Post Treatment Retention

We advise all our patients to wear their retainers for as long as they want their teeth to remain straight. If you reduce the wear or stop wearing your retainers, you should expect your teeth to move a little or in some cases, a lot!

Changes in the position of your teeth can continue throughout life and are part of the normal aging process. The only way to have permanently straight teeth is to continue to wear your retainers throughout life

If you have been advised to wear your retainers during the day, you may find it affects your speech very slightly, but this returns to normal within a couple of days. It is advised to remove them to eat or drink. However, most retainers are worn whilst you are asleep.

Always rinse your retainers with cool water after removing them. Use a toothbrush to gently clean them while supporting them in the palm of your hand. Do not use toothpaste to clean them as it is abrasive and can cause tiny scratches which can make the retainers brittle and likely to break.

We recommend that you sterilise your retainers once a week in cold water with a solution such as Retainer Brite to keep them fresh and clean.

Always push your retainers in with your fingers, ensuring that they are fully seated on all the teeth. Never bite your retainers into place as they are more likely to break.

Always store them in the box provided to prevent them from being lost, broken or eaten by the dog!

It is very important that you contact us as soon as possible so we can arrange an appointment for new retainers to be made. Please remember that if you do not wear your retainers, your teeth will move!

We advise you to come back to have your retainers checked at 3 months and usually again at 9 months. After wearing your retainers for a year, we will discharge you from our care, but we do recommend that you continue to wear your retainers every night for the long term to prevent your teeth from moving.