orthodontist saying ds will have to wear retainer for life ..permanently??

[ggirl]

anyone else have this ?
he hasn't started treatment yet
starts with functional removable appliance top and bottom for a year , then fixed braces for 2 yrs
bottom jaw needs to be brought into a more favourable position
i never realised he needed so much fixed..to look at his top teeth are the only ones that look out of alignment

very glad we're getting this on NHS

so does any one else wear a retainer for life??

All orthodontists will say that. If your children are good they will, follow instructions until they get bored, fed up, in love, drunk, ........

Don't sweat it. One of DCs does still wear hers at night. The other one never did. It's OK.

oh I did wonder if that was the case
thank you

DD was told this and is very good about doing so. The cat ate her retainer and she was without for a week and swears her teeth moved so I don't think will ever risk not having one, or not for many years.

They will move if you don't wear the retainer. Even if you miss just a few nights the retainer will be painful when you put it back in.

If you don't wear it the teeth will not be as beautiful and perfect as they will be when the ortho has finished, but they won't look awful.

I still have my fixed retainer behind my front teeth - it's been there for 25 years! you wouldn't know it was there and it's caused no problems (I have no fillings at all). I think it's such a giant arseache to get them straight, just do whatever it takes to keep them that way :)

I also have a retainer on my bottom teeth (wire cemented on at the back) you cants see it and it's been there 10 years. I only wishes they'd done my top ones too as they moved slightly.

I had several braces all though to look at me it was only obvious my goofy front ones needed straightening, one you used a key to tighten that straightened my top front ones, then the horrible "ice cube" one to bring my bottom jaw forward and then fixed one followed by removable retainers, followed by the permanent one. They hurt, the shred your cheeks and they are annoying but it was worth it in the end.

It's normal. Both DH and I wear bottom retainers and I wear top retainers every night. The clicking win romance starts is attractive!!

It's impossible to sleep without them in once you get used to them.

DD is at the tail end of her treatment. She too had the removable, then the fixed (in her case for only 361 days, she counted!) and then the retainer all the time, then down to whenever she was in the house, then 13 hrs, now overnight. Retainers these days are brilliant, invisible once in.
She has one more check up then she's on her own. The orthodontist recommends using the retainer till she's at least 25 but he's a realist - says that once she starts drinking or goes to uni, as often as she remembers will do!
She's so pleased with the results though that I think she'll be quite compliant.

DSS has a retainer - not sure how long it's been since he had braces as it was before I knew him (so at least 4 years). He doesn't seem to have any problems with it.

I never went back for my retainer after having fixed braces for 2yrs. This was late 80s and you really wouldn't think I'd had braces now. My teeth definitely moved 😟

I really wish either my mum or I had realised that retainers were actually important. My teeth are definitely better than they started but nowhere near perfect.

Now with DS, I have drummed in that he has to wear his retainers. He's really not that great at it and so months after the braces being taken off he realises that his teeth have actually moved a bit and now he seems to be getting the message that he really should wear them.

I hope that he really doesn't waste the 2.5yrs of wearing them, travelling 15+ miles to the orthodontist on a regular basis.

thanks for the replies , I'll show this thread to ds .

I had a fixed brace , wore a retainer for about 6 mo afterwards.
40yrs ago
My teeth didn't move thankfully

Yes of course you must wear the retainer after the treatment. Otherwise your teeth will move back to where they were. I was too lazy to wear my retainer and I could feel my teeth moving back after I stopped wearing it. Wished I had worn it now

I never went back for a retainer after I had my fixed braces removed - I had no idea I was even supposed to and was just glad to get out of there with the braces off!

That was 22 years ago, and my teeth don't appear to have moved since. I must have been very lucky!

•LucyCFC83* I'm not questioning the use of the retainer ..my question was whether people wear them for the rest of their lives

I had my fixed brace out 30 years ago, retainers were never mentioned. My teeth haven't moved.

I have a fixed retainer on the back of my top teeth. It's been in about 15 years now. No problems with it at all and wouldn't know it was there. My mum jokes that at least I'll be easy to identify in an accident

I have had a fixed retainer behind my bottom teeth for about 15 years now. The dentist says there is no reason to remove it now unless it causes any problems.
I never stuck with my removable top retainer for any length of time and I regret it now.

I have a fixed retainer bottom and top, I can't say I notice it too much. It's just there.

Dd will have a fixed retainer (wire cemented behind teeth) if when she finishes her ortho.

I didn't realise that some are fixed retainers , much easier to keep those in for years and years.

I had a fixed brace then a retainer for a year or so after. I have a fixed strip of wire on the back of my bottom teeth which is permanent.

Dd's teeth sound similar to your ds'. She's had a functional brace for 1year, but she doesn't wear it enough and progress has been slow. If she would wear it more then just at night (as she has been told to) we'd be on to the fixed brace by now!