At Clauss Orthodontics, we often receive questions about the duration of treatment. How long do my braces have to stay on? How long do I need to wear a retainer after braces? We’ll answer these questions so that you understand how treatment time can vary depending on your needs and goals for your smile!
What is a Retainer?
This is a good place to start! A retainer is an orthodontic device used to maintain your new smile after you’re done with braces or clear aligners. These are some of the main characteristics and benefits of retainers:
- Keeping Everything in Place: You might not realize this, but after your teeth have been aligned, they naturally tend to shift back to their original positions if left to their own devices. Your retainer ensures this won’t happen.
- Further Stabilization: In addition to this retention, your retainer allows the surrounding bone and gum tissue to adapt to your teeth’s new position over time.
- Protecting Your Investment: Orthodontic treatment requires a lot of hard work and time. We use retainers to ensure you don’t need further adjustments.
- A Custom Fit: Like your braces or clear aligners, your retainer is customized to your teeth, which ensures it’s easy and convenient to use.
Retainers can be removable (clear or wire) or fixed (bonded behind teeth), which Dr. Clauss will choose based on your individual needs.
Instructions for Use
Just like with braces or clear aligners, Clauss Orthodontics has some best practices for wearing retainers that will ensure they work correctly for your smile.
- Wear it as Directed: At the beginning of the retention phase, you’ll likely need to wear your retainer full-time, apart from when eating or drinking. Over time, this wear-time will be reduced to only nighttime.
- Clean Your Retainer Daily: Just like any other removable appliance in your mouth, a retainer can be a magnet for bacteria if it isn’t sanitized properly. You’ll always want to rinse your retainer with lukewarm water after use and gently brush it with a non-abrasive toothbrush. We also suggest occasionally soaking it in a special solution to keep it free of germs.
- Handle with Care: Retainers are always very delicate. If they aren’t looked after properly, they can be bent, warped, or crushed. Dr. Clauss recommends inserting them carefully and always storing them in their cases when they aren’t in use since retainers are notoriously easy to lose!
- Monitor Fit: If you feel your retainer becoming loose, cracked, or otherwise causing discomfort, please contact Dr. Clauss so he can make adjustments as needed. Also, avoid trying to do any repairs on your own.
- Regular Check-Ups: While your appointments with us may be less frequent after your active treatment has concluded, they’re still very meaningful. We use these visits to ensure that your teeth remain aligned. Sometimes, shifting may not be obvious to anyone apart from your orthodontist.
When it comes to any kind of orthodontic compliance, children and teens can struggle a bit more. As a parent, we recommend partnering with your child if they express difficulty with retainer use and maintenance.
An Ongoing Commitment
We want to break down possible wear times even further. Before you start your orthodontic treatment with us, we’ll make sure to mention the long-term use of retainers so you won’t be caught by surprise!
Your overall wear time for retainers will depend on your individual orthodontic condition