Will I ever be able to bin the retainer?

[BlackLipstick]

I got my braces off when I was 16. That's 13 years ago now.

I still have my retainers and wear them occasionally. My teeth have still moved in spite of this.

I'm fed up about it and worried about what will happen when the retainer eventually breaks. Will my teeth ever stop moving?

I kept forgetting to wear mine then it stopped fitting. So my teeth must've moved but still look acceptable. There is a wire behind my teeth though, presumably doing a bit of retaining.

I had braces when I was 12, no such thing as retainers then. Teeth weren’t amazing but they didn’t move - until I went through pregnancy and everything shifted around. Then throughout my 30s they gradually got worse so I decided to get braces as a 40th present to myself. I’m 43 now and I’ve still got my braces and my teeth are still not done. Once they’re off I will be wearing my retainer forever.

I remember my orthodontist saying my gums were very 'elastic'. He did some kind of stitch procedure to keep things in place, and recommended I wear my retainer at night until at least my mid 20s. I'd given up by the end of uni, and my teeth have shifted terribly - I'm now 32 and have already had one further, largely unsuccessful, round of orthodontic treatment and now want to get fixed braces again as soon as covid allows. It's so frustrating knowing they WERE perfect.
DH on the other hand never wore a retainer at all, and his are perfectly straight still!

@ifiwasascent

I'm an orthodontic dental nurse- you have to wear your retainer for ever. Just a couple of times a week Is enough

Why did nobody tell me that? Pretty sure my orthodontist took my retainer away, he certainly never told me I had to wear one forever, and when I had checkups with my dentist after my treatment was finished he didn't mention it either. My teeth didn't end up perfectly straight after my braces so I can't easily tell whether they have moved or not as it wouldn't be obvious if they have gradually got a bit wonkier. I don't much like how they look now but don't know if that is because they have moved or because they never looked great. If it's because they have moved I'm annoyed I wasn't told a retainer was needed.

I had braces in my 50s, and now 10 years later I'm still wearing retainers every night and will continue to do so.

One of my retainers cracked a few month ago so I went back to my orthodontist for new ones. He mentioned how often patients stop wearing them after treatment, particularly in their teens and twenties. He joked that it's just as well as it pays for his pension and private education for his kids! In other words, keep on wearing them otherwise your teeth will move back which in turn can result in needing more orthodontic treatment in the future. It's a matter of physics: whatever forces initially caused your teeth to be crooked/overbite/underbite are likely to be still there, it's just the teeth that have moved with treatment.

I commented that after 2.5 years of brace wearing and a lot of money spent I had no intention of stopping with the retainers (every night). I had some reconstructive composite bonding done after the braces so it was a long haul and a lot of money. It all seems a bit of a distant memory now but was a really good decision, as it improved not just my teeth but also my profile.

@RichardMarxisinnocent I was discharged 12 years ago. And the advice wasn't given then to persevere

@pandora206 that’s interesting to hear and glad to hear your teeth are still looking good. Do you mind me asking what was the reconstructive composite bonding for? I’m nervous that my braces alone aren’t going to give me the result I want and would like to know what other things are available to improve my smile. Thanks.

My DD has just been given her retainers following nearly 2 years of treatment. When I had my braces off (over 35 years ago as did my friends at the same time) there was no such thing as retainers, no mention that teeth could move. My teeth (and theirs) haven't noticeably moved, however, we did have teeth removed (I have 4 taken out) in order to make space for the teeth to be straightened. Maybe that's why?

@TheHouseElf

My DD has just been given her retainers following nearly 2 years of treatment. When I had my braces off (over 35 years ago as did my friends at the same time) there was no such thing as retainers, no mention that teeth could move. My teeth (and theirs) haven't noticeably moved, however, we did have teeth removed (I have 4 taken out) in order to make space for the teeth to be straightened. Maybe that's why?

Are teeth not removed now then? I’m sure when I was a child everyone had at least four teeth removed before braces were put on.

But if a 14 year old wears the same wired in retainer for life, what happens when his face grows and changes shape as he gets older and goes from a child to a man? Does his jaw etc grow but teeth stay exactly the same position?

I have worn my upper retainer every night for 12 years ago. Despite this, my overbite has still become slightly larger from when I first had my braces taken off. The retainer I was given for my lower teeth broke pretty early on and I couldn't afford to replace it at the time. My lower teeth soon moved out of line, though in a different way than before braces. I'm tempted to get an invisaline to straighten them out again though it's not a priority right now.

Anyone who can't afford braces or no longer has their retainer should look up "orthotropics" on YouTube.

