How Long Must You Wear Retainers after Invisalign?
You finally rejoice that you have successfully straightened your teeth with help from Invisalign in Ajax, ON, and prepare yourself to show off your straight teeth and beautiful smile. However, even as you prepare to leave the dentist’s office, the professional springs a surprise stating you have another step to complete.
Completing your treatment using Invisalign clear aligners merely repositions your teeth to their correct locations. Unfortunately, Invisalign doesn’t control the behavior of your teeth that stubbornly attempt to move back to their original positions. It is to prevent the reverse movement; you must wear a retainer to help your teeth maintain their new position as the bone and connective tissue develop around their base to stabilize your results. You might wonder how long you must wear the retainer in your mouth. This article focuses explicitly on the subject of wearing retainers and following the instructions of the dentist in Ajax, ON, to maintain your teeth in their new positions.
How Long Must You Have the Retainer over Your Teeth?
Every patient is unique, and the Invisalign process is customized to meet their needs. However, the protocol for wearing retainers is consistent across the board. You receive a recommendation from the Ajax dentist to wear the retainer for 12 to 22 hours per day for three to six months. After completing the initial six months of wearing the retainer for the better part of the day, you can stop using the device and wear it at night. You must wear the retainer for another 12 months after the conclusion of Invisalign treatment.
What Happens If You Neglect Your Dentist’s Instructions?
You invest time and money in Invisalign treatment. After getting your teeth beautifully straightened would you want to compromise the results you worked hard to achieve? Your teeth begin regressing when you don’t follow your dentist’s instructions and may end up with negative consequences.
Even after wearing a retainer for the initial six months, many people confront challenges with their teeth shifting back because of the pressure exerted by chewing. Therefore many dentists recommend that patients wear retainers several nights a week throughout their life.
Are Retainers Common with All Orthodontic Treatments?
Everyone undergoing orthodontic treatment with traditional braces or Invisalign expresses disappointment when informed by the dentist about the need to wear retainers after completing their therapy. Unfortunately, people don’t understand why the retainers are essential and provide long-term benefits.
As mentioned earlier, traditional braces or Invisalign merely pressure your teeth into moving to their new positions to give you straighter teeth and a beautiful smile besides the freedom from dental infections. However, the orthodontic appliances do not act like your teeth that are determined to move back to their original positions. Therefore retainers are an essential part of orthodontic treatments that you must accept and start wearing soon after your dentist recommends them.
Caring for Your Retainers
After getting the retainers from the Ajax dentist, it is crucial that you care for them because you must focus on excellent oral health. Caring for your retainers appropriately discourages bacterial growth, and excellent maintenance of the appliance also helps prevent damage to the retainer.
You must always remove the retainer from your mouth before eating and store the device in the retainer case. Every time you remove the retainer, you must rinse and gently brush the appliance.
Invisalign retainers are made from the same dental-grade BPA-free plastic and cannot withstand harsh chemicals like bleach or alcohol-based mouthwash because they sustain damage. Therefore make it a point to avoid using such products. Finally, removing the retainer is recommended by the dentist before brushing your teeth to ensure you maintain excellent dental hygiene.
When you reach the stage of wearing retainers, you have already achieved a brand-new smile using Invisalign clear aligners. Your straighter teeth and beautiful smile should motivate you to follow through with the minor adjustments to retain your results.
When you follow your dentist’s instructions about wearing the retainer and caring for the appliance as suggested, you can enjoy your beautiful and functional smile for years.
After investing a few thousand dollars to achieve your new smile, would you like to get back your crooked teeth all over again? We are confident you wouldn’t and will adhere to your dentist’s instructions to wear the retainers for as long as required.
If you had your teeth straightened with Invisalign and received recommendations from KC Dental, consider the suggestion as a technique that helps maintain your teeth in their new positions.