Once you are out of braces and have your beautiful, straight teeth, you will be fitted with an upper and lower retainer. Although movement may be slight, your teeth will not stay perfectly straight if you do not wear your retainers as instructed. Even teeth that have not been moved with Orthodontics will move over time from the forces of biting, clenching, grinding, and fillings or crowns, so it is imperative to wear your retainers as instructed upon completing your treatment.

Immediately following your treatment you will be asked to wear your retainers full-time, 24/7, only removing them to eat and brush, for a limited period of time. After awhile Dr. Hirsh will tell you that it is acceptable to wear your retainers only at nighttime. Eventually, Dr. Hirsh will gradually limit how often you wear retainers.

You will go down to a few nights a week and then over time, just a few nights a month. Retainers are a lifetime commitment. At no point in time will you ever stop wearing your retainers completely! Just remember this, “stop wearing your retainers, when you would like to go through treatment again.”

If you lose or break your retainers, you should call the office immediately so we can make arrangements to repair or replace your retainers, before your straight teeth shift. If you wait, your beautiful, straight teeth will become crooked and a retainer may not fix the problem completely without the help of something more.

If your teeth have begun to shift and get crooked again, sometimes, we can regain your straight teeth with a special removable appliance and sometimes we must use braces for a short time to ensure straight teeth. After Dr. Hirsh sees you, he will be able to determine what is needed to correct the shifting. If braces are needed to correct the shifting or relapse, patients are not charged the price of full treatment.