@SunbathingDragon I had to have braces twice as the dentist tried to do it the first time without removing teeth. My overbite barely had changed when she took them off and my teeth moved back to how they were before braces within months. Didn't help that the retainers she gave me was flimsy plastic that broke easily. Thankfully the second time she took teeth out and gave me a proper pink wired plate upper retainer that I still have to this day.

mammmamia I don't mind you asking about the composite bonding at all. I had braces as I had a very severe overbite and my bottom teeth had worn down almost to the dentine. My dentist told me that if I didn't have orthodontic treatment I'd eventually lose them. It's a shame I couldn't get it on the NHS though but anyway I went ahead and got braces.
After my teeth had been straightened, I had them whitened and then was referred to a specialist dentist to rebuild them where they had worn away. It's a less invasive treatment than having crowns or veneers, although still meant losing quite a lot of the original teeth. Anyway, I ended up having the front teeth, both upper and lower, all rebuilt and the result was amazing. They are much more natural looking than veneers and feel just like the originals except better. I did have to travel quite a way to see the specialist, and go for yearly checkups/patch up visits for the odd worn part but they've lasted about eight years so far.
So, really my original problems were two-fold - overbite and worn teeth. Now I have neither but I do look after my teeth really really well (using an electric toothbrush plusTepes and Floss Harps twice per day) and always wear my retainers.

Lying in bed now guiltily thinking about my retainer sat in its cup in the bathroom 😅

I do have a fixed retainer, but wear the removable one some nights too. Not as often as I probably should though

DD is coming to the end of her orthodontic treatment, her orthodontist says you should wear the retainer for as long as you want your teeth to remain straight Advised to wear it all the time for a week, then at night.

Not sure when retainers started being used, one of my sisters had a brace and didn't get a retainer afterwards.

Just another comment about retainers, mine are all plastic see through and not metal (as someone has mentioned). They're very light and easy to wear (compared with braces anyway).

My braces with conventional metal train tracks as my orthodontist felt these would be most successful moving my teeth as they had a long way to travel. I was very self conscious of them at first (not least as I was mid 50s and in a professional role where I did a lot of presenting) but eventually got used to them fairly quickly. Interestingly over the last two or three years I've noticed quite a few older people with braces so it isn't just for the youngsters at all. I wish I could have afforded it twenty years earlier though.

I had braces as a teen and then wasn't given a retainer afterwards, my teeth moved back and kept continuing to move so I'm now almost through my Invisalign treatment and planning to wear retainer every night as instructed, I absolutely do not want to go through any of it again.
Wearing a retainer at night is nothing compared to Invisalign 22h/day

I’m a little shocked reading these comments! I had braces fitted and removed before I started secondary school in 1992. I had a retainer for some time after (not sure exactly how long), but I never recall being told to wear my retainer forever ! My Mum would have been at my appts so I’m sure she would have known if I had to. I have started to wear a gum shield at night due to grinding my teeth, so I guess it does the same job .

I had braces as a child (with teeth removed). There was no such thing as retainers for after treatment then. My teeth stayed straight until many years later when my wisdom teeth came through.

Had braces again in my 30s (needed more teeth removed!). I was given a wire retainer but my teeth somehow moved slightly with that within the first few months despite wearing it nightly, so they made a plastic one instead which has been much better. I wore it nightly for years, then went to every other night. Nowadays I wear them once a week and I can feel my teeth have moved in that time, but it feels fine by morning so I think it’s enough to keep them in check. I’ve been told I’ll need to wear them forever.

A lot of people have commented they don’t recall being told to wear a retainer forever and this will have been the case. My current orthodontist says a lot of his patients are people like me that are frustrated they used to have perfect teeth but they’ve moved. Apparently the advice about retainers wasn’t known/given out until fairly recent times. Had my original train tracks off around 2003.

Your teeth continue to move through your adult life so yes to wearing the retainer forever.

Which reminds me I really should wear mine tonight When I wear it now my teeth ache the next day so definitely some slight movement that’s unnoticed by sight.

I was given a plastic retainer when I got my brace taken off in 1994 but I didn’t wear it for long and I don’t remember being told to wear it long term. My teeth moved back and I paid privately for a fixed brace, both arches. I’ll be wearing my retainer forever. Some of my friends had braces in the 1990s and their teeth are still straight. Maybe it depends on how severe your teeth were to start with?

I had braces in my teens. I had a retainer for my top teeth. I was told to wear my retainer all the time to start with, them just at night, then a couple of nights a week until a year has passed then I didn’t need it any more.
However I had a permanent retainer on my bottom teeth. They were very crooked and my orthodontist said they would want to move back otherwise. It is very difficult to keep clean - I use the little dental brushes and a sonic toothbrush but I have to get it cleaned at my hygiene at because otherwise plaque builds up.