Keep Your Perfect Smile For A Lifetime!
It’s Not Over
Now that you have finished active treatment and are enjoying your beautiful smile, you may be thinking your work is over. Think again! You are entering the most important phase of your treatment – LIFETIME RETENTION!
Next 8-12 Weeks
Wear your retainer(s) FULL TIME 24/7 as instructed, except to eat and brush your teeth. No excuse, your teeth need time for the bone to fill in around them and stabilize.
Next 20-30+ Years … FOREVER
You will be given retainers at the completion of your treatment, clear or acrylic style. Once recommended to reduce to nighttime retainer wear, you will need to wear them at least 8-12 hours every night FOREVER!
Care For Your Retainer
Store your retainer in the case provided, in a safe location, while not in your mouth. Do not wrap your retainer in a napkin and accidentally throw it away. To avoid breakage, do not place in pockets, backpacks or purses without a retainer case. If needed, we will give you a few extra cases for free. Keep retainers away from small children and pets that may chew or hide them, and keep out of direct sun or heat (hot liquids, hot cars etc). If you have dental work and your retainers do not fit properly, please call us as soon as possible for an appointment to adjust or realign your retainer. However, if a new scan or impression is needed, there will be an additional charge for this service. Take out your retainer to brush your teeth and also brush your retainer with toothpaste and a toothbrush. To freshen up your retainer, use a retainer cleaner such as “Polydent for Partials” or “Retainer Brite” once a week (For sale in here our office, online or at the drugstore). DO NOT USE DENTURE CLEANER; it will corrode the metal parts of the acrylic retainer. You can use a hand soap to brighten up the clear retainers or if you have been ill, to help sanitize. Practice speaking with your new retainer (talk, read out loud, sing etc) and you should adapt in just a few days. Remove for very active sports (football, soccer, swimming etc), and again, store in your retainer case, in a safe place!
Future Costs May Be Avoided
Wear retainers as prescribed, full time or nighttime wear. If not worn as directed, teeth can move into undesirable positions. Retainers will no longer fit and there will be a possible need for a new or relined retainer at an additional cost. If you break your retainer, bring in all the pieces for a possible repair charge rather than a total replacement charge. Also, if you were given a model that your retainer was made from, please bring that with you. This will help reduce costs for you.
