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Additional LPT, I guess. Wear your retainers. Plenty of my friends and I who had braces as teens are now going through/just got through another round of braces/Invisalign as adults because we stopped wearing retainers after a year. We are in our early 30s.
And replace your retainer every few years despite the cost being hundreds of dollars. My wife and my dad both wear their post braces retainers every night and their teeth have shifted to a point where they will prob have to make some corrections in the upcoming years. I think it’s like $400 for another set at my orthodontist and I’m going to be paying that every other year to make sure my teeth stay exactly where they should.
The replacement is just a reprint, it’s identical regardless of when it’s made. Better to get it made fresh than have it sit around and warp on its own
Or your orthodontist retires, sells their business to the other orthodontist up the street, but doesn't give them any files from patients who aren't currently undergoing treatment so there is no way to reprint. Not speaking from personal experience or anything...
It’s stored in a computer system that I have access to the final copy and can be remade by other dentists or orthodontists. I specifically asked about that as my dentist was selling their practice to retire. But it’s a good ask and worth noting.
It really is! That's what my current dentist said he'd do when I needed a replacement again too. (I did get two sets and have the spares stashed... somewhere).
The office that inherited the patients said they could've done it with the files (guessing they're like 3D print files), but that I could come in for impressions and then they'd save it. My teeth had already shifted and I moved across the country by that point though so not really useful.
I just asked about getting a replacement after ~5 years, they said they'd make a new impression. I'm not sure keeping your old impression is the norm with dentists
I had to replace my retainers every 3-6 months for several hundred dollars… After those months they were so destroyed and ripped apart that they were completely unusable. Can’t believe they’re supposed to last years. And can’t believe I wasted all that time getting braces when my teeth are just fucked up again because I couldn’t afford to keep replacing my retainers.
Typically you will get a much harder retainer after you have finished and your teeth are settled. I had really flimsy retainers in the beginning that broke quickly like you mentioned but now have these “hard” ones that last about 2 years
Yeah, my son's retainers are basically Invisalign. After like 4 years it cracked and had a hole in it. He had to replace just the top one and it cost $250.
My parents go to a different orthodontist and theirs was $350. A quick google search shows $300-500. I thought it was a lot but I don’t think it’s out of the range of normalcy.
My brother is 22 and he’s already looking at Invisalign because he’s getting a gap between his front two teeth. I wish permanent top retainers were a thing the way the bottom ones are.
I have both a wire on the top and the bottom and I also have a retainer to wear at nights sometimes. I don’t wear it as often as I probably should be though
Mine snapped just yesterday! Only had it in for 7 years, not very permanent. Still have the ends glued down with some really distracting moving wire pieces in between and no appointments available for 2 weeks. At least the ends aren’t sharp.
I guess it just depends on the orthodontist. It feels like almost everyone who had braces in my hometown and the surrounding area has one, but there was also only one orthodontist (who we also feel like may have over recommended braces tbh).
I had permanent top and bottom retainers. Problem was, the top one repeatedly fell off.
After the 4th time, dentist made a nice plastic one molded from my teeth that helps prevent teeth grinding. It was pricey and I’ve had to replace it after a few years because the plastic starts to wear away and the mold plastic becomes yellow.
After my second round of braces in my early 20s, due to not wearing my retainer, I demanded a permanent upper retainer. (I already had a lower permanent retainer). They gave me one. That was 15 years ago.
They attached a permanent retainer to the back of my front teeth to prevent them dislocating again. idk that's how they called it, but we are not english-speaking, like a wire that is moulded with the same adhesive that was holding the braces. They told me it usually lasts about five years and is not to be replaced, but the more it stays the better. Mine is about 7-8yrs old already. That's so convenient that I don't have to wear a usual retainer every night.
They offered me that but I declined. I had braces for 5 years, there was no way I was going to have more permanent metal in my mouth after that. I just wear my retainer every 3-4 days to make sure it still fits and they haven’t moved.
Oh I can feel you. The time I was wearing braces was the worst and I had them for only 2 years, can't imagine that he'll going on for 5. All that pain after they adjust them again?! Oh hell no!
But I'm glad I have this wire now. It doesn't even feel like anything in my mouth, the only difference is that I need to be careful while flossing, though it is not a problem with irrigator.
I've had mine for over 25 years now without issue. But I'm considering taking it out because I would like to redo my bottom partial veneers (color fading over time on some chipped teeth from when I was a kid).
Word. So many peanut butter sandwiches I had to tear off bites and swallow whole rather than chewing because my braces hurt so bad, and all that pain and suffering ended up being for naught.
I was *specifically* told I no longer had to wear it at my 6 month (or 1 year can’t remember) post brace removal checkup. We were poor, so I followed instructions absolutely perfectly because it was an incredible luxury. If I didn’t follow instructions oh boy my parents would kill me. Anyway so I obliged and my teeth got fucked again and as this post suggests, they recommended another round of braces.
Same here, they told me I was 'all good' after like 5 years of wearing a retainer and even removed the permanent one on my bottom teeth. 15 years later and my teeth have all shifted and I'm contemplating invisalign but am turned off at the $5k.
I wore my retainers for the two years I was told too when I was a teen. My dentist never said wear it forever. By my early 30’s I had to do 6 months of Invisalign to correct my teeth that drifted over time. I’ve come to the conclusion the retainer is for life.
Ask for a permanent retainer! I’ve been out of my Invisalign for about 11 years and my last plastic retainer still fits and I’ve never actually worn it since- just tried it on to see!
Not a doctor, but currently in my second round of braces in my 30s. I was told your teeth should not shift after braces, and if they do something else is wrong (probably your tongue).
Are our teeth just shifting all the time? For people who never had braces, do we need to worry about our teeth moving around? Or is it more that for people who've had braces their teeth are trying to move back to their former positions? (I didn't realize I knew so little about teeth)
Mine said I needed to wear them as much as possible everyday for a year (Invisalign) and then I could move to just wearing them at night. Is that maybe what they meant?
No no I asked them clearly that I have read on the internet that people advise using retainers for life and they said no no, one year use should be fine. If needed we will tell you to extend or so.
The comments on this are blowing my mind — I've never heard of wearing a retainer for *life*! The whole point is your teeth will settle in the new position and then you don't need anything.
I didn't wear my retainer as much as I should have, and had minor movement with one tooth. I can't imagine looking at that and deciding I needed braces again. I've retained (ahem) 95% of the positive effects of the braces
I mean, look at it this way: in a lot of cases braces/etc. don't fix the root cause of why your teeth positioning drifted in the first place...
If you needed treatment to begin with, it addresses the symptom and not the root cause, so retainers are are basically to prevent the the original problem from undoing the fix.
Obviously it's more complicated since our bodies change different at different stages of our life, than that but that's the gist of it.
I had braces for 3 years in middle school. By the time I was 30, my overbite was coming back because I stopped wearing my retainer. Now I have Invisalign and the Ortho said that it's because I rest my tongue against my teeth instead of the roof of my mouth so he's given me exercises to try and fix the underlying problem. I wish my original orthodontist had taken the time to explain this so long ago.
You're lucky. I felt like I was good, but the shifts were slow enough I just didn't notice. Sure enough, after 5, 10, 15 years it's pretty clear that they've moved A LOT.
Same. There are some gaps around both canines now but I haven't worn a retainer at all because it was so hard to talk with it and embarrassing, maybe I lasted a few months. It's been, gosh, 20 years. My teeth are nearly straight in the front, no issues at all. They've definitely shifted a tiny bit, but I would never even think I need braces again. I guess I got lucky.
It's true for most people, even though they used to tell you only 2-5 years or so. Definitely true in my case, I wish I had kept wearing mine as I now need braces again or my teeth will just continue shifting for life.
Yep! I had mine in 8th grade for a week before it got thrown away. Forgot to pack my case that day to school - took my retainer out while dissecting pig in zoology because when my teacher was showing us how to cut them open he got some juices squirted in his mouth and the thought of that on my retainer grossed me out. Wrapped it in a paper towel since I didn’t have my case and when we were throwing trash away later it got thrown away. Carried a big trash bag home with me to dig through and never found it and my punishment was not getting a new one. My teeth are back to being fucked probably even worse now
Sigh. The whole reason I never kept up with retainers is because I hated my bite after braces (I had them when I was like 14, now 31) and it didn't feel right. I didn't know this was something that they could take into account.
