Teens and retainers.

[OhYouBadBadKitten]

Dd gets her braces off this week and its into retainers. We have no idea which ones she will get or what the wearing regime will be. What are other people's experiences and does your teen comply?

Will her teeth be sore after? Will she be able to eat ok or do I need to do soft food for her? She is fantasising about all the toffees and sweets she will be able to eat.

From my recollection, they will be fine to eat normally. It apparently feels weird at first and they couldn't wait to have a good scrub with a toothbrush!

Neither of the two older DCs bothered to wear their retainers regularly. As a consequence their teeth have shifted a bit. They regret not listening, and have drummed it into the younger one who is currently in fixed braces. Having been in varying types of brace for the last 28 months and counting, he reckons there's no way he's messing up like they have. We will see...

DD1 has refused to give up sweets, or any other food stuff, but cleans her brace religiously and hasn't got moaned at yet.

Dd is adamant that she will follow the orthodontists instructions, but it will be interesting to see what time does to her resolve. I've pointed out that the nhs won't pay for them to be done a second time, and how much they would cost if she wanted to get them done again.

She did get moaned at once by the ortho and I wish I hadn't googled pictures of debracing gone wrong. It's giving me kittens.

Dd has one. Hers is a clear plastic thing a bit like a very thin gum shield. She does wear hers religiously but has a habit of taking it out to eat stuff and leaving it at her arse. I rescued it yesterday just before the dog nicked it off the arm of the sofa.

Thank goodness we don't have a dog!

Dds are off :) ortho told her she'd clearly been looking after her teeth well she's going to get the clear plastic ones too. Has to wear them full time for two weeks and then night time ad infinitum. Hooray!

DD We have learned the hard way twice about letting the dog get hold of them!
£125 last week - as he chewed both top and bottom ones.

Glad it's not just my dog! Although I feel your pain on the £125

Will make sure dd guards hers from the cats.....

My DD was still wearing her retainer for 1 night a week at the age of 21. She is worried that her lovely straight teeth will suffer when her wisdom teeth appear, and as she had head gear, tracks, bands - the lot, she was not going to let them slip back!

DS has his retainer permanently wired behind his top teeth so it is invisible. He is to get it removed when he has stopped growing and our regular dentist keeps an eye on it now he has been discharged by the orthodontist. (His front teeth are mainly filling build up so a removable one would have caused damage.)

DD wears hers every night - hence the random "leaving it wherever' habit she's got into. Not any more.
DS also has a metal bar behind his front upper set, but is religious about putting in the plastic mouthguard each night as well. He's adamant he's not going to have the teeth shifting back to the old position.

Like Milliways my dd (20 this year) still wears her retainer at night. Anything from 1 to every night depending where she's sleeping If she goes a full week there's still some movement.

So she really does need to stick with it.

Her teeth look amazing but they were very sensitive tonight when she was brushing them. I guess they've had a bit of a shock!

She also said it smelled like the farrier when the cement was being polished off. Is that normal?