You've Worked Hard For Your Beautiful Smile; Keep It That Way!
Finally, your braces have been removed and your smile is beautiful, straight, and best of all, metal-free! However, your orthodontic journey isn't quite completed. To keep your smile looking its best, you'll have to wear a retainer to preserve and stabilize your results. Retainers are needed to control or limit potential changes in tooth position. They are used after braces treatment to hold teeth in their correct alignment while the surrounding gums, bone, and muscle adjust to the new positioning of your teeth.
Types of Retainers
Retainers are custom-made and can be removable or fixed.
- Traditional removable retainers typically include a metal wire that surrounds the front teeth and is attached to an acrylic arch that sits in the roof of the mouth. In the situation of inadequate retainer wear, the metal wires can sometimes be adjusted for minor tooth movements to help push teeth back in place.
- Aligner-style retainers, or Essix retainers, look similar to clear aligners and offer a more aesthetic alternative to wire retainers. It is produced from a mould of your newly aligned teeth. Some patients are more suitable for this type of retainer than others. We will evaluate at the end of treatment to advise on the best retainer option.
- Fixed retainers consist of wires bonded behind the bottom and/or top teeth. More oral hygiene care is required. These types of retainers are kept in place for life to ensure lasting results and protect your investment in your smile.
Pros And Cons
- Removable retainers can be taken out for eating and hygiene routines.
- Removable retainers can get lost easily, so remember to keep yours in the case whenever you remove it to eat or brush.
- A fixed retainer is great if you don't want to keep track of it, or if you don't want to worry about how many hours per day it must be worn.
- Teeth with fixed retainers require a little extra attention to remove tartar while flossing. Patients with fixed retainers often must use floss threaders to pass dental floss through the small spaces between the retainer and the teeth.
Retainer Insurance
“My dog ate my retainer!” “I stepped on my retainer!” “I threw my retainers away at lunch!”
After hearing so many stories of lost retainers over the years, we have come up with a solution!
We offer retainer insurance for a fee of $200! It covers two lost or broken retainers over the lifetime of wear, a $400 value. The $200 fee may be financed into your monthly orthodontic payment, or you may choose to purchase at a later time and pay the full $200 at that time. It must be purchased before the end of active orthodontic treatment.
Retainer insurance is given as a courtesy to our families starting the second child in full orthodontic treatment.
Get in Touch!
Hours
Mon-Thu:
8am - 4:30pm
Fri:
8am - 4pm