Getting anxious - How long will I have to wear them?

[anairameyco]

Hello,

This forum has served for me to keep calm while I wait to go to my orthodoncist but right now I can't seem to find a case similar to mine easily.

I wore braces for 10 months, and retainers full time 2 months like the orthodontist said. After that I wore them at night for about 4 months, then I got lazy and wore them a few times a week, until I felt the retainer was getting tight and I regretted it.

I went to my orthodontist and she told me they had barely moved at all, and to keep wearing the bottom one, and made a new for the upper teeth. I've been wearing them full time for 2 months now, but I if I take them off for ever one hour, when I put them back on they're a bit tight for some minutes!!!

Has anyone started wearing their retainer 24/7 for the second time, and if so how long did it take for the teeth to go back to normal? I'm so scared my teeth will become loose or something

[oldfart]

Im second time in braces, and doing 24/7 for a year and then at nights.

[NeilH]

I think the general rule is to wear your retainers enough so they don't feel tight when they go back on. In the early days many ortho's prescribe full time wear and then gradually wean you off to part time wear but the time this takes varies from person to person.

[Snowglobe32]

Retainers are meant to retain teeth so life long wear is needed. Anything less than that and you're risking it...especially for adult teeth.

If the teeth are loose then tight it is because if inconsistent wear, the teeth are at a constant tug of war with themselves.

Are there any issues that prevent you from wearing it say, 16 hours a day?

[anairameyco]

[quote="Snowglobe32"]Retainers are meant to retain teeth so life long wear is needed. Anything less than that and you're risking it...especially for adult teeth.

If the teeth are loose then tight it is because if inconsistent wear, the teeth are at a constant tug of war with themselves.

Are there any issues that prevent you from wearing it say, 16 hours a day?[/quote]

I'm definitely wearing them more than 16 hours. Twice a week I take them off for about 3-5 hours in the day to go to class but that's about it. The teeth themselves are tight as they have always been, but I was worried that after two months the retainers are still tight after taking them off for a while. Seeing the other answers I see it might be too early to be worried though!

Thanks for your answers!

[Beckett]

When two of my children finished their braces treatment, our ortho said the same thing to each. "People ask me how long they should wear their retainers. I tell them 'how long do you want straight teeth?'" The intention is the answer is "forever". 24/7 for a while, then graduating to nights only. One kid is out of his 6 years and still wears his every night, unless he has a sore throat. Same with the other who has been out for just a couple of years. I've read too many stories of people who had braces as a teen, stopped wearing their retainers, and needed braces again as an adult. My sister included but she has yet to get rebraced.

[blackwidow]

I wore them all day for the first year after I finished my treatment 16 years ago and then every night until now. I have some other issues I need to fix on this second round of braces, but fortunately none my teeth are misaligned.

My sister wears hers a few times a week and she says they get pretty tight when she puts them back on. Also a tooth has moved a little, but she's okay with it.

So basically, I think we'll have to wear them forever