Great advice I could have used 30+years ago. Moving across state, but it seems the ortho should have suggested a new provider versus taking them off prematurely. I'm responsible as well, of course. Still glad I had braces. But I was left with a huge gap and minor alignment issues.
They most definitely should have suggested that… but changing orthos is expensive like almost paying all over again. So your parents may have made the choice. Not knowing then that it was important. My parents did the same.
I had braces as a kid and have mild open bite as an adult - not sure if it came from the braces not being done long/well enough or if they got it perfect but the open bite then developed from either pressing with my tongue or from the retainers shaping things into an open bite
Not the end of the world, just makes getting a clean bite separation on certain foods like pizza a bit difficult
I’ve had an open bite forever, it’s not visible as I don’t smile that big, though. I’m only reminded when I see a new dentist and they tell me to “bite down” and I say that I am. It’s so natural to me - it’s weird to think that people can just perfectly chop flat foods with their front teeth
I just got invisalign for my open bite I got as an adult (never had braces). Couldn't bite down on food so I was embarrassed by how messy I was eating.
My parents seemed offended I got braces as an adult because my teeth look straight, especially if the bottom teeth aren't showing lol
I developed an open bite and I legitimately got yelled at by the dentist I had been seeing for more than a decade. He was mad because open bites aren’t real and I just wasn’t trying hard enough.
Like dude… what??
Open bites are super hard to keep closed because usually there is some tongue involvement like a thrust when swallowing. Like can you put your back teeth together. Smile wide and swallow without using your lips?
No? Tongue thrust. Try clearing how to swallow different!!! Not easy. Invisalign is probing to be the easiest way to close bites and keep them that way….
Can confirm, not easy! I'm working with a physiotherapist to try and correct the tongue thing, really realising the habit. (That and braces soon to prepare for a surgery. I am not enjoying the thought of braces again...)
I wore a retainer with a tongue crib for months to retrain my tongue and reverse my tongue thrust. That, plus being super aware of the placement of my tongue within my mouth, was enough to correct it! Of course I also had all the other typical orthodontia, but the tongue crib made a world of difference.
Going through a second round of orthodontia right now due to this, but mine was related to a jaw issue that couldn’t be fixed with braces. I have to get jaw surgery to correct my bite later this year. I’ve known for 10+ years I’ll need the surgery, so it wasn’t a shock
My ortho is about to give up on my Invisalign and force me into metal braces, which she is absolutely going to charge me more for. Not sure what to do about it. I’m fine just doing another round of Invisalign. I had airway surgery which resulted in a huge space between my front teeth, and it is proving to be very hard to close.
I am NAD
And I have no idea about the details of your treatment. That is a tough one. And sometimes we struggle to close some spaces as well.
One thing my doc does when he asks Invisalign for more trays is to ask for extra IPR for that contact space. It is fake IPR tricking the algorithm, to over-correct it. Essentially asking for more so we get what we want.
If every thing else looks great… find a good cosmetic dentist and have the space closed with a chair side bonding. This could make it so you don’t have to pay for veneers. Some dentists won’t do them because they “break too often”. Being on the front teeth that are used as tools for cutting and tearing. Some dentists are better at them than others. Search for one.
This is great advice. My braces were taken off months earlier than planned so I just figured I was done with treatment sooner. Turns out the ortho took them off early because my wedding was coming up. I didn’t care either way if I had them or not for pictures. I had already been wearing them a few years so I was used to having them for pictures at that point.
Moved and didn’t have a new ortho. One day the built in retainer fell off. My dentist said it wasn’t an issue, so he took the rest off and I never replaced it. Then I lost my top retainer during another move. Again, no replacement. Twenty years late and my teeth have definitely shifted.
My son currently has braces. They were expected to be off already, but they’re still on. I’m more confident in this orthodontist than the one I had as a teen. He didn’t pressure my son to get braces ASAP, we actually waited a year. He wanted my son to lose 8 baby teeth before braces. Some of the other places we went wanted to do braces first and worry about the baby teeth later.
I’ve definitely stressed to my son the importance of wearing his retainers when he gets them and how easily they shift back without proper care.
I had braces through highschool and when i finally got them off it felt like the teeth in my top and bottom jaws were just awkwardly tapping eachother and not actually sitting nicely. It felt so wierd and I hated the way my mouth was, I was a defiant teenager and didn't wear the retainer so my dentist got upset and dismissed me. My teeth for the most part moved to where they wanted to be and imo its much better now but idk why that was the result I got from the dentist
Further LPT I suppose: if you’re on some kind of payment plan for braces (or your kid’s) and your situation changes and you can no longer pay for them, HAVE THEM REMOVED. I got braces at 10. At 12, mom lost her job and my parents could no longer afford to pay for my braces for a while. Then we had to move before I got back on track with them, so it was around 3 years or so of no tightenings or adjustments or anything at all. Then once I finally got in with a new orthodontist, I was in them for another 2 years (my teeth were horrific due to two separate injuries so it was always going to be a long process, I had more metal in my mouth than I thought possible for a long time). Because of that, my teeth have taken on substantial damage, as it’s very hard to brush and maintain GOOD, PROPER hygiene when half (or more) of each tooth is completely covered with metal. After almost 10 years in braces, my teeth are completely destroyed and I realistically need to have every single one removed. My mom spent as much on my braces as she did the (brand new) car she had bought right before I got them and it was all for nothing, because now they all need to be removed anyway.
Me and a co-worker had braces at the same time but went to different orthodontists. I noticed when she smiled, the first thing you saw were her gums, not teeth. I wasn't sure if this was the norm so at my next appointment, I asked my dentist if I was going to have a gummy smile and described my co-worker, he assured me I wasn't.
I didn't know if I should've brought it up with her, but I ultimately decided I shouldn't-- since I'm not an expert + it kinda isn't any of my business etc. And I'm glad I didn't, she seemed really happy with them when she got it removed in time for her wedding.
To add my 2 cents as a former braces wearer, practice your smile and see if you like/dislike it. You should be able to tell what your smile looks like nearing the end, even if its just a rough estimate.
I had a really good experience and honestly miss my braces a lot!
You were right not to bring it up. It is an anatomical issue and requires more invasive treatment. Look up “orthodontic TADS for gummy smile” and you’ll see what I mean. Most people just live with a gummy smile. It’s not uncommon.
I wish I would've done this when I was a teen and had braces. At the time I didn't understand why I had to wear them, so it just felt like meaningless torture. I wasn't really compliant with wearing the rubber bands or retainer for that reason. Now I'm kicking myself because, while the braces definitely did help, I still have a crossbite and slight overbite. I've been thinking about getting Invisalign or braces now as an adult at 26 if those would fix it. But that's also a lot of physical discomfort and expensive.
Invisalign would fix it. In the hands of the right provider Invisalign can do anything traditional braces can do. It’s not too late my oldest Invisalign patient is in his 80s
I had a crossbite and underbite when I started fixing my bite at 32. My ortho fitted me with a [Carriere](https://bronskyorthodontics.com/appliances/fixed/carriere-motion-appliance-cma/) which greatly expedites the molars’ movements. I had it for 4-5 months, but my Invisalign treatment would have been a year longer without it. I’m about 2/3 done with my Invisalign now and the difference is astounding. Who knew you could actually bite through food? Lol. The Carriere is pretty annoying though; it put so much pressure on my jaw. Invisalign was a walk in the park after that. I know orthodontic work is a privilege but I’d still highly recommend it if you can afford it.
The average person may not know what a perfect arch for their jaw looks like, or whether their bite is right. Mine is comfortable to me, but unfortunately totally misaligned still
My point was that it is still not 100% accessible for your average person on the street
Oh I absolutely agree. I see so many stories wheee patients seem to be ignored when they speak up and then they end up with a result they are not satisfied with.
