Best Retainers In Centennial, CO

When we remove your braces, we will begin the retention stage of your treatment. The retention phase lasts for a minimum of 24 months. Your final orthodontic result depends on your retainers in Centennial, CO, so follow through with the hard work you’ve put in so far. Remember to remove your retainer before brushing, and brush your retainer before placing it back in your mouth.

Retainers: Instructions and Care

Wear: Wear your retainers 24 hours daily. The only exceptions are when eating or cleaning them, and participating in contact sports or water activities. DO NOT REMOVE/POP OUT YOUR RETAINERS WITH YOUR TONGUE! The wire will break, which will necessitate a new retainer. After approximately 6 months you will be able to wear your retainers at night only. Night-time wear is determined by the doctor and is based on the stability of your teeth.

Cleaning: To keep your Centennial retainers clean, brush them with a toothbrush and toothpaste each time you brush. The retainers get a plaque build-up and odor if they are not kept clean. At least rinse retainers off with cool water after each meal. For special care, you can use Retainer Brite or a denture cleanser such as Efferdent, or soak it in an alcohol-free mouthwash and water mixture. This will give it a fresh taste.

Pets: Keep retainers away from all animals: dogs, cats, etc. Animals like to eat retainers.

Protective Case: A protective case is provided for you. Always keep retainers in the protective case when they’re not in your mouth. Never wrap retainers in a napkin. You will forget about them and they are easily mistaken for trash and thrown away. Also never put your appliance in a pocket or your backpack where it may be bent, or even crushed. They are costly to replace.

Avoid Heat: The appliance will melt or warp if it gets hot. Never leave it in a hot car or leave it by a stove or other heater. NEVER put it in boiling water or hot tap water.

Saliva: Remember, you will have extra saliva for the first few days. This is normal. Initially, your mouth doesn’t realize that this retainer is not a piece of food. This sensation will go away after approximately 3 days of continuous wear.

Speech: Your speech will be somewhat slurred at first. It will be back to normal within a week if you are wearing your Centennial retainers full-time. Try reading aloud and talking more slowly. The most important thing to remember is to keep the retainers in as much as possible during this period.

Loss or Breakage: If the retainers are lost, broken, or irritating your mouth, please contact the office right away. There is a fee for lost or broken retainers.

Fit: Your retainers should feel snug if you are wearing them properly. They don’t change in size, but your teeth can shift. Please wear your retainer as prescribed by the doctor to prevent shifting. The longer you have been out of braces, the less often you will be required to wear them.

Our Centennial Orthodontist Also Serves the Following Services.

FAQ

A dental retainer ensures your teeth stay in the proper alignment as intended by your orthodontist. Unlike other orthodontic appliances, retainers don’t move teeth; instead, they make sure your teeth won’t move and slide back into the wrong position. This makes retainers unique in orthodontics. Retainers are the only way in which patients can ensure their hard-earned orthodontic results won’t be lost in a couple of years.

If you’re talking about the types of retainers, you should know there are three main types. The first and best-known retainer is the Hawley retainer. This is the piece of acrylic with wires that most people know about. It’s removable, so a lot of patients like it. Next up in removable retainers, we have the Essix type. If you’re a patient who wore Invisalign clear aligners or any other type of clear aligner trays, you’ll know what we mean when we say these retainers are just like Invisalign or Spark aligners. Finally, you have fixed retainers, which are metal wires cemented to the back of your teeth to prevent any unwanted dental movements.

We’ll divide this answer into two parts. First, you should know that patients who wear removable retainers need to wear theirs for up to 22 hours every day for the first few months after they complete their orthodontic treatment. Then, they can wear their retainers only at night. Second, patients should know that there’s no definitive time frame that determines how long they’ll have to wear retainers and then forget about them entirely. Instead, you might have to wear retainers for life and prevent any unwanted or accidental shift in tooth position.

Consider that most patients have trouble adjusting to retainer use because it affects their speech. You might want to talk slower to get used to your retainers during everyday use. This happens in all patients, regardless of their familiarity with similar orthodontic appliances during the primary part of their orthodontic care. The only way to get used to it is to continue wearing your retainers daily.

This will depend on each patient, but generally speaking, most people get used to their new set of retainers in about a week’s time. Getting used to a permanent retainer is even easier, whereas those patients who have removable retainers might be tempted to remove theirs and slow down the adjustment.

Oh, absolutely yes. Wearing your retainers will be increasingly easier because you will continue to do regular day-to-day activities while wearing them. Besides, the longer you wear them, the less you’ll have to keep them on during the day. Ideally, you’ll reach a point where you only have to wear removable retainers during the night to prevent orthodontic relapse alone.