Orthodontic Retainers: Protect Your Smile for Life.
Your orthodontic treatment doesn’t end when your braces come off or your Invisalign treatment is complete. Retainers play an essential role in maintaining your new smile by helping keep your teeth in their corrected position. At ACT Ortho, we’ll guide you through the right retention plan so you can enjoy your healthy, confident smile for years to come.
Here at ACT Ortho, we offer a number of different retainers to suit your needs. These include:
Clear vacuum formed retainer - usually worn at night time.
Fixed bonded retainer - a wire bonded behind your front teeth.
Plastic Hawley retainer - usually worn at night time.
Orthodontic retainers are customised to fit your teeth perfectly. A simple scan is taken of your teeth, and the retainers are then constructed in the laboratory. Our Orthodontists will continue to check your retainers for eighteen months after you have finished your treatment to ensure your brilliant result is maintained.
Some Frequently Asked Questions About Dental Retainers
-
Unfortunately no tooth movement is stable without a retainer. Teeth are always going to want to move throughout life, and the only way to prevent this is by wearing a retainer.
-
Evidence now tells us that we need to wear our dental retainers for as long as we want the teeth to remain straight. This means if we want straight teeth for life, then we need to wear the dental retainer for life!
-
The dental retainer is included as part of your comprehensive orthodontic treatment plan. We will also continue to check your retainer and its fit for 18 months after we have completed your comprehensive orthodontic treatment. If you are not having orthodontic treatment and would just like a retainer, then please contact our clinic to book a consultation appointment with our orthodontist to discuss your retention options.
-
If you lose or break your dental retainer, it is important to let us know right away. Remember, without a retainer, your teeth are likely to move. The sooner we know about it, the sooner we are able to issue you with a new dental retainer.
-
The choice of a fixed wire versus a removable retainer is case-dependent, and is something our orthodontist will consider when formulating your orthodontic treatment plan. Feel free to discuss your dental retainer options at your orthodontic consultation appointment, or at any point during your orthodontic treatment
-
If the glue has come away from the wire on one of your teeth, it is important to contact our orthodontic clinic. Without the glue, the wire is no longer holding the tooth in position, and the tooth is likely to move.
-
Dogs and other pets love dental retainers! If your dog has chewed your dental retainer, please contact our orthodontic clinic to have a new one made. To avoid the situation, please keep your dental retainer out of reach in its case when not in use.