 |
|
- Use your retainer twenty-four hours a day unless we tell you differently. It must be taken out when you eat and when you clean your teeth and gums. At least once a day, brush the retainers using toothpaste.
- Never wrap your retainer in a paper napkin. You or someone else may throw it away.
- The first few days are hard, mostly because you have to learn to speak with the retainers. Practicing speaking when you are alone will get your tongue used to them and soon you will speak well. They do not hurt the teeth or only make them a little tender for a short time.
- The way it works is by holding the teeth in their new positions long enough for the bone to "harden" and the gums to lose the "memory" of their old positions. When the teeth are not moving, the active bone cells become passive. And, fibers in the gums change so that they hold the teeth in the new places. With time, the tendency for the teeth to rebound will be less.
- If they press the teeth for more than a couple of minutes after being left out, the teeth are moving and the retainers have to be worn more. The idea is to leave the retainers out of the mouth as long as possible without them feeling tight when you put them back on.
- In general, you have to wear the retainers for six month “full-time”, and then wearing time is reduced progressively in the next 6 months till “zero-time”.
- Teeth move naturally because of tooth wear, changing functional demands, bite adjustment, etc., so you can expect some changes with time. Those changes will be minor and not take away from the good you have accomplished.
|
|
