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Category Archives: Retainers
All About Dental Retainers
Dental retainers hold your teeth in place, usually after you get braces to realign the teeth. These are custom-designed and effective for keeping the teeth intact after reshaping. It is not easy for many people to wear a retainer, but it is worth it and very effective. You will realize this once you see the end result of wearing one. If you plan on getting retainers and want to learn more about them, stick around and read this article further!
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What is The Purpose of Wearing Retainers?
When you undergo orthodontic treatment, such as getting braces, getting retainers becomes all the more important. For orthodontic treatment to work effectively, you need to wear retainers. These help retain the new position of your teeth, which can change during braces treatment. The same goes for when you wear clear aligners; you will need to wear retainers for your treatment to be successful at the end. If you don’t wear a retainer, you will notice the position changing back to its original state. This means the period that you spent wearing braces went to waste. When your teeth are repositioned, the ligaments and tissues in your mouth need some time to adjust to the new positioning. The ligaments would want to snap back into their old position, along with your teeth. To retain this, you have to wear retainers for a certain period of time.
The Different Types of Dental Retainers
Retainers come in three different types, all of which have a similar function: to keep your teeth in place after repositioning. Depending on your case, your orthodontist will recommend the right type of retainer. Mentioned below are different types of retainers:
Hawley Retainer
Hawley retainers, also known as wire retainers, are easy to remove whenever you want. There are specific times when you must remove them, such as before you eat and whenever you clean them. Of course, just because they’re removable does not mean that you can remove them whenever you want to and end up not wearing them that much. You must make sure to follow the instructions of your orthodontist regarding the number of times you can remove your retainer.
Clear Plastic Retainer
The clear plastic retainer is another type of removable retainer also known as the molded retainer. This retainer has a specific mold that fits right into the new position of your teeth. These ones are becoming more and more popular due to their invisible feature. People don’t usually like it when retainers can be seen on their teeth; hence these invisible ones are the perfect way to get rid of the insecurity of having them seen with retainers on. However, don’t take these retainers as another Invisalign, as that is used only to straighten the teeth, not to prevent them from going out of their new position.
Bonded Retainers
Bonded retainers for the first type of retainers to come in the mix. The retainers are attached to your teeth right after you get your braces removed. These types of retainers help you keep your teeth stable in the position for the initial few months of the treatment. If you get a bonded retainer, you have to wear them at all times and don’t have the freedom to remove them.
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How Long Do You Have to Wear Retainers?
Most orthodontists recommend patients start wearing retainers as soon as they remove the braces. There is no time frame till when you can wear retainers as you always have to wear them, but you can get them replaced after a few years. According to many researchers, some patients tend to wear their retainer forever, and this is an indefinite treatment, and it never stops.
When it comes to how many times a day you’re supposed to wear them, this depends on the type of retainer you have. If you have removable retainers, you can remove them a few times; however, with bonded retainers, you will be wearing them throughout. The number of times you wear your retainers might gradually reduce depending on the improvement your orthodontist sees, but this depends on many other factors as well.
Dental Retainers: The Takeaway
Now that you’re aware of what retainers are and the purpose of wearing them, you should get an appointment with an orthodontist and check if you need them. If you recently got your braces removed, you need to start wearing retainers immediately.
Get in touch with the best Orthodontists in NYC by booking your appointment at https://www.bestorthodontistnyc.com/contact-us/ to achieve the best retainer treatment.
MFO UPTOWN
133 East 58th Street New York, NY 10022
(646) 760-8028
MFO DOWNTOWN
11 Fifth Avenue New York, NY 10003
(212) 477-3871
All about Dental Retainers
What Is A Retainer?
It is a custom-made device prepared from wires or plastic that keeps your teeth in the required position and don’t let them move. Mostly, orthodontists and dentists suggest patients get a retainer installed after they have gone through Invisalign, corrective surgery, or metal braces. Dental retainers help this process to keep the teeth straight. Your teeth usually take around six months to become permanent in one position. But in other cases, patients need to wear a retainer for the rest of their life, but of course, only at night.
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Moreover, some people need to wear a retainer if they have speech problems or a misaligned bite. For making the right size of retainer for you, a dentist or orthodontist will take an oral exam, an impression of your teeth, take intra-oral images of your mouth, and may also need X-rays. After that, they will make a retainer for you using this information.
What Do Dental Retainers Do?
This dental accessory ensures that your teeth stay in a specific position. If you have gone through Invisalign or recently removed your braces, a retainer can help you keep your teeth straight. The orthodontist or dentist often suggest retainers to help correct an overbite or underbite. Your teeth get a pretty appearance with the help of retainers, as they give you proper alignment and make your teeth straight. You may also need this treatment when you have a problem like speech impairment. It helps to align the shape of your teeth, which can help you to speak clear words.
