Finally, getting that smile you’ve always dreamed of, whether through the traditional metal braces or clear aligner trays, is a significant accomplishment. However, the treatment doesn’t end after getting your braces off or wearing your final aligner tray; you’ll need to transition to wearing retainers.
The feeling of saying goodbye to your treatment can make it easy to miss (or forget) your retainers. At Glass Orthodontics, we’ll guide you through how to get your smile back after not wearing your retainers.
Understanding the Value of Your Retainers
Retainers are designed to retain the progress you’ve gained from your orthodontic treatment. After you’ve completed your treatment, Dr. Glass will give you a set of retainers customized and made just for your smile.
After your teeth have settled into their positions, retainers keep them in place as the surrounding bone and tissues grow and stabilize your teeth. Months of continuously repositioning your teeth and your body, trying to fill in the gaps and hold your teeth in place, is what causes discomfort during your treatment period.
Missing the recommended retainer wear time can cause your teeth to shift back to their previous positions, throwing them off alignment. This is known as relapse and could ruin all of the hard work you’ve put in with your metal braces or clear aligners.
Evaluating Your Relapse
Once you realize that you’ve missed wearing your retainers, there’s no need to panic. If you’ve missed them for a day or two, you’ll just need to make sure you resume wearing them full time for a few days. Don’t forget to track your wear time to help keep you on track!
The problem usually comes when you’ve skipped out on wearing your retainers for a longer period of time. Even worse, there are other factors that can cause a relapse aside from not wearing retainers, such as:
- Genetics and aging
Growing old naturally causes the teeth to shift, especially your front teeth. This is why regular orthodontic check-ups at Glass Orthodontics are important.
- Tooth loss
If you’ve lost a tooth, whether to decay or other periodontal conditions, it will leave a gap. One response of your body is to move the surrounding teeth to fill in that gap, causing them to drift gradually.
- Stress
Too much stress manifests itself in various ways, from grinding your teeth to even gum problems. All of these can cause relapse and lead to misalignment.
Getting Into Touch-Up Treatment
Missing out on wearing your retainers or other forms of relapse can still be corrected with a process called touch-up treatment. You can simply visit any of our offices in Daphne, Bay Minette, Atmore, or Brewton, and our team will take care of you. For minor cases, it’s possible that no intervention is needed; we’ll just monitor your teeth to make sure they don’t shift any further.
Depending on the degree of the relapse, Dr. Glass may recommend one of the following treatment options:
- Resuming Retainer Use: For lighter cases, you can still catch up by resuming your retainer use. There are instances where we’ll need to provide you with a new set of retainers to fit your shifted teeth and keep them in place moving forward.
- Braces: We offer clear braces and traditional metal braces, each having its own unique benefit. These are reserved for significant relapses and will require a new treatment plan to suit your current condition.
- Clear Aligners: Similar to braces, Invisalign clear aligner trays can handle severe tooth shifts caused by missing your retainer for too long. You’ll get a new set of aligner trays, and Dr. Glass will discuss your new treatment.
Keep Your Retainers for Long-Term Success
Once you’ve completed your touch-up treatment, you’re probably back to where you were before, if not in a better condition. You’ll be going back to retainers, and here are a few tips to keep your smile straighter for longer:
- Follow the Orthodontist Recommendations: Wearing your retainer as recommended by Dr. Glass ensures you make the most out of your treatment. Depending on the scenario, some patients will need to wear their retainers full-time and then transition to their nighttime wear.
- Set Up Regular Appointments: During your retainer period and afterward, it always helps to schedule regular check-ups. We can steadily monitor your progress and make corrections and adjustments as needed.
- Adopt Lifestyle Changes: If you practice thumb-sucking, tongue-thrusting, nail-biting, chewing on ice, and the like, it’s time to practice letting go. These habits can harm your newly rehabilitated teeth.
Over time, you’ll get used to the changes required to keep your retainer effective. Even after completing your retainer treatment, the habits you picked up will help keep your teeth safe, healthy, and bright.
Achieve a Better Smile That Lasts a Lifetime
Orthodontic treatments can be a long journey. Even with setbacks, it helps to remember that every little thing adds up to help you achieve the smile you’ve always dreamed of. If you’ve happened to miss your required retainer wear time, don’t worry.
The Glass Orthodontics team is always ready to help. Schedule your free consultation, and we’ll help you get back on track!