Retainer wear how long

You just completed your braces or Invisalign procedure. You feel great, and then your orthodontist gives you your retainers. But how long will you need to keep that up?

When patients get their braces off or finish Invisalign, the first order of business is to develop a plan for wearing retainers. As your chompers move, they leave behind gaps in the surrounding bone and other tissue. A set of retainers will hold your teeth in place while your tissue catches up. The bad news is your teeth are always moving. This process is called a mesial drift, meaning your pearly whites are always on the move.

Your retainers will help prevent this from happening as you age. You should wear your retainers nightly for at least a year. After that, you can shift your wear to every other night or so.

After a few years, most individuals choose to wear theirs at night around three to five times a week. If you find your retainers feel tight when you put them on, that can be a sign that your teeth are shifting while your retainers are out, and you might need to start wearing them a bit more frequently. There are three different kinds of retainers, and the rules for wear essentially apply to each of them.

The first is called a Hawley retainer and is made of acrylic and metal. The second is called an Essix retainer and looks just like an Invisalign aligner tray, albeit a little more sturdy and durable. No matter what kind of retainer you have, they all serve the same function: to keep your teeth straight.

Invisalign utilizes clear aligners, while braces use a system of brackets and an arch wire. While these orthodontic methods are very different from one another, they have one main thing in common.

The one thing that Invisalign and braces have in common is the simple fact that you will need to wear a retainer after your treatment, regardless of the method used.

Depending on your orthodontic treatment type, you may have different options for retainers. No matter which type of retainer you choose, the important thing is that you wear it as directed by your orthodontist. There are three different types of retainers that your orthodontist may recommend, including:. This is because orthodontic treatment causes the bone around the teeth to slightly soften in order to allow movement.

Thus, a retainer is used to maintain the results of orthodontic treatment until the bones harden your new smile in place. It can take up to two years for your bones to completely harden and secure your teeth into their new position. Immediately after finishing active orthodontic treatment, your orthodontist will have you wear your retainer for at least 12 hours a night for the first two years.

After that, you will likely be able to transition to only wearing your retainer at night while you sleep.