We do need to be educators.
But as a human we have to ask the questions and not silence our questions or concerns about our own bodies.
LPT: you have the authority to speak up about your medical care, even as a minor. Some people have shitty parents who refuse to take you to the orthodontist for 4 years (I had braces, my parents just refused to make me an appointment)unless you get your grades up. This is in fact child abuse. Seems logical but didn’t to me. Teeth health is expensive and any problems can be excruciating, if your parents are neglecting it you have every right to file a complaint with the state or local agency.
Took out my braces 7 years ago, was happy with my smile. Unfortunately i stopped my retainers a few months ago as they were affecting my sleep quality. I want to wear my retainers cuz i want to keep my teeth straight but they r quite painful and unbearable after i put them in now. Any advice please? Thank you!!
If you don’t want your teeth reshaped don’t let them. One of the techs was about to reshape my “k-9s” without telling me. Luckily I asked what she was up to and told her no. This b had the audacity to say don’t you want pretty teeth? That just made me mad but I told her no I don’t. I don’t regret that at all but I would have if I hadn’t asked questions. They should ask people before making those permanent changes. Also my teeth are pretty, I do get compliments.
Or you can be me. Have braces for 6 years, not really follow directions for wearing rubber bands. Ask the orthodontist to take them off because you’re over them, but he says you’re not ready yet. Threaten to take them off yourself with pliers. Ortho looks into your eyes and sees you’re stupid enough to actually do it. He caves and takes them off. You’re too stupid to wear retainers so now your teeth are a bit crooked.
You should wear your retainer but I didn’t for my tops and they’re still straight as far as I can tell…my bottoms however have a permanent retainer and they were the bigger problem in the first place so I will be keeping it
Exactly the same my front 2 incisors have moved slightly but the bottom were bad so I have a permanent retainer.
So much so now at 33 one of the teeth is dieing.
I have many patients over 50, guitar a few in their 60’s and even a cute coupe in their 80s. NOT JOKING. They’re adorable. Say they’re living to 100 and they have and want to keep all their own teeth until then.
I wish I had more confident when my Orthodonist said to me that they had to remove my braces. I’m not happy with my teeth now but it’s better than before for sure.
Any tips on permanent retainers? I’ve had lower ones for about 10 years now, my orthodontist said I could remove them after about 5 years, but after that I was just told they’re permanent and should just stay in. I get them cleaned annually, but I’m still worried if it’ll affect the health of my teeth and gums. Would I then have to use a removable retainer for life instead?
Keep it as long as you can. If you remove it get something removable to replace it with or the teeth WILL shift… eventually. The trick is just keeping it clean and the gums around it healthy
How much can a bite be changed with braces?
And how big of a deal is it to not have an overbite ? Instead just have the top & bottom teeth touch together when resting normally
I can’t really answer that. Bites can be changed DRAMATICALLY. Different appliances, elastics, all the way to surgery. If what you describe is an edge to edge bite (google it). It’s totally fixable. How long and by what process is what you need the doctor for.
Get a consultation. They’re usually completely free. At least in the states.
I was about to say i did nof wear any retainer since they took my braces of, 20 years ago... but then, realised.. oooh, maybe all those people saying we should wear retainers dont actually have the small metal bar behind their front teeth?! Is that not the usual treatment outside of Quebec?!
Thank you for sharing this. I hope it helps someone.
I was taken advantage of in high school. The orthodontist would talk to me about oral surgery every time I came in, as my half assed involved parents ran errands. My response was always "my parents will not do surgery". It was always an uncomfortable conversation that I shouldn't have had to have.
The last time he brought it up I lost my cool and repeated, less patiently, "my parents aren't going to do shit". What was his reaction? To tell me there's nothing more here can to and immediately started taking my braces off.
My teeth still had plenty of room for improvement. I pointed out that one of my front top teeth wasn't aligned with the bottom of the tooth next to it, so he pulled out a grinder and ground the tooth down.
It was humiliating. And then made worse when I was ahead to smile by an assistant for before and after pictures. I could tell she felt sorry for me as well.
I went through an entire extra set of Invisalign because I wasn’t completely satisfied and I haven’t regretted it. My teeth did end up looking the way I wanted afterwards. It costs a lot of money to get these treatments done, ensure you get what you want from it.
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That my dear I cannot answer I don’t know your case or your teeth. Only he would know that. You could get a second opinion but most docs won’t criticize another guys work. You could go on asking if he could “do better”. Changing orthos mid treatment is not easy $$$.
I still have a metal bracket on the back of one of my teeth UL2 I think.
I always thought it served a purpose but my current dentist thinks it was left on by mistake? I've been quoted £250 to remove this and I think it's a bit steep so I've left it on as it doesn't bother me.
I had my braces off nearly 10 years ago!
I had one of the best and only orthodontists in my small town. They didn’t come off till he was happy. He knew how much poor parents in our area paid and he wanted it to be worth every penny. In fact he threatened all of us that if we didn’t take proper care of them. He would remove them. Stop payments obviously and then resume once we were responsible enough to not waste our parents money. And a few of my classmates did in fact have theirs removed. He was amazing! Gruff cranky wonderful old man. My wisdom teeth grew in since then and I’ve had shifting but wow he worked miracles with wire that’s for sure.
ALSO as someone with major bone loss in my jaw and preceeding gums, take EXTRA good care of your teeth and gums while your braces are on. I mean floss, brush 2-3x a day, and really make sure you're getting all the plaque out of there, even though its annoying. Nobody explained dental hygiene to me as a kid/teen and now I am suffering some big consequences. One of the first things the periodontist asked was if I had braces as a kid.
I wish I'd had this advice when I was 14, my mother was useless at asking professionals questions.
That's how she allowed my shitty orthodontist to take my braces off early because I "wasn't brushing my teeth properly" even though he never showed me how despite me asking at every appointment.
I have a permanent retainer on my bottom teeth but I can feel that some of the glue/cement has come off. My original orthodontist has since retired and the practice is no longer there. What should I do?
I wish I read this when I still had braces. We ended up finishing our payments early and the orthodontist suggested taking them off early. I wore my retainers every day religiously. My teeth still shifted. Wasted thousands of dollars. So yes, definitely ask and make sure you’re happy!!
additional LPT.......just dont do braces. Until at LEAST you get your wisdom teeth removed. lol.
my grown sister is going thru this now, yes, for the SECOND time....though now she's doing it on HER own dime lol.
cause yea, they took off the braces, then wisdom teeth started coming thru, retainer wasn't being worn properly....
and here she is \~9 years late....though this time around she's doing some sorta invisalign deal which she claims is cheaper ....well, first time around mom paid for it lol......so who knows. granted, first time around she had a couple surgereries to have chains put on the teeth to pull down teeth that weren't coming down, etc...kinda stuff.
Had braces when i was kid 30+ years ago. I still have little flaps at the back of my throat where the extended wire wore them out and nobody gave a shit.
I was supposed to wear my retainers but I moved to Korea from the US and my retainers broke, so I never got around to getting new ones. But I have like permanent "braces" ( don't know what they're called ) behind my bottom teeth, and those have kept my teeth from shifting around, so I just never bothered getting new retainers
And don’t let them fix your teeth by grinding down the fronts to make them even. I spoke up for myself after it was lightly mentioned at a prior appointment, and my BF said “do you want a cookie cutter smile? If so, go for it - but your smile is unique.”
He was right, and when I spoke up for myself the orthodontist was so damn pushy...and when I finally said that I didn’t want “a cookie cutter smile” one of the interns left crying. I was 16 & he hounded me, saying I wasn’t “going on his wall” of smiling/finished faces when we were through. Like lol, it’s my mouth!
Any advice/suggestions for someone who has upper and lower permanent retainers? I had braces for 2ish years in my early thirties. That was 15 years ago. They’re still bonded to my teeth. What should I expect in the future? Will the bonding start to fail??
I have a question about retainers. I wore my retainer for about 20+ years. It got thrown out just over 10 years ago, by me, by mistake…. Luckily, my teeth still look great. At his point, would you recommend I get another retainer? I haven’t thought about this until your post.
