Metal Mouth Message Board

Am I the only one that prefers ,my Hawley retainer to my Essix retainer? Even though the Hawley is larger and totally screws up my speech.

Just curious how insane I am compared to everyone else.

Thanks

Hold that thought, let's compare notes in a month... I previously had both and thinking back preferred the Hawley too. It was more comfortable and versatile and seemed a lot more robust.

Not my story, but my son's. He was started off with an Essix, but he's a grinder at night so went clear through it in a matter of weeks. Switched to a traditional Hawley with slight build up behind the front teeth so his molars can't connect while he sleeps. Still going strong all these years later. I've read that the wires on a Hawley can be adjusted slightly to compensate for movement and correction so those are the kind I'll be getting when I'm done. Which is a while because a I'm only on day 4.

The jury is still out with me. I like the Essix as they are comfortable, discreet and appear to hold the teeth in the correct position well but I also like the Hawley as they appear more 'life proof', robust and hard wearing. I have both types of retainers, as well as fixed retainers, as I often travel and taking the Essix in and out when a bathroom and clean water is hard to come by is a pain so the Hawley can just stay in and a quick swish with bottled water does the job well. I think the Essix will keep my teeth in the correct position for longer so this is probably my retainer of choice for the long term night time wear but if I'm away, the Hawley is a great solution.

I'm 100% Hawley on the top. The Essix was allowing too much arch collapse if that makes sense. On the bottom still original Essix but hope to swtich to Hawley in a week or two.

when you get a Hawley, does it consist of a piece for the top and a piece for the bottom? I've never seen a bottom Hawley, so I just don't know. Can any Hawley wearer's tell me? thanks!

Lorianne wrote:when you get a Hawley, does it consist of a piece for the top and a piece for the bottom? I've never seen a bottom Hawley, so I just don't know. Can any Hawley wearer's tell me? thanks!

Hi, yes, it is a separate appliance that works in a similar way. My lower Hawley is slightly more uncomfortable than the top one but appears to be effective in keeping everything in place.

Pretty much looks like mine. But I am the opposite. It doesn't affect my speech at all, and much less annoying than the top retainer.

Pretty much looks like mine. But I am the opposite. It doesn't affect my speech at all, and much less annoying than the top retainer.

oldfart wrote:Pretty much looks like mine. But I am the opposite. It doesn't affect my speech at all, and much less annoying than the top retainer.

I think if I wore it full time for a while and actually spoke to people with it in I would get used to it so much faster. Maybe I should challenge myself to full time wear for a few weeks to see how I get on. Maybe I can ask my ortho to permanently attach it for a while!

Prefer the Hawley: my ortho charges the same as for an Essix ($150 per retainer), is more durable, can close small gaps in teeth when the wire is adjusted, and provides more stability for jaw surgery patients, especially those who had upper arch expansion. Plus with Essix, it can prevent the teeth from erupting and settling.

So I'll be getting the wraparound Hawleys again along with a positioner to hopefully prevent any posterior-open-bite relapse this time.

I had my Hawley replaced with an Essix after one week and find it way harder to take off and replace. That makes me feel they might hold teeth better. Otherwise, I prefer the Hawley so far.

Right now I have a hawley on the bottom and an essix on top. Coming up on 5-6 weeks debanded in this set up. I am not digging the essix at all. I don't like the bulky plastic covering my tooth surface preventing my lower teeth from touching the bottom teeth. I think this is making me clench, so I've had constant headaches in these retainers. I see my ortho next week for a retainer check and I think I am going to ask him to switch me to a hawley on the top too. Over all I think it's more comfortable and I really hope I'll clench less if my teeth are touching without that damn plastic in between!

I thought maybe I was crazy for preferring the hawley, but seems like lots of others do too!

RE: more stable after jaw surgery. This is another reason I wanted to ask about the hawley. While I wasn't a 3 piece lefort, I did get widening through ortho. I saw 5-6mm expansion via TPA, so if the hawley is more stable to hold the wider arch, then I for sure want to go with that. I am surprised my ortho didn't go straight for it for that reason. I actually questioned him a long time ago when we did the TPA expansion about possible relapse of the expansion and how it would be retained. He didn't seem too worried about it. I'll talk with him more about it next week.

LyraM45 wrote:Right now I have a hawley on the bottom and an essix on top. Coming up on 5-6 weeks debanded in this set up. I am not digging the essix at all. I don't like the bulky plastic covering my tooth surface preventing my lower teeth from touching the bottom teeth. I think this is making me clench, so I've had constant headaches in these retainers. I see my ortho next week for a retainer check and I think I am going to ask him to switch me to a hawley on the top too. Over all I think it's more comfortable and I really hope I'll clench less if my teeth are touching without that damn plastic in between!

I thought maybe I was crazy for preferring the hawley, but seems like lots of others do too!

I had clenching problems when I was wearing Essix retainers on both arches. My clenching got better when we swapped out the lower Essix for a Hawley. I was a clencher and grinder before braces though, so it isn't too surprising that having the bite surfaces of both arches covered would make it worse. My orthodontist said it was actually pretty common to have clenching as a result of two clear retainers. Hopefully switching out your upper Essix for a Hawley fixes you up. You've been through quite the ordeal, I don't blame you for wanting to maintain what you have right now.