Retainers after braces treatment… Is it compulsory or optional??
Many of the patients who undergoes braces or clips treatment for correction of irregular teeth are having a doubt about usage of retainers after braces treatment. The idea of this article is to give brief information on necessity of using retainers, types of retainers available, duration of retainer use and maintenance of appliance.
What is retainer?? Retainers are appliances or devices given to the patients after clips treatment to maintain results that have been achieved with clips treatment. During clips/braces treatment the supporting tissues are stretched due to the movement of teeth from one position to other position so in the majority of cases after removal of braces teeth tries to come back their original resulting loss of correction achieved with the treatment. In order to prevent this loss of correction and to maintain teeth in their corrected positions retainers are advised for all cases after removal of braces. So, retainers are not optional they are continuous step after braces treatment for all cases.
What are types of retainers? In orthodontics so many types of retainers are there which can be advised to patients depending on the type of treatment protocol. The choice of retainer depends on so many factors like type of teeth condition before treatment, Type of treatment protocol followed, age of the patient. Most commonly used retainers are bonded lingual retainer, essix retainer or Hawley’s retainer.
Bonded lingual retainer is a fixed type of retainer fixed to the inside part of front teeth in upper arch or lower arch or both arches. This is more convenient to patient as there is not much maintenance is required for this. After wearing this for a particular period of time, it will be removed by a doctor.
Essix retainer is a removable type of retainer which can be inserted and removed by patient. This is clear, transparent plastic type sheet retainer which is fabricated from patients’ impressions after removal of braces. Patient should wear this retainer for about 22 hours a day except during brushing and eating. This appliance has to be cleaned daily after removing from mouth.
Hawley’s retainer is also a type of removable appliance like essix retainer. This is fabricated from patient impressions and it consists of acrylic plate covering inside and a wire component adapting to the teeth outer side front teeth. Patient should wear this retainer for about 22 hours a day except during brushing and eating. This appliance has to be cleaned daily after removing from mouth.
Duration of retention time: Most of the patients require retention for about 8 to 12 months after braces treatment.
If any patients neglect to wear to retainer, teeth may move back into their original position. This is what happens may happen if you do not wear retainer after treatment with braces.