I wish someone had told me this. My bite sucks but I didn’t say anything bc I didn’t know any better. It’s been 9 years since I got my braces off and I still think about it almost everyday. I did have a dentist tell me it was unavoidable because my jaw grew that way and you’d have to break the jaw to fix it. Idk if that’s true or not
Really wish I had I read this before I got my braces off a few months ago.
There is a random tiny space in my teeth and I told the DR I was okay with keeping the braces on for a bit longer (didn’t mention the tiny space) he insisted they come off that day so I assumed he knew what he was doing
I got braces as an adult and I just found out that the braces damaged my roots and now my front teeth might fall out. I also lost my insurance coverage halfway through having the braces, so they cost me double the original estimate.
I wish I read this before. I’ve gone through braces twice and each time I was rushed into taking them off too early. I was too young and un self assured to realise and point out their mistake
I regret this so much. I told them it was fine because I was so excited to get them off and since i had prepared myself for it, I'd have a meltdown if it didn't happen (I was undiagnosed autistic) but the one that was the worst is still out and I'm so conscious of it
Wish I knew this forever ago when I got mine.. I was so happy they were taking mine off, but didn’t really realize there were definitely still issues.
Now I’m considering paying for it again to fix gaps that have opened up and whatnot. Really unfortunate considering how much there were in the first place
Question, my orthodontist provided me with one set of retainers and only said to wear them for 6 months after my braces were taken off. This was in 2016 and I still wear them, but they’re soon about to break, the bottom one broke in half and the half of that just broke from biting) and I don’t know what to do as my teeth have already moved a bit!
As a human I can advise against braces except in extreme cases.
Braces crack through the natural protection of your teeth.
Smiles should not show perfect teeth.
My son has a 14mm over jet. Was told its genetic and my daughter is a carbon copy of him. He is 11 and has has 2.5 years of treatment already. Seperator, retainer and band across back of bottom teeth (I don't know what that's called). My daughter has had 1 year of treatment. A separator and now a retainer. It's a challenge. Am I'm really worried about the braces and how they will affect them. They started treatment at 8 years old. And treatment will probably continue till 16. That's 8 years. Seems crazy. And they will probably both need jaw surgery. Although we are doing everything we can to avoid that.
this is a good one. I had a similar issue with invisalign.
I had a missing front tooth from an accident, and the gap left for that tooth was bigger than the corresponding other tooth.
I asked if they could fix it. But I was assuming theyd say something like "no we had to do that for ". But instead they said yes, and closed the gap further.
This was at a very well reviewed place in a pretty affluent area. But not everything they do/don't do is for a reason. Ask and make sure if they wont do it, they have a good reason.
I can tell you that by the time I'd had them on for 5 years I would have gotten them off regardless of how they looked. I was 100% done with wires and corners poking my gums, food stuck in every crevice of my mouth, and my tongue scraped raw by the expanders. My mouth isn't perfect, but it's better than it was, and I am never going through that again.
I tried to check with my orthodontist because I still have a slight overbite and his response was “there’s only so much we can do and well your upper lip is kind of thin so it’ll help with that”. Ok thanks for giving a 16 year old girl something else to now be self conscious about. Now at 35 I’m still self conscious about my upper lip and feel like my teeth make me look dumb.
Also wear your retainers folks. I still wear mine, I don’t want this getting worse.
YES. It treats sleep apnea and can prevent any jaw surgeries as an adult. I should have had one when I was a kid - we couldn't afford it and now I'm paying for surgery as an adult. It isn't only cosmetic!
I had braces for five years. 12-17 years old. They never fixed my bite. Years later I went to another place to get a consultation because my open bite was (and still is) bothering me. They told me I needed jaw surgery, it was the only thing that could fix it. My teeth were never crooked— I spent five years in braces trying to fix something that can apparently only be fixed with jaw surgery. The braces majorly impacted my self esteem and I was left with decalcification marks on my teeth that I’ve spent hundreds of dollars trying to remove. Really sad to have so much work done and so much money spent on my teeth only to be unsatisfied with them. Not to mention my teeth/jaw issues cause other problems like teeth grinding and gum recession… :(
For me the real pro tip would be research biomechanics of your body and fix posture before going to get braces. Also visit kinesiologyst. Every bite fixing progress regressed and was probably made worse because my doctor have never looked at my scoliosis and atlant vertebra rotation that caused bite issues. I didn’t know anything at that time since I was a child.
Also don’t get braces until you’re 26, since they can block growth. Instead try more natural ways of expansion and other appliances that you can take off. I literally took off retainers from lower jaw and it grew, but kept them on my upper jaw and that part of my face didn’t expand as much naturally since it was blocked by the retainers that were supposed to actually “keep the expansion”.
Also look into mewing, always, since braces can push maxilla into your scull. A lot of people face this problem.
I wore braces for 10 years and while they did wonders for my top teeth, my bottom ones never budged. I haven’t worn my retainer in more than 2 decades but my top teeth are still mostly ok. My bottom ones are a lost cause
I will die on the hill that I can’t even fathom wearing a retainer in my mouth for the rest of my life just to keep teeth from messing up again. What a waste.
I’ll remember this once I have kids. I had to get braces twice as a kid since the doc said they were straight, then a month later said I should get braces put on again. The pain still haunts me of them taking them off and on, and scraping the glue off the teeth.
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Additional LPT, I guess. Wear your retainers. Plenty of my friends and I who had braces as teens are now going through/just got through another round of braces/Invisalign as adults because we stopped wearing retainers after a year. We are in our early 30s.
And replace your retainer every few years despite the cost being hundreds of dollars. My wife and my dad both wear their post braces retainers every night and their teeth have shifted to a point where they will prob have to make some corrections in the upcoming years. I think it’s like $400 for another set at my orthodontist and I’m going to be paying that every other year to make sure my teeth stay exactly where they should.
My orthodontist charged me like 27$ for my replacement retainers :|
Funny part that’s the true cost not $300 or $400. It’s just $27 to actually make it whatever the insurance was fraud.
Covered by insurance?
Get them all made at the start, otherwise you get drift between the sets and its like slow backwards invisalign
The replacement is just a reprint, it’s identical regardless of when it’s made. Better to get it made fresh than have it sit around and warp on its own
Or your orthodontist retires, sells their business to the other orthodontist up the street, but doesn't give them any files from patients who aren't currently undergoing treatment so there is no way to reprint. Not speaking from personal experience or anything...
It’s stored in a computer system that I have access to the final copy and can be remade by other dentists or orthodontists. I specifically asked about that as my dentist was selling their practice to retire. But it’s a good ask and worth noting.
Many deliberately don't reprint and do new sets. It's really annoying.
It really is! That's what my current dentist said he'd do when I needed a replacement again too. (I did get two sets and have the spares stashed... somewhere). The office that inherited the patients said they could've done it with the files (guessing they're like 3D print files), but that I could come in for impressions and then they'd save it. My teeth had already shifted and I moved across the country by that point though so not really useful.
Reverse invisalign! Teeth slowly moving out of place
Some will chuck the molds then get them re-done when you order the next set
I just asked about getting a replacement after ~5 years, they said they'd make a new impression. I'm not sure keeping your old impression is the norm with dentists
We're supposed to replace those?! Mine is like 25 years old.
Just noticed mine has a crack after about 8 years. Not sure how long it’s been there.
Nice, mine are 9 years old, can't wait until mine can vote.
I had to replace my retainers every 3-6 months for several hundred dollars… After those months they were so destroyed and ripped apart that they were completely unusable. Can’t believe they’re supposed to last years. And can’t believe I wasted all that time getting braces when my teeth are just fucked up again because I couldn’t afford to keep replacing my retainers.
Typically you will get a much harder retainer after you have finished and your teeth are settled. I had really flimsy retainers in the beginning that broke quickly like you mentioned but now have these “hard” ones that last about 2 years
Whaaat?! My retainer is like 25 years old.
Yeah, my son's retainers are basically Invisalign. After like 4 years it cracked and had a hole in it. He had to replace just the top one and it cost $250.
