wearing a retainer- how many years?

I finally got rid of mine just before I was 12 and I had it for about 3 years in all, but to be honest I think my teeth have moved a little since then (I'm 17 now)

Reply 3

viviki

i had mine off when I was 15 my teeth are still moving but they said theres no point having it fixed again.

Reply 4

magiccarpet

OP

wow this is weird. i had mine off when i was 13 but 6 yrs later my teeth still move!i did have fairly drastic stuff done tho,really big moving.but will i need it forver?

Reply 5

Luize

Had a retainer. I wore it for about 6 months. I kept forgetting to wear it and I just haven't bothered to wear it for months now. I think my teeth have moved but as the problem was never noticable anyway I won't know. Damn ortho woudln't fix my bottom teeth.

Reply 6

~Sam~

15

I wore mine for a few months and then lost it! Oops.

Reply 7

Michelle2

3

I got my braces off when I was 18, and wore a retainer for 18 months. I then decided I was sick of it, so went back to the orthodontist, who fixed a wire behind my top and bottom teeth to stop them moving. The retainer needed replacing every 6 months, which cost £20, so it makes me think the orthodontist was exacting a tidy lifelong profit from people.

Reply 8

technik

i wore mine for a few months and then got pissed off with it and threw it out.

Reply 9

NickiM

Well my dentist said to be I'd have to wear it for life! Although I was good originally, I now only wear it at night...sometimes!

Reply 10

lostinfantasies

I'm having a dental operation on my mouth with traintracks on sometime this year. I'm expected to have removable ones on the bottom and traintracks on the top, and then they'll change the removable to fixed traintracks.

That's 18 months - 2 years. Because I'm starting to have my braces on quite late (I'll probably 17 by the time my operation's booked) I'm just wondering how long I may have my retainer on for. Is it different for everyone?

And what about pricing? I'm private as far as dental's concerned, but I don't know whether I'd have to pay halfway through my treatment (I'll be 18 and on a gap year by the time my traintracks come off/retainer goes on).

Reply 11

pikaboo

onlylittleme

BUT my weird orthodentist decided to put a wire behind my bottom teeth and never take it off. I called him up and he said that he normally left them on people for life. But i hate it!! its annoying! so count yourself lucky.

No!!! I've signed my end of orthodontic treatment thingy and I thought I'd be having my back wires taken off soon...now I'm thinking it may never happen :eek:

I'm meant to wear a top retainer, but I could never be arsed with it and now it's lost.

Reply 12

Sparkling_Jules

1

I did have retainers but where I had teeth taken out at the back they kept moving until the retainers didn't actually fit anymore. My top teeth have stayed nice and straight but my bottom teeth have regressed to being wonky. Don't really care though because you can't see them anyway.

I also think my ortho couldn't really be arsed that much as she was on the verge of retirement and just wanted to get rid of her last patients.

Reply 13

Cazzi

12

ive had a brace type thing on the roof of my mouth pushing my teeth out for over a year....im still not at braces stage and im 18! ive got a rare condition where two of my teeth are refusing to come out so i needed gold chains put in my gums to bring them down! lol :frown:

Reply 14

NickiM

Yes, my dentist says I have to keep my back wire and retainer in for life, and after July, every time the back wire breaks, I'll have to pay £75 to get it mended :frown:

Reply 15

Jellycat

When I asked my orthodontist how long I should wear it for he said at least until your 25 and at 25 they stop moving. So I wear mine everynight in fear I'll wake up and be goofy all over again if i don't. I think they might say it to make money as a retainer costs heaps!

Reply 16

NickiM

Well every few days I get guilty because I am not wearing them!

Reply 17

tcelina

1

I had braces until I was 15, then wore a retainer for about two years. I stopped for a while and my teeth moved around a lot (but I had had a lot of dental surgery while wearing braces because my teeth were so screwed up so if your teeth were never all that out of place they might not move as much), I tried to start wearing the retainer again, but it no longer fit and my dentist said I would need braces again for another 6 months if I wanted straight teeth. Can't be bothered, that was years ago, so my teeth aren't are perfect as they could be.

I have a permanent wire on my bottom teeth, it is generally worn for about 10 years, if it falls off after that time dentists don't usually reattach it, but if it never falls off there is no reason to have it removed.

I worked for an orthodontist for a year while I was an undergrad, I'm frustrated now that I wasn't better about wearing my retainer, it's a shame to waste four years and loads of my parent's money on braces just because I was too vain to wear it in front of my boyfriend!!

Reply 18

pikaboo

My teeth aren't that crowded and I've had quite a few removed, so I'm hoping I'll be retainer free soon...certainly don't see the need to keep it in for life! :eek:

Reply 19

magiccarpet

OP