Every dentist you know has lost a phone charger, misplaced their keys, and wondered where their sunglasses went as they stood looking around with those sunglasses perched ever-so-neatly over their foreheads.
That’s why you really don’t have to feel judged when you call to let us know that your child lost their retainer. You also don’t need to feel sheepish if your child’s retainer has been broken, bent, or left on a side table without a second thought about actually wearing it for the past six months.
We get it. After all, your teen probably did the freedom dance of joy the day their braces were taken off for good. However, the truth is that treatment isn’t officially done when braces end. The retainer stage is important for preserving those beautiful results for a lifetime to come.
Let’s make sure we’re not setting teeth up to shift after all that hard work you and your kid did to get to every appointment, diligently wear and clean braces, and budget for braces. This is what every dentist wishes their patients knew, understood, and loved about retainers.
Why Do Retainers Matter After Braces?
The un-clinical way to say it is that teeth simply love to shift. It’s like each tooth has a little magnet in it that just makes it want to revert back to the position it was in before braces. It doesn’t mean that your teen has strange teeth or that your dentist did a poor job. This is 100% normal biology. As dentists, we account for it in treatment with the all-important retainer.
As our teeth naturally try to move back into position over time, the retainer keeps teeth trained to stay in their new, straight position. Retainers are great at stabilizing smiles to make sure results stick around.
Common Retainer Mistakes We Can Help You Fix
Things can go so beautifully when a patient wears their retainer consistently daily or nightly, keeps it in a safe place, and keeps it clean. We see some common retainer mistakes over and over again that stop patients from getting their very best smiles for the rest of their lives. Our biggest worry is simply that you won’t tell us when something happens to a retainer. This prevents us from being able to help you get a quick replacement as soon as possible to resume wearing the retainer.
Mistake #1
The top retainer mistake is just wearing it “sometimes.” Each patient gets a different prescription for wearing their retainer. For some, we may tell them to wear their clear retainer daily for a certain number of months following treatment before shifting to nighttime wear only. For others, nightly wear is all that’s necessary from the start. Consistency is the most important thing with a retainer. If you’re only popping it in occasionally, your teeth are spending a lot more time shifting than they are staying aligned. Not wearing your retainer can also put extra pressure on your teeth because they are constantly shifting before being pressed back into the retainer. That’s never good.
Mistake #2
Another common innocent mistake is losing a retainer in a napkin at a restaurant or accidentally throwing it away at lunchtime. This one always makes us feel empathetic because we understand that our patient was simply doing their best to be consistent with wearing their retainer as often as possible. The good news is that we can easily get a replacement in the works for you if you just call to let us know what happened that same day. We really stress always carrying a retainer case when you leave the house with your retainer in your mouth to prevent the need to hide it in a napkin or at the side of your plate while dining.
Mistake #4
Teachers are used to hearing kids say the dog ate their homework. Dentists are used to hearing kids say the dog ate their dental work. Yes, we’ve had more than one patient have their retainer chewed up by a pet. This is where storing a retainer inside a drawer or on a human-height shelf can prevent disaster easily.
Mistake #5
Finally, stopping completely after a few months because you’ve assumed teeth are forever set in place by now is another big mistake. It could actually take years for you to see that your teeth are actually still shifting. Unfortunately, this could mean that someone who gets a retainer at age 16 may not start to be bothered by the way their smile looks until they are well into their adult years. The reverting results can really bother them as they get deeper into their personal and professional lives.
What Happens If You Stop Wearing Your Retainer?
As shared above, teeth love to shift. Will your teen wake up one day with totally crooked teeth that have reverted back to pre-braces status? Probably not. The shifting will probably be subtle at first. However, each year of their adult life can mean that their teeth are shifting further and further.
Can teeth shift years after braces? Very much so. Something we see commonly is a patient going back to try to wear their retainer again after five, six, or 10 years. They discover that the retainer is now actually too tight to get on. If they try to force it, they could actually damage their teeth.
What should you do if your retainer no longer fits? Don’t force it. Let us know about what’s going on. The result could be a replacement retainer or going back for new braces. Luckily, the wear time for redoing braces is often much shorter than the initial treatment. Of course, it’s still easier and cheaper to just wear your retainer.
Tips That Actually Help
The great thing about retainers is that you hardly need to think about them once you have a good system. Here are some easy tips we love to share at our office:
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Always keep the retainer case with you when you leave the house or travel. This will reduce the chance of it getting lost.
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Make a rule that you will never wrap a retainer in a napkin under any circumstances. While it may take a few times, the odds we’ve seen show that this always eventually ends up with a lost retainer.
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Put your retainer in the same exact place when you take it off. This makes it much easier to remember what you did with it.
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Make a mental connection between the retainer and bedtime. It belongs on the checklist with pajamas, brushing teeth, and nightly skincare routines. Popping in your retainer will become so automatic that you can’t fall asleep at night without it.
Just Remember This: Retainers Retain Results
Wearing a retainer is so important for making sure your perfect post-braces smile stays that way. Losing or breaking a retainer is common. Just make sure to let your dentist know quickly to get the problem taken care of before any significant shifting can happen. For parents, helping your teen create solid habits around daily retainer use can quickly get them into the lifelong habit of wearing their retainer.