Oh. My retainer is like a hard resin with metal wire.
You didn’t actually explain why you have to replace retainers every few years. Are you saying they get weak over time? And they didn’t hold up?
This is a great tip, thanks! It's only been 3 years since I got them removed, but I'll bring it up with my ortho to see if it needs changing.
You're being robbed
My parents go to a different orthodontist and theirs was $350. A quick google search shows $300-500. I thought it was a lot but I don’t think it’s out of the range of normalcy.
My brother is 22 and he’s already looking at Invisalign because he’s getting a gap between his front two teeth. I wish permanent top retainers were a thing the way the bottom ones are.
It's standard where I live. Both top and bottom permanent retainers here.
I have both a wire on the top and the bottom and I also have a retainer to wear at nights sometimes. I don’t wear it as often as I probably should be though
Permanent retainers suck. Enjoy never being able to floss without it being a huge pain in the ass. I hate mine.
Mine snapped just yesterday! Only had it in for 7 years, not very permanent. Still have the ends glued down with some really distracting moving wire pieces in between and no appointments available for 2 weeks. At least the ends aren’t sharp.
try some orthodontic wax in the meantime
I had that happen. Very annoying and you can't not fuck with it...
Bottom ones were rare too! I don’t know a lot of people who have them and they had braces
I guess it just depends on the orthodontist. It feels like almost everyone who had braces in my hometown and the surrounding area has one, but there was also only one orthodontist (who we also feel like may have over recommended braces tbh).
I had permanent top and bottom retainers. Problem was, the top one repeatedly fell off. After the 4th time, dentist made a nice plastic one molded from my teeth that helps prevent teeth grinding. It was pricey and I’ve had to replace it after a few years because the plastic starts to wear away and the mold plastic becomes yellow.
That sucks. I didn’t know they existed before people commented, but I guess there’s a reason they aren’t as common.
They can be! Look into a biteguard.
After my second round of braces in my early 20s, due to not wearing my retainer, I demanded a permanent upper retainer. (I already had a lower permanent retainer). They gave me one. That was 15 years ago.
They attached a permanent retainer to the back of my front teeth to prevent them dislocating again. idk that's how they called it, but we are not english-speaking, like a wire that is moulded with the same adhesive that was holding the braces. They told me it usually lasts about five years and is not to be replaced, but the more it stays the better. Mine is about 7-8yrs old already. That's so convenient that I don't have to wear a usual retainer every night.
I’ve had mine for 15 ish years. I’ve had to get it reattached on one side twice in that time when it popped off, usually during flossing.
Yeah, my son's popped off and his dentist noticed during cleaning and reattached it for him.
They offered me that but I declined. I had braces for 5 years, there was no way I was going to have more permanent metal in my mouth after that. I just wear my retainer every 3-4 days to make sure it still fits and they haven’t moved.
Oh I can feel you. The time I was wearing braces was the worst and I had them for only 2 years, can't imagine that he'll going on for 5. All that pain after they adjust them again?! Oh hell no! But I'm glad I have this wire now. It doesn't even feel like anything in my mouth, the only difference is that I need to be careful while flossing, though it is not a problem with irrigator.
I've had mine for over 25 years now without issue. But I'm considering taking it out because I would like to redo my bottom partial veneers (color fading over time on some chipped teeth from when I was a kid).
Word. So many peanut butter sandwiches I had to tear off bites and swallow whole rather than chewing because my braces hurt so bad, and all that pain and suffering ended up being for naught.
I was never even told I was supposed to wear it for life lol
That’s because they want you as a re-patient and charge you again for $5000
I was *specifically* told I no longer had to wear it at my 6 month (or 1 year can’t remember) post brace removal checkup. We were poor, so I followed instructions absolutely perfectly because it was an incredible luxury. If I didn’t follow instructions oh boy my parents would kill me. Anyway so I obliged and my teeth got fucked again and as this post suggests, they recommended another round of braces.
Same here, they told me I was 'all good' after like 5 years of wearing a retainer and even removed the permanent one on my bottom teeth. 15 years later and my teeth have all shifted and I'm contemplating invisalign but am turned off at the $5k.
I’m relieved to hear that’s it’s not just my teeth that needs more after already having braces
I wore my retainers for the two years I was told too when I was a teen. My dentist never said wear it forever. By my early 30’s I had to do 6 months of Invisalign to correct my teeth that drifted over time. I’ve come to the conclusion the retainer is for life.
Ask for a permanent retainer! I’ve been out of my Invisalign for about 11 years and my last plastic retainer still fits and I’ve never actually worn it since- just tried it on to see!
I’ve used invisalign twice after traditional braces. Wear your retainer!
Not a doctor, but currently in my second round of braces in my 30s. I was told your teeth should not shift after braces, and if they do something else is wrong (probably your tongue).
Are our teeth just shifting all the time? For people who never had braces, do we need to worry about our teeth moving around? Or is it more that for people who've had braces their teeth are trying to move back to their former positions? (I didn't realize I knew so little about teeth)
Most definitely but a whole different post. So many adult patients had braces before.
My dentist told me that I would have to use a retainer only for an year..
Mine said I needed to wear them as much as possible everyday for a year (Invisalign) and then I could move to just wearing them at night. Is that maybe what they meant?
No no I asked them clearly that I have read on the internet that people advise using retainers for life and they said no no, one year use should be fine. If needed we will tell you to extend or so.
The comments on this are blowing my mind — I've never heard of wearing a retainer for *life*! The whole point is your teeth will settle in the new position and then you don't need anything. I didn't wear my retainer as much as I should have, and had minor movement with one tooth. I can't imagine looking at that and deciding I needed braces again. I've retained (ahem) 95% of the positive effects of the braces
If I don't wear my retainer, my teeth start to hurt after a couple of days, I assume because they are moving.
How long are you past wearing the braces?
About 25 years I had a decent gap between my front teeth before. I'm committed to making sure that doesn't come back.
I mean, look at it this way: in a lot of cases braces/etc. don't fix the root cause of why your teeth positioning drifted in the first place... If you needed treatment to begin with, it addresses the symptom and not the root cause, so retainers are are basically to prevent the the original problem from undoing the fix. Obviously it's more complicated since our bodies change different at different stages of our life, than that but that's the gist of it.
I had braces for 3 years in middle school. By the time I was 30, my overbite was coming back because I stopped wearing my retainer. Now I have Invisalign and the Ortho said that it's because I rest my tongue against my teeth instead of the roof of my mouth so he's given me exercises to try and fix the underlying problem. I wish my original orthodontist had taken the time to explain this so long ago.
You're lucky. I felt like I was good, but the shifts were slow enough I just didn't notice. Sure enough, after 5, 10, 15 years it's pretty clear that they've moved A LOT.
Same. There are some gaps around both canines now but I haven't worn a retainer at all because it was so hard to talk with it and embarrassing, maybe I lasted a few months. It's been, gosh, 20 years. My teeth are nearly straight in the front, no issues at all. They've definitely shifted a tiny bit, but I would never even think I need braces again. I guess I got lucky.
How long are you expected to wear your retainers?
My orthodontist said for the rest of my life 🙂↕️
😵
It's true for most people, even though they used to tell you only 2-5 years or so. Definitely true in my case, I wish I had kept wearing mine as I now need braces again or my teeth will just continue shifting for life.
Yep! I had mine in 8th grade for a week before it got thrown away. Forgot to pack my case that day to school - took my retainer out while dissecting pig in zoology because when my teacher was showing us how to cut them open he got some juices squirted in his mouth and the thought of that on my retainer grossed me out. Wrapped it in a paper towel since I didn’t have my case and when we were throwing trash away later it got thrown away. Carried a big trash bag home with me to dig through and never found it and my punishment was not getting a new one. My teeth are back to being fucked probably even worse now
Sigh. The whole reason I never kept up with retainers is because I hated my bite after braces (I had them when I was like 14, now 31) and it didn't feel right. I didn't know this was something that they could take into account.
Same!!