Why Do You Need A Retainer?
A retainer can help a patient prevent their teeth from relapsing. This means you can get good results from the metal braces, Invisalign, or corrective surgery, which takes place to keep your teeth at their place. A retainer makes sure that your teeth grow in a straight position, and you don’t have to go through more treatments after getting braces or corrective surgery.
Types of Retainers
There are two basic types of retainers – removable retainers and permanent retainers. These types are also divided into various types.
· Removable Retainers
Removable retainers have two more types, vacuum form retainer (VFR) and Hawley retainer. The VFR is a clear horseshoe-shaped material that can be perfectly shaped to fit over the patient’s teeth. These retainers are best because they are pretty invisible, highly comfortable, and not as big as other of its types. However, it is not an ideal option for patients who have a habit of grinding their teeth, as it can wear down because of continuous teeth grinding.
In contrast, a Hawley retainer is a traditional one that consists of a plastic material made for the surface or roof of your mouth. This retainer is preset with a wire that gets fit over the front side of your teeth. These are durable and offer you the ability to adjust it according to your requirements.
For instance, if one or two teeth need to get a new position, dentists sometimes adjust the wire to make them stronger. This feature is not present in other types of retainers. However, Hawley retainers do not have an aesthetic appearance like the VFR. Not to mention, some patients face problems while talking and swallowing food when they wear retainers.
· Permanent Retainers
The fixed lingual retainer is the type of permanent retainer. It consists of a wire fixed to the backside of the teeth. Generally, an orthodontist recommends you to get a permanent retainer if you have crowded, rotated teeth, and have a lot of spacing between the teeth. The benefit of the dental retainer is that it is permanent, and you don’t have to take it out for any reason.
However, they can sometimes give you a hard time. For instance, you may feel difficulty to clean them. Your lower teeth often gather a lot of calculus and plaque with time, leading to various dental problems. So, if you get this treatment, make sure to clean lingual every day.
Another major drawback of these retainers is that they can cause various problems, requiring emergency orthodontic care, which you never need with removable retainers. If this retainer breaks, you need to visit the orthodontist as early as possible to avoid shifting your teeth.
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Bottom Line
As you have learned, sometimes, it becomes important to get a dental retainer. In case you avoid getting one after having braces or corrective surgeries, these treatments become worthless. Thus, after going through some oral treatment, you need to keep your teeth straight, as mentioned in the post. So, get your retainer from an expert to avoid any future problem.
Wondering where you can find a qualified orthodontist? Well, we can help you in this case. We, at Manhattan Family Orthodontics, have the best orthodontists who can help you with any oral treatment. You only need to call us at (646) 760-8028 to get an appointment.
Visit our website for more details.
Do you need Permanent Retainers?
Do you need permanent retainers? You have done with your Invisalign or braces treatment and finally restored the smile you always wanted to have. So what is the next step? Retainers!
You might not have heard the word before, but retainers play a very important role in orthodontic treatment. They stabilize your gums and maintain teeth alignment. Retainers hold your teeth in a fixed position, placed in the final phase of the treatment.
It is worth noting that your teeth tend to change their position after treatment. Regardless of what dental treatment you have taken, your teeth may move to their original position. Dentists refer to this phenomenon as dental relapse. This is where the role of retainers comes into play. The main function of retainers is to prevent dental relapse. That saves not only your money, time, and hard work but also your smile.
That is to say, wearing retainers is extremely important if you have undergone an orthodontic treatment to keep your teeth from shifting. Only professional orthodontics such as Manhattan Family Orthodontics can provide one of the best services with advanced and modern dental care treatment.
If you do not want to end up wearing Invisalign or braces after your orthodontic treatment, it is vital to wear retainers. To help you make an informed decision, here we have included everything you need to know about permanent retainers.
What are Permanent Retainers?
Also labeled as fixed retainers, permanent retainers are metal wire or bar to hold your teeth to their position. As mentioned earlier, they keep your teeth from shifting. The orthodontists use permanent retainers after removing braces, when the teeth are in alignment.
In many cases, permanent retainers remain fixed behind the front teeth. The dentist will install cement in specific places to prevent teeth shifting, particularly bottom front dental line.
Bonded or permanent retainers are different from custom retainers, which are removable. The retainers do not fix to the backside of the teeth. However, they can help you keep teeth from moving or shifting after they align.
Types of Retainers
As mentioned previously, to maintain the teeth correction during the initial phase of braces removal or any other teeth appliances dentists use for correction, you need retainers. Retainers come in different types and knowing about them is essential to choose the right one.
Removable Retainers
It is a wire of retainers (Hawley) that dentists wrap around your front teeth. They help teeth settle into their place naturally, as the biting surface is coverless. In addition, removable retainers are easy-to-adjust, and you can check the position frequently.
