what to do when your retainer doesnt fit anymore

My Orthodontic Retainer Doesn't Fit Anymore

You finished your braces or Invisalign® treatment and your orthodontist gave you an orthodontic servant to habiliment to maintain your results for life. Then, ane day, y'all go to put your retainer in and it feels extremely tight. What'southward going on? Will a too-tight retainer harm your teeth? Should yous fight through the retainer pain and continue wearing information technology until it fits again? Have no fear, our Shorewood and Naperville orthodontists are here to assist.

In this post, well encompass:

How retainers work to foreclose your teeth from shifting after braces or Invisalign
Are retainers supposed to exist tight?
Possible reasons why your orthodontic retainer doesn't fit anymore
Should you wear your retainer if it doesn't fit?
How long are dental retainers supposed to concluding?

How Retainers Work to Foreclose Teeth Shifting After Braces or Invisalign

When you lot have braces or Invisalign, you're in what'due south known as the active phase of your orthodontic treatment . Your appliance exerts gentle, steady pressure that stimulates a natural biological response known as os remodeling. This is when the teeth-supporting bone and tissues intermission downwardly, assuasive the teeth to motility where the braces wires or aligners are directing them.

When you finish treatment, information technology takes time for the bone and tissue to rebuild and the periodontal ligaments to tighten back upwardly in order to secure your teeth in their new positions. That's why you'll enter the retention phase of your treatment (aka wearing a retainer) immediately afterwards the active phase.

How do retainers piece of work ? The apparatus holds everything in place while the rebuilding and tightening occurs. At Innovative Orthodontic Centers, we have an established retention protocol where we have patients wear their retainers full-time during this beginning flow to lock their seize with teeth into identify, followed by dark wear for life.

Why is lifetime retainer utilise necessary? Every bit you age, even with the seize with teeth locked in position, the teeth experience natural globe-trotting and your jaw can grow a tiny bit more than. If yous don't habiliment your orthodontic servant and it'southward not consistently bringing the teeth back into alignment, you'll experience unwanted changes, including crowding, a deepening of your bite or a recurrence of gaps between the teeth . The simply fashion to prevent teeth shifting after braces or Invisalign is to habiliment your retainer as directed.

Are Retainers Supposed to be Tight?

Aye, retainers are supposed to be tight when yous first start wearing them. So, you might experience some tenderness and sensitivity, like to what you felt during your showtime week with braces .

How long does orthodontic retainer hurting last? Well, you shouldn't experience any serious pain, only the mild discomfort will last for a week or two while your teeth set into place. Your retainer will gradually loosen and get more comfortable as y'all habiliment it. Subsequently a while, you'll barely notice you have it in.

That said, retainers are non supposed to be and so tight that they're uncomfortable after you've been wearing them for some time. If this happens, say months down the route, it's an indication that your teeth are shifting or something is wrong with your retainer.

Why Your Orthodontic Servant Doesn't Fit Anymore

At that place are a few possible reasons why your retainer doesn't fit anymore, including:

Your Teeth Shifted Because You Forgot to Wear Your Retainer

The nigh mutual reason for a tight retainer is forgetting to wear it for an extended flow. Equally we mentioned, teeth shifting afterwards braces or Invisalign is natural and the only way to prevent it is to habiliment your retainer every bit prescribed.

Your retainer is custom designed for a perfect fit based on the positions your teeth were in at the end of your treatment. If you don't wear it diligently, specially during the beginning few months, the teeth will movement and this will affect the fit. In extreme cases, your retainer might non fit at all.

Your Retainer Was Damaged

Harm to the retainer itself is another reason why your retainer might not fit. If the retainer becomes distorted, it will no longer exist molded to your teeth.

At Innovative Orthodontic Centers, we provide our patients with Vivera® retainers, sometimes referred to equally Invisialign retainers since they're made by the same company. These articulate, plastic retainers can become warped by heat (i.e., drinking hot beverages with your Invisalign servant in your oral cavity, washing them with hot water or leaving them in a hot car or out in the lord's day). They can also be damaged if you chew on them or a pet gets a hold of them thinking they're a treat.

A Hawley retainer, which is the type of orthodontic servant that consists of acrylic and wire, tin can as well become damaged. Things like taking it out incorrectly, stepping on it or bending the wire while playing with it will interfere with how it fits.

Your Retainer is Very Old

While we'll talk most how long retainers are supposed to last shortly, with proper intendance, you'll get years of habiliment out of your appliance. However, retainers aren't designed to final forever. Somewhen, they volition lose some of their shape and your servant won't fit properly anymore.

Should You Wear Your Orthodontic Servant if information technology Doesn't Fit?

Whether or non yous should vesture your servant if it doesn't fit depends on the situation. If your apparatus is tight because you lot forgot to wear your retainer for a calendar week, only you're even so able to put it in fairly easily, you can wear information technology without a trouble. Use it full-time until information technology feels comfortable again.

If, on the other hand, you cannot get your retainer in your mouth comfortably or you experience like yous demand to force it, practise not vesture it. Forcing in a tight servant tin damage your teeth. This is especially true for Hawley retainers every bit the wire could harm your enamel if it'south tight to the point of barely beingness able to get information technology in your oral cavity.

If your retainer was damaged somehow, again, you shouldn't wear it if it takes a lot of endeavor to get it in your oral fissure. If an quondam or broken retainer is loose, wearing information technology won't impairment the teeth similar forcing in a tight retainer can. Nonetheless, the retainer won't exist able to exert the needed retentiveness force to practise its job properly, which could result in your teeth shifting. In these cases, your retainer will need to be adapted or replaced.

Since we utilise Vivera clear retainers and digital scanning, we relieve your scans on our deject and can apace create new retainers for you lot without y'all having to come in for new scans. You can pick up your new servant when information technology'southward prepare or we can even mail it to y'all if you've moved away.

How Long are Dental Retainers Supposed to Concluding?

Permanent Retainers

A permanent retainer that consists of a wire that's bonded to the teeth is often the longest-lasting type of dental servant. While a permanent retainer is meant to be, well, permanent, sometimes, the bonding textile tin can pause downward from everyday vesture and tear or eating certain hard, crunchy foods.

Plus, a permanent retainer requires extra care since yous'll have to proceed it gratuitous of plaque and food. Otherwise, they may stay in your mouth for decades. At Innovative Orthodontic Centers, we don't use permanent retainers or recommend them considering the risks outweigh the benefits. They're non as effective at maintaining the position of all of the teeth in your mouth since they only concord six to 12 teeth. They also increase your adventure of tooth decay.

Removable Retainers

Removable retainers, such as clear retainers and Hawley retainers, tend to take more than abuse since you're treatment them a lot. These retainers will demand to exist replaced more frequently only with splendid care, even these can last for upward to 10 years.

Vivera Retainers

At Innovative Orthodontic Centers, the Vivera retainers we use are twoscore% stronger than whatsoever other retainer material on the market place today. Thanks to the loftier quality, your Invisalign retainer will last longer than your typical articulate servant. They never need to be adjusted and since they slip over your teeth, they are able to retain your concluding alignment to an extraordinary caste.

Afterwards taking a digital browse of your teeth , CAD/CAM technology is used to create four sets of identical clear retainers for yous. This will requite you peace of mind knowing you accept a backup for years to come.

The Bottom Line

If your orthodontic servant doesn't fit anymore, don't try to force information technology in your mouth or put off getting a new one for too long. Wearing your retainer diligently is the only mode to prevent your teeth from shifting afterward braces or Invisalign treatment.

Connect with a Shorewood or Naperville Orthodontist

Whether your retainer doesn't fit anymore, is tight and uncomfortable or it was damaged, contact Innovative Orthodontic Centers in Shorewood or Naperville. Nosotros can create a precise-plumbing fixtures, durable, clear retainer to keep your smile exactly how y'all want it.

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Source: https://www.innovativeorthocenters.com/my-orthodontic-retainer-doesnt-fit/