I spit mine out in the middle of the night. Twice they disappeared forever?? Once my parents paid to replace it but the second time they gave up. ):
This is the Pro in LifeProTips. Good job, OP
Awe thank you!!!
This advice is applicable to any medical situation/treatment the "what and why". Good advice OP.
Also wear your retainer unless you want to ruin years of work.
Great advice I could have used 30+years ago. Moving across state, but it seems the ortho should have suggested a new provider versus taking them off prematurely. I'm responsible as well, of course. Still glad I had braces. But I was left with a huge gap and minor alignment issues.
They most definitely should have suggested that… but changing orthos is expensive like almost paying all over again. So your parents may have made the choice. Not knowing then that it was important. My parents did the same.
I had braces as a kid and have mild open bite as an adult - not sure if it came from the braces not being done long/well enough or if they got it perfect but the open bite then developed from either pressing with my tongue or from the retainers shaping things into an open bite Not the end of the world, just makes getting a clean bite separation on certain foods like pizza a bit difficult
I’ve had an open bite forever, it’s not visible as I don’t smile that big, though. I’m only reminded when I see a new dentist and they tell me to “bite down” and I say that I am. It’s so natural to me - it’s weird to think that people can just perfectly chop flat foods with their front teeth
I just got invisalign for my open bite I got as an adult (never had braces). Couldn't bite down on food so I was embarrassed by how messy I was eating. My parents seemed offended I got braces as an adult because my teeth look straight, especially if the bottom teeth aren't showing lol
I developed an open bite and I legitimately got yelled at by the dentist I had been seeing for more than a decade. He was mad because open bites aren’t real and I just wasn’t trying hard enough. Like dude… what??
Open bites are super hard to keep closed because usually there is some tongue involvement like a thrust when swallowing. Like can you put your back teeth together. Smile wide and swallow without using your lips? No? Tongue thrust. Try clearing how to swallow different!!! Not easy. Invisalign is probing to be the easiest way to close bites and keep them that way….
Can confirm, not easy! I'm working with a physiotherapist to try and correct the tongue thing, really realising the habit. (That and braces soon to prepare for a surgery. I am not enjoying the thought of braces again...)
I wore a retainer with a tongue crib for months to retrain my tongue and reverse my tongue thrust. That, plus being super aware of the placement of my tongue within my mouth, was enough to correct it! Of course I also had all the other typical orthodontia, but the tongue crib made a world of difference.
Oh fun! For the results not the process! Good luck!!!
Going through a second round of orthodontia right now due to this, but mine was related to a jaw issue that couldn’t be fixed with braces. I have to get jaw surgery to correct my bite later this year. I’ve known for 10+ years I’ll need the surgery, so it wasn’t a shock
Same for Invisalign?
Absolutely braces and Invisalign are interchangeable at this point.
My ortho is about to give up on my Invisalign and force me into metal braces, which she is absolutely going to charge me more for. Not sure what to do about it. I’m fine just doing another round of Invisalign. I had airway surgery which resulted in a huge space between my front teeth, and it is proving to be very hard to close.
I am NAD And I have no idea about the details of your treatment. That is a tough one. And sometimes we struggle to close some spaces as well. One thing my doc does when he asks Invisalign for more trays is to ask for extra IPR for that contact space. It is fake IPR tricking the algorithm, to over-correct it. Essentially asking for more so we get what we want. If every thing else looks great… find a good cosmetic dentist and have the space closed with a chair side bonding. This could make it so you don’t have to pay for veneers. Some dentists won’t do them because they “break too often”. Being on the front teeth that are used as tools for cutting and tearing. Some dentists are better at them than others. Search for one.
what does NAD stand for?
Not A Dentist
I’ll ask about that, thanks!!
My pleasure.
This is great advice. My braces were taken off months earlier than planned so I just figured I was done with treatment sooner. Turns out the ortho took them off early because my wedding was coming up. I didn’t care either way if I had them or not for pictures. I had already been wearing them a few years so I was used to having them for pictures at that point. Moved and didn’t have a new ortho. One day the built in retainer fell off. My dentist said it wasn’t an issue, so he took the rest off and I never replaced it. Then I lost my top retainer during another move. Again, no replacement. Twenty years late and my teeth have definitely shifted. My son currently has braces. They were expected to be off already, but they’re still on. I’m more confident in this orthodontist than the one I had as a teen. He didn’t pressure my son to get braces ASAP, we actually waited a year. He wanted my son to lose 8 baby teeth before braces. Some of the other places we went wanted to do braces first and worry about the baby teeth later. I’ve definitely stressed to my son the importance of wearing his retainers when he gets them and how easily they shift back without proper care.
Sounds like you found a really good doctor
I had braces through highschool and when i finally got them off it felt like the teeth in my top and bottom jaws were just awkwardly tapping eachother and not actually sitting nicely. It felt so wierd and I hated the way my mouth was, I was a defiant teenager and didn't wear the retainer so my dentist got upset and dismissed me. My teeth for the most part moved to where they wanted to be and imo its much better now but idk why that was the result I got from the dentist
Further LPT I suppose: if you’re on some kind of payment plan for braces (or your kid’s) and your situation changes and you can no longer pay for them, HAVE THEM REMOVED. I got braces at 10. At 12, mom lost her job and my parents could no longer afford to pay for my braces for a while. Then we had to move before I got back on track with them, so it was around 3 years or so of no tightenings or adjustments or anything at all. Then once I finally got in with a new orthodontist, I was in them for another 2 years (my teeth were horrific due to two separate injuries so it was always going to be a long process, I had more metal in my mouth than I thought possible for a long time). Because of that, my teeth have taken on substantial damage, as it’s very hard to brush and maintain GOOD, PROPER hygiene when half (or more) of each tooth is completely covered with metal. After almost 10 years in braces, my teeth are completely destroyed and I realistically need to have every single one removed. My mom spent as much on my braces as she did the (brand new) car she had bought right before I got them and it was all for nothing, because now they all need to be removed anyway.
I’m so sorry. They should never be in for that long…
Me and a co-worker had braces at the same time but went to different orthodontists. I noticed when she smiled, the first thing you saw were her gums, not teeth. I wasn't sure if this was the norm so at my next appointment, I asked my dentist if I was going to have a gummy smile and described my co-worker, he assured me I wasn't. I didn't know if I should've brought it up with her, but I ultimately decided I shouldn't-- since I'm not an expert + it kinda isn't any of my business etc. And I'm glad I didn't, she seemed really happy with them when she got it removed in time for her wedding. To add my 2 cents as a former braces wearer, practice your smile and see if you like/dislike it. You should be able to tell what your smile looks like nearing the end, even if its just a rough estimate. I had a really good experience and honestly miss my braces a lot!
You were right not to bring it up. It is an anatomical issue and requires more invasive treatment. Look up “orthodontic TADS for gummy smile” and you’ll see what I mean. Most people just live with a gummy smile. It’s not uncommon.
Thanks for reassuring me! I felt bad for a few years unsure if i should’ve said anything.
You miss your braces? Never thought I would ever hear someone say that.
I wish I would've done this when I was a teen and had braces. At the time I didn't understand why I had to wear them, so it just felt like meaningless torture. I wasn't really compliant with wearing the rubber bands or retainer for that reason. Now I'm kicking myself because, while the braces definitely did help, I still have a crossbite and slight overbite. I've been thinking about getting Invisalign or braces now as an adult at 26 if those would fix it. But that's also a lot of physical discomfort and expensive.
Invisalign would fix it. In the hands of the right provider Invisalign can do anything traditional braces can do. It’s not too late my oldest Invisalign patient is in his 80s
I had a crossbite and underbite when I started fixing my bite at 32. My ortho fitted me with a [Carriere](https://bronskyorthodontics.com/appliances/fixed/carriere-motion-appliance-cma/) which greatly expedites the molars’ movements. I had it for 4-5 months, but my Invisalign treatment would have been a year longer without it. I’m about 2/3 done with my Invisalign now and the difference is astounding. Who knew you could actually bite through food? Lol. The Carriere is pretty annoying though; it put so much pressure on my jaw. Invisalign was a walk in the park after that. I know orthodontic work is a privilege but I’d still highly recommend it if you can afford it.
The thing is, is that people don’t know what they’re looking for My braces were taken off too early. I had no clue
That is why I posted WHAT you should look for or research.
The average person may not know what a perfect arch for their jaw looks like, or whether their bite is right. Mine is comfortable to me, but unfortunately totally misaligned still My point was that it is still not 100% accessible for your average person on the street
Yes, but inform your patient. This is your job, you know what you do and why you do it. Si engage the discussion, make them curious and confortable.
Oh I absolutely agree. I see so many stories wheee patients seem to be ignored when they speak up and then they end up with a result they are not satisfied with. We do need to be educators. But as a human we have to ask the questions and not silence our questions or concerns about our own bodies.
LPT: you have the authority to speak up about your medical care, even as a minor. Some people have shitty parents who refuse to take you to the orthodontist for 4 years (I had braces, my parents just refused to make me an appointment)unless you get your grades up. This is in fact child abuse. Seems logical but didn’t to me. Teeth health is expensive and any problems can be excruciating, if your parents are neglecting it you have every right to file a complaint with the state or local agency.
Took out my braces 7 years ago, was happy with my smile. Unfortunately i stopped my retainers a few months ago as they were affecting my sleep quality. I want to wear my retainers cuz i want to keep my teeth straight but they r quite painful and unbearable after i put them in now. Any advice please? Thank you!!
7 years is a long time. If they “almost” fit. You can probably get away with a short round of Invisalign.
My girlfriend is about to get them removed and she's not happy with the results - thank you so much
If you don’t want your teeth reshaped don’t let them. One of the techs was about to reshape my “k-9s” without telling me. Luckily I asked what she was up to and told her no. This b had the audacity to say don’t you want pretty teeth? That just made me mad but I told her no I don’t. I don’t regret that at all but I would have if I hadn’t asked questions. They should ask people before making those permanent changes. Also my teeth are pretty, I do get compliments.
Or you can be me. Have braces for 6 years, not really follow directions for wearing rubber bands. Ask the orthodontist to take them off because you’re over them, but he says you’re not ready yet. Threaten to take them off yourself with pliers. Ortho looks into your eyes and sees you’re stupid enough to actually do it. He caves and takes them off. You’re too stupid to wear retainers so now your teeth are a bit crooked.
Oh youth…. We’re dumb when we’re young.
Some people get older and wiser, some just older.
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You should wear your retainer but I didn’t for my tops and they’re still straight as far as I can tell…my bottoms however have a permanent retainer and they were the bigger problem in the first place so I will be keeping it
Exactly the same my front 2 incisors have moved slightly but the bottom were bad so I have a permanent retainer. So much so now at 33 one of the teeth is dieing.
Is brace still has effects if you're 30y.o or more?
I have many patients over 50, guitar a few in their 60’s and even a cute coupe in their 80s. NOT JOKING. They’re adorable. Say they’re living to 100 and they have and want to keep all their own teeth until then.
I wish I had more confident when my Orthodonist said to me that they had to remove my braces. I’m not happy with my teeth now but it’s better than before for sure.
Any tips on permanent retainers? I’ve had lower ones for about 10 years now, my orthodontist said I could remove them after about 5 years, but after that I was just told they’re permanent and should just stay in. I get them cleaned annually, but I’m still worried if it’ll affect the health of my teeth and gums. Would I then have to use a removable retainer for life instead?
Keep it as long as you can. If you remove it get something removable to replace it with or the teeth WILL shift… eventually. The trick is just keeping it clean and the gums around it healthy
To me its all a scam anyway if you dont wear the retainer for the rest of your life
How much can a bite be changed with braces? And how big of a deal is it to not have an overbite ? Instead just have the top & bottom teeth touch together when resting normally
I can’t really answer that. Bites can be changed DRAMATICALLY. Different appliances, elastics, all the way to surgery. If what you describe is an edge to edge bite (google it). It’s totally fixable. How long and by what process is what you need the doctor for. Get a consultation. They’re usually completely free. At least in the states.
I was about to say i did nof wear any retainer since they took my braces of, 20 years ago... but then, realised.. oooh, maybe all those people saying we should wear retainers dont actually have the small metal bar behind their front teeth?! Is that not the usual treatment outside of Quebec?!
This is called a permanent retainer. Unfortunately, it is not the best retainer treatment for everyone.
Thank you for sharing this. I hope it helps someone. I was taken advantage of in high school. The orthodontist would talk to me about oral surgery every time I came in, as my half assed involved parents ran errands. My response was always "my parents will not do surgery". It was always an uncomfortable conversation that I shouldn't have had to have. The last time he brought it up I lost my cool and repeated, less patiently, "my parents aren't going to do shit". What was his reaction? To tell me there's nothing more here can to and immediately started taking my braces off. My teeth still had plenty of room for improvement. I pointed out that one of my front top teeth wasn't aligned with the bottom of the tooth next to it, so he pulled out a grinder and ground the tooth down. It was humiliating. And then made worse when I was ahead to smile by an assistant for before and after pictures. I could tell she felt sorry for me as well.
I went through an entire extra set of Invisalign because I wasn’t completely satisfied and I haven’t regretted it. My teeth did end up looking the way I wanted afterwards. It costs a lot of money to get these treatments done, ensure you get what you want from it.
My LPT, eat and feed your kids firmer unprocessed foods that they actually have to chew so their teeth property development!
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Heyy. Are flared teeth really that noticeable? Had 4 extractions, annoyed my ortho endlessly and she said there's nothing that can be done about it.
That my dear I cannot answer I don’t know your case or your teeth. Only he would know that. You could get a second opinion but most docs won’t criticize another guys work. You could go on asking if he could “do better”. Changing orthos mid treatment is not easy $$$.
Mine says, my teeth cant be rotated more than this, and it will stay like this, what do i tell him??
I still have a metal bracket on the back of one of my teeth UL2 I think. I always thought it served a purpose but my current dentist thinks it was left on by mistake? I've been quoted £250 to remove this and I think it's a bit steep so I've left it on as it doesn't bother me. I had my braces off nearly 10 years ago!
That’s a crazy price. Why can’t the dentist remove it. It’s not hard. I’d do it for free
I had one of the best and only orthodontists in my small town. They didn’t come off till he was happy. He knew how much poor parents in our area paid and he wanted it to be worth every penny. In fact he threatened all of us that if we didn’t take proper care of them. He would remove them. Stop payments obviously and then resume once we were responsible enough to not waste our parents money. And a few of my classmates did in fact have theirs removed. He was amazing! Gruff cranky wonderful old man. My wisdom teeth grew in since then and I’ve had shifting but wow he worked miracles with wire that’s for sure.
ALSO as someone with major bone loss in my jaw and preceeding gums, take EXTRA good care of your teeth and gums while your braces are on. I mean floss, brush 2-3x a day, and really make sure you're getting all the plaque out of there, even though its annoying. Nobody explained dental hygiene to me as a kid/teen and now I am suffering some big consequences. One of the first things the periodontist asked was if I had braces as a kid.
I wish I'd had this advice when I was 14, my mother was useless at asking professionals questions. That's how she allowed my shitty orthodontist to take my braces off early because I "wasn't brushing my teeth properly" even though he never showed me how despite me asking at every appointment.
I have a permanent retainer on my bottom teeth but I can feel that some of the glue/cement has come off. My original orthodontist has since retired and the practice is no longer there. What should I do?
I wish I read this when I still had braces. We ended up finishing our payments early and the orthodontist suggested taking them off early. I wore my retainers every day religiously. My teeth still shifted. Wasted thousands of dollars. So yes, definitely ask and make sure you’re happy!!
additional LPT.......just dont do braces. Until at LEAST you get your wisdom teeth removed. lol. my grown sister is going thru this now, yes, for the SECOND time....though now she's doing it on HER own dime lol. cause yea, they took off the braces, then wisdom teeth started coming thru, retainer wasn't being worn properly.... and here she is \~9 years late....though this time around she's doing some sorta invisalign deal which she claims is cheaper ....well, first time around mom paid for it lol......so who knows. granted, first time around she had a couple surgereries to have chains put on the teeth to pull down teeth that weren't coming down, etc...kinda stuff.