Clear Retainers
This type of retainer is light weighted and not noticeable if you wear them properly. However, heavy grinding or heat may distort them.
Permanent or Fixed Retainers
Permanent retainers, unlike removable retainers, do not wear through. Moreover, you cannot misplace these fixed appliances. No matter how hard you grind, permanent or fixed retainers remain on their position to perform the function.
Why Should You Choose Permanent Retainers?
One of the biggest benefits of choosing permanent retainers is that there is no way you can forget wearing them as they fuse to your teeth. These lingual or bonded wires are not fixed to your teeth but also least visible. It is because permanent retainers fix to the back of the teeth. The dentist will bond the bottom and upper metal wires to each other (including six lower teeth and four upper teeth).
Your orthodontist at Manhattan Family can help you choose the best type of retainers for your teeth.
Some of the key benefits of choosing permanent retainers are;
- Not Visible: As these retainers are at the back of the teeth, they are not noticeable. That means you do not need to worry about unsightly metal wires blocking or hiding your spotless smile.
- You Cannot Misplace Them: If you have a weak memory, you may likely to forget wearing your removable retainers. With permanent retainers, you cannot forget or misplace your teeth’ appliance.
- Easy to Clean: It is another great benefit of choosing permanent retainers. You can clean them with regular teeth cleaning methods such as brushing and flossing. And that makes permanent retainers one of the low-maintenance options.
Cost of Permanent Retainers
You might find this teeth treatment a little expensive, but it is worth the price. Permanent retainers can help you keep your misaligned teeth straight for years. The average cost of permanent retainers can go up to $500 to $1000.
How Can You Take Care of Your Permanent Retainer?
Although permanent retainers are low maintenance, they need extra care. You need to make sure that you clean the specific area thoroughly. You can floss your teeth in a normal way; however, make sure to floss between the retainers back and forth to dislodge food debris.
Using a water flosser is a good idea to go extra through. It can help you shoot a water stream into the places where your traditional floss cannot reach. Plus, allow your toothbrush bristles to go between the wires to remove food particles and debris.
Remember that choosing an expert orthodontist is extremely important to restore your confident smile. You look best with their state-of-the-facilities.
At Manhattan Family Orthodontics, we offer advanced dental care treatments, including permanent retainers. Our team of competent orthodontists specialize in permanent and removable retainers, emergency orthodontics, and retainer repairs. To find out more about your treatment options you can call us at (646) 760-8028 or visit our website https://manhattanfamilyorthodontics.com/contact-us/.
What Are Retainers For
After you receive braces or orthodontic care, it is important that you maintain your new smile. While the common ways of maintenance such as brushing and flossing are important, there is another significant factor that solely relates to those who have had braces. This is known as a retainer. Retainers are plastic or metal pieces that you slip over the teeth in your mouth. This will keep your teeth properly spaced and aligned after they’re in their ideal location in the mouth. While this is the most common reason for using a retainer, it is not the only reason. For a list of reasons, you should consider using a retainer, read through the list below.
Maintain Dental Alignment
As mentioned previously, one of the most common reasons for retainers is to keep your teeth straight and in place after you receive your orthodontic care. These are introduced in the later stages of your treatment after your braces have been removed. After removing braces, teeth have a natural tendency to drift. This is because there is no force or pull that is keeping your teeth in that placement. To keep your teeth straight, retainers are used to maintain the shape. If you forgo the use of a retainer, it is probable that your teeth will shift and then all of the time and money you put into your treatment will have been a waste.
Reduce Chances of Diabetes
One less known reason that wearing a retainer is beneficial is because it could lower the chances of you getting diabetes. The American Diabetes Association states a correlation between retainers and diabetes. This is because the condition of your mouth and dental health can encourage diabetes due to how you care for your teeth. Those who care for their teeth more and properly, which can be seen in the use of a retainer, are at less risk because they have positive oral health. The better care taken of the mouth, the less a chance of diabetes you’ll have.
Get Used to Retainers
Retainers may take time to get used to, so it’s important that you work to get used to wearing one whenever your orthodontist states you must. Statistically, it takes at least 21 days to form a habit, and some people may even require more time. This means that you must remind yourself consistently to wear your retainer.
Some helpful ways could be by leaving notes on your nightstand, keeping your retainer in the same spot every day, and keeping the retainer in your mouth without playing with it or fiddling with it. This will make the task seem more natural, eventually forming into a habit.
Get a Retainer
To be fitted for a retainer, orthodontists here at Manhattan Family Orthodontics can help you out. We are a top orthodontic location in all of New York City and can therefore provide you with the best care you could ask for. When you’re here, we will discuss all of your options and make sure you’re aware of everything the process requires. You’ll be in great hands throughout the whole process. Schedule an appointment with us today for the best teeth of your life!