funmeg Posted December 3, 2010 Posted December 3, 2010 I am the same way. If I miss a few nights I feel it. I had braces for 7 (!!!) years. It paid off, and I love my teeth. I've been wearing a retainer religiously for the last 13 years. I won't go back! My retainer also reduces teeth grinding, which is nice.
pinkalicious Posted December 10, 2010 Posted December 10, 2010 ^Dang it.. I got my braces off when I was like 15 (too young in my opinion since I was too stubborn to wear my retainer). In college I started grinding my teeth and to this day I have to wear a mouthguard. I didn't know retainers reduce teeth grinding, maybe I could have prevented it. Oh well..
darkangel07760 Posted December 12, 2010 Posted December 12, 2010 Ha! I was just thinking that. I am getting braces for the first time ever at the age of 35... This is a good post because I am realizing now that I MUST wear my retainer for the rest of my liiiiife
darkangel07760 Posted December 12, 2010 Posted December 12, 2010 I am glad to know that it helps with cotton mouth, since one of my nostrils ALWAYS clogs up at night and I end up sleeping with my mouth open lol!
thepoppet Posted December 31, 2010 Posted December 31, 2010 Like other posters, I had braces and then my teeth shifted dramatically after ten years (I stopped wearing retainers after 2 years). I mean dramatically. I went to the ortho and instead of new braces he had me wear a new retainer that had springs in some places. I had to wear the retainers day and night for a while and get the springs tightened. I think I wore them only for three months? They were intense. But after that he "deactivated" the springs and my teeth were perfect again. I only have to wear it at night.. which I do off and on (actually haven't worn them in about a year but so far teeth are good.. only slight shift which is corrected when I wear the retainers again at night). The reason I don't wear it at night much is because it always causes me to have dreams where I am gagging or trying to swallow something but can't.
cutesquid Posted December 31, 2010 Posted December 31, 2010 They say that people should keep wearing retainers until the wisdom teeth are removed.
thepoppet Posted December 31, 2010 Posted December 31, 2010 My wisdom teeth grew in, but they didn't mess up my teeth. My ortho told me that teeth have a "memory" and one needs to wear the retainer (off and on) forever. Alas.
drmcdreamy Posted January 1, 2011 Posted January 1, 2011 I had braces when I was younger, wore my retainers for a while than completely stopped. My teeth shifted and I now have braces again! But I am almost done with this round of treatment. I am also a prospective Dentist, and my advice is to get them again. I know, braces as an adult. But there are adults who are orthodontic patients as well. I am one of them and I also someone else who went through treatment and her teeth are perfect! Invisalign really wouldn't help because yours is a up/down shift. Our teeth continue to shift as we grow older, but very little.
jwhitlock Posted January 1, 2011 Posted January 1, 2011 I had braces twice... once in High School and once again in my mid-late 20s. Got them off right after I turned 28 and was getting married. I still wear my purple sparkly retainer at least every other night, and I have a bonded retainer in my lowers. Wish I could have had it at the top, too. Good luck!
pure-la Posted January 2, 2011 Posted January 2, 2011 Yes, my teeth are always on the move! I try to wear my retainers every night, and yes there tight, if I miss a few days. Its a real drag.....but worth it.
dusty-paws Posted January 2, 2011 Posted January 2, 2011 yes... and for me its hereditary. my ortho actually said that perhaps they put braces on too early for me. i do want to get it repaired. i may look into invisalign when my new dental kicks in.
vegas-long-legs Posted January 2, 2011 Posted January 2, 2011 That's what I've heard too. I still wear a top retainer, its been 20 years. I'm on my 3rd one. If I go longer than one night without, the retainer is tight meaning my teeth have moved a little.
mariadeal Posted January 2, 2011 Posted January 2, 2011 I had braces when I was 14 and never wore my retainer, and then at 25 I had summer teeth (summer here, summer there.. haha get it?) Anyways, if you have a bit of a problem with crowding which is what I had then you might want to talk to your dentist about spring retainers. I got a pair and though my teeth are not perfect they look much better considering I only payed a few hundred for the retainer. Otherwise you may have to get braces again.
xostephie Posted January 2, 2011 Posted January 2, 2011 I just finished with my second round of Braces, and I'm actually contemplating another treatment. The first time I went into braces, it was with a Dentist who practices orthodontics (I came out of braces, and still had tons of issues). I had them off for a year, and then I went back in to correct the actual issues with an Orthodontist, and honestly, I wish I hadn't done it. I have a really small mouth too, and so I have over crowding on the bottom, and to "straighten" the bottom teeth (which really, were not bad), they pushed them forward-and then my top teeth were angled outward to cover the bottom teeth, so now they literally jut out. It's awful, and my ortho said there was nothing she could do, other than to do a whole new treatment and file/extract teeth (which I'm seriously contemplating, because my teeth really bother me)oh-and charge me another $5000. Anyways, I promise I have a point! I know some people have mentioned bonded retainers. I do have bonded retainers-but my teeth have still shifted. Also, I would really consider how bad your teeth are before considering a second treatment. In my case, there was literally one tooth and a cross bite I was trying to fix, and when I left braces the second time, I ended up with a semi-straight tooth, still in cross bite, and funky teeth. Sometimes I just don't think it's worth it.
thepoppet Posted January 2, 2011 Posted January 2, 2011 Yep, that's what I got. And it's not just for crowding as that wasn't my issue... it was shifting backward. But I think I've had really good Ortho Karma. Because even though some of my teeth shifted after not wearing the retainer after the first round, all the dentists I had seen have been really impressed with my Ortho's work because my bite was absolutely balanced and perfect. And then my second Ortho who did the spring retainer was a perfectionist and he even filed down some of my teeth, for free, on the spur of the moment on my last visit, because he wanted his work to be absolutely spot on.
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