Retainers

Like your teeth, retainers can accumulate plaque and bacteria if not cleaned regularly. If you opt for bonded retainers, you can continue brushing and flossing your teeth as normal, taking extra care to ensure the areas around the retainers are free of debris.

For removable retainers, it’s important to brush your retainer with a toothbrush and toothpaste at least once daily. It is also important to keep it moist when not in use. If it becomes too dry, it can become brittle and break. Here at Dublin Orthodontist, we tell our patients to soak their retainers in water or a retainer cleaning solution when they aren’t wearing them. Just make sure the water is not too hot, as that could distort or change the shape of your retainer, affecting how it fits.

That’s up to you and your teeth. Immediately after treatment, we often advise patients to wear their retainers full-time for several months. We will slowly decrease the number of hours you need to wear your retainer, eventually recommending that you use it only at night. Once you are in maintenance with your smile, it’s okay if you skip a few nights here and there. But if you notice that a lot of time has passed since you’ve worn your retainer or you see a change in your teeth, we recommend that you resume wearing it as soon as possible to prevent any permanent changes.

If your retainer doesn’t fit, that means that your teeth have migrated after orthodontic treatment. This usually happens only if a patient didn’t follow the recommendations for post-treatment retainer use or if they’ve stopped wearing their retainer at night. If this happens to you, you will need to book an appointment at Dublin Orthodontist to have us make adjustments to your retainer or fit you for a new one to prevent more movement of your teeth.