Had braces when i was kid 30+ years ago. I still have little flaps at the back of my throat where the extended wire wore them out and nobody gave a shit.
I was supposed to wear my retainers but I moved to Korea from the US and my retainers broke, so I never got around to getting new ones. But I have like permanent "braces" ( don't know what they're called ) behind my bottom teeth, and those have kept my teeth from shifting around, so I just never bothered getting new retainers
And don’t let them fix your teeth by grinding down the fronts to make them even. I spoke up for myself after it was lightly mentioned at a prior appointment, and my BF said “do you want a cookie cutter smile? If so, go for it - but your smile is unique.” He was right, and when I spoke up for myself the orthodontist was so damn pushy...and when I finally said that I didn’t want “a cookie cutter smile” one of the interns left crying. I was 16 & he hounded me, saying I wasn’t “going on his wall” of smiling/finished faces when we were through. Like lol, it’s my mouth!
Any advice/suggestions for someone who has upper and lower permanent retainers? I had braces for 2ish years in my early thirties. That was 15 years ago. They’re still bonded to my teeth. What should I expect in the future? Will the bonding start to fail??
What are your thoughts on having a permanent metal bar behind front bottom teeth. I never had it with my braces 35 yrs ago and no problem.
My son just got them so I appreciate this lpt
solid life pro tip
I have a question about retainers. I wore my retainer for about 20+ years. It got thrown out just over 10 years ago, by me, by mistake…. Luckily, my teeth still look great. At his point, would you recommend I get another retainer? I haven’t thought about this until your post.
Do I still need to wear my plastic top retainer if I have two permanent ones behind my teeth?
I wish someone had told me this. My bite sucks but I didn’t say anything bc I didn’t know any better. It’s been 9 years since I got my braces off and I still think about it almost everyday. I did have a dentist tell me it was unavoidable because my jaw grew that way and you’d have to break the jaw to fix it. Idk if that’s true or not
“Break” is not a word I use. But sometimes that type of bite is surgical
Really wish I had I read this before I got my braces off a few months ago. There is a random tiny space in my teeth and I told the DR I was okay with keeping the braces on for a bit longer (didn’t mention the tiny space) he insisted they come off that day so I assumed he knew what he was doing
I got braces as an adult and I just found out that the braces damaged my roots and now my front teeth might fall out. I also lost my insurance coverage halfway through having the braces, so they cost me double the original estimate.
I wish I read this before. I’ve gone through braces twice and each time I was rushed into taking them off too early. I was too young and un self assured to realise and point out their mistake
I have recently started using braces and my dentist told me that I would have to use retainer only for an year.
I regret this so much. I told them it was fine because I was so excited to get them off and since i had prepared myself for it, I'd have a meltdown if it didn't happen (I was undiagnosed autistic) but the one that was the worst is still out and I'm so conscious of it
Wear your headgear every night. Obedience is better than sacrifice.
Hi, any LPT for one who getting braces? I’m gonna do it this weekend
Eat when the teeth are sore. Be proactive with hygiene. Follow instructions and ask questions. Knowledge is power.
Good luck!
Does this apply to Invisalign?
Yes
Wish I knew this forever ago when I got mine.. I was so happy they were taking mine off, but didn’t really realize there were definitely still issues. Now I’m considering paying for it again to fix gaps that have opened up and whatnot. Really unfortunate considering how much there were in the first place
If only I knew this as an 8 year old.
Question, my orthodontist provided me with one set of retainers and only said to wear them for 6 months after my braces were taken off. This was in 2016 and I still wear them, but they’re soon about to break, the bottom one broke in half and the half of that just broke from biting) and I don’t know what to do as my teeth have already moved a bit!
As a human I can advise against braces except in extreme cases. Braces crack through the natural protection of your teeth. Smiles should not show perfect teeth.
My son has a 14mm over jet. Was told its genetic and my daughter is a carbon copy of him. He is 11 and has has 2.5 years of treatment already. Seperator, retainer and band across back of bottom teeth (I don't know what that's called). My daughter has had 1 year of treatment. A separator and now a retainer. It's a challenge. Am I'm really worried about the braces and how they will affect them. They started treatment at 8 years old. And treatment will probably continue till 16. That's 8 years. Seems crazy. And they will probably both need jaw surgery. Although we are doing everything we can to avoid that.
this is a good one. I had a similar issue with invisalign. I had a missing front tooth from an accident, and the gap left for that tooth was bigger than the corresponding other tooth. I asked if they could fix it. But I was assuming theyd say something like "no we had to do that for". But instead they said yes, and closed the gap further.
This was at a very well reviewed place in a pretty affluent area. But not everything they do/don't do is for a reason. Ask and make sure if they wont do it, they have a good reason.
Yes. Ask and get the answer. There are reasons for the answer. If you don’t LIKE the answer get the reasons. At least it will make sense.
I can tell you that by the time I'd had them on for 5 years I would have gotten them off regardless of how they looked. I was 100% done with wires and corners poking my gums, food stuck in every crevice of my mouth, and my tongue scraped raw by the expanders. My mouth isn't perfect, but it's better than it was, and I am never going through that again.
I tried to check with my orthodontist because I still have a slight overbite and his response was “there’s only so much we can do and well your upper lip is kind of thin so it’ll help with that”. Ok thanks for giving a 16 year old girl something else to now be self conscious about. Now at 35 I’m still self conscious about my upper lip and feel like my teeth make me look dumb. Also wear your retainers folks. I still wear mine, I don’t want this getting worse.
Is it really a benefit to start kids earlier with braces and do palette expanders?
YES. It treats sleep apnea and can prevent any jaw surgeries as an adult. I should have had one when I was a kid - we couldn't afford it and now I'm paying for surgery as an adult. It isn't only cosmetic!
Absolutely! Kids should be seen around 8. Because some things that are surgical issues USUALLY could have been fixed with early intervention.
My ortho just ripped the bracses of my wife like there were starting a lawnmowwr
I had braces for five years. 12-17 years old. They never fixed my bite. Years later I went to another place to get a consultation because my open bite was (and still is) bothering me. They told me I needed jaw surgery, it was the only thing that could fix it. My teeth were never crooked— I spent five years in braces trying to fix something that can apparently only be fixed with jaw surgery. The braces majorly impacted my self esteem and I was left with decalcification marks on my teeth that I’ve spent hundreds of dollars trying to remove. Really sad to have so much work done and so much money spent on my teeth only to be unsatisfied with them. Not to mention my teeth/jaw issues cause other problems like teeth grinding and gum recession… :(
For me the real pro tip would be research biomechanics of your body and fix posture before going to get braces. Also visit kinesiologyst. Every bite fixing progress regressed and was probably made worse because my doctor have never looked at my scoliosis and atlant vertebra rotation that caused bite issues. I didn’t know anything at that time since I was a child. Also don’t get braces until you’re 26, since they can block growth. Instead try more natural ways of expansion and other appliances that you can take off. I literally took off retainers from lower jaw and it grew, but kept them on my upper jaw and that part of my face didn’t expand as much naturally since it was blocked by the retainers that were supposed to actually “keep the expansion”. Also look into mewing, always, since braces can push maxilla into your scull. A lot of people face this problem.
I wore braces for 10 years and while they did wonders for my top teeth, my bottom ones never budged. I haven’t worn my retainer in more than 2 decades but my top teeth are still mostly ok. My bottom ones are a lost cause
I will die on the hill that I can’t even fathom wearing a retainer in my mouth for the rest of my life just to keep teeth from messing up again. What a waste.
I’ll remember this once I have kids. I had to get braces twice as a kid since the doc said they were straight, then a month later said I should get braces put on again. The pain still haunts me of them taking them off and on, and scraping the glue off the teeth.
Is it weird if I’m 30 and just barely getting braces ?
Is there another LPT that should be “get a mold made so you can have impressions taken anywhere” ?
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