bonded lower and an upper hawley, and my ortho said nothing about a lower hawley or essix. My teeth were very crowded and rotated before so it just surprised me. My ortho now says he wants to give me an essix after treatment - at least that's in the plan, but I would prefer a bonded too, for both arches if it will work. I'll just keep my upper hawley.