Orthodontic Retainer Specialists

Why It’s Important to Wear a Retainer?
Wearing a retainer is generally the last part of orthodontic treatment and your dentist will provide you with your retainer once your braces are removed or when you have finished using removable braces such as aligners. At this stage your teeth should be beautifully straight in the positions planned by your orthodontist. However, the “memory” of where your teeth used to be situated will remain. This isn’t so surprising when you consider your teeth and tooth roots will have been moved through your jawbone.

By wearing a retainer, you can ensure your teeth remain stable and in the correct positions as they settle down after treatment. Initially, your dentist may suggest you wear your retainer all the time, gradually reducing the time required until you only need to wear it overnight. This depends on whether you have a removable or fixed retainer.

Fixed Retainers
A fixed retainer can be very useful for anybody concerned that they may otherwise forget to wear their retainer. It is usually just a very discreet, very thin piece of wire that is bonded onto the inner surfaces of your teeth with a cement similar to that used to bond brace brackets onto teeth.

Cleaning fixed retainers. You will need to use a floss threader or another cleaning device to make sure you can thoroughly clean in between each tooth, preventing tooth decay and the risk of gum disease. If you have worn fixed braces, then you should already be familiar with the technique for keeping your teeth clean. The extra care required to maintain fixed retainers can put some people off, but it’s worth bearing in mind that they do provide an excellent outcome and will keep your teeth perfectly straight.

Removable Retainers
There are several types of removable retainers:

- Retainers with a wire that goes across the front of the teeth and which is held in place with an acrylic plate and clasps that fit around the back teeth

- Retainers made from clear plastic that form a tight and nearly invisible skin over your teeth. These retainers look a little like tooth whitening trays or the clear aligners used by popular orthodontic systems such as Invisalign.

Having a removable retainer can be very appealing because they are so easy to use and to keep clean. However, because they are removable, they can be easier to damage or mislay and can be expensive to replace or repair.

If you have a dog, you must store your retainer well out of reach since dogs are attracted to the smell of saliva on dental appliances and have an unfortunate tendency to chew them. Dogs have destroyed many retainers! Initially, your dentist may want you to wear your removable retainer all the time, day and night, for the first three months or more, and they will need to assess the position of your teeth after this time. If your orthodontist cannot see any movement, you can reduce this time to just a few hours each day or overnight.

Read more: https://www.gibbsortho.com/retainer-care/

Gibbs Orthodontic Associates, P.C: Invisalign, Braces and Dentofacial Orthopedics
40 E 84th St,
New York, NY 10028
(212) 535-4111
Web Address https://www.gibbsortho.com/
https://gibbsortho.business.site/
E-mail info@gibbsortho.com 

Our location on the map: https://g.page/gibbsortho

Nearby Locations:
Upper East Side | Yorkville | East Harlem | Manhattan Valley | Upper West Side |  Lenox Hill
10021 | 10022 | 10023 | 10024 | 10025 | 10028 | 10029

Working Hours :
Monday: 9AM–5:15PM
Tuesday: 9AM–6:30PM
Wednesday: 8:15AM–7PM
Thursday: 9AM–6PM
Friday: 9AM–7PM
Saturday: Closed
Sunday: Closed

Payment: cash, check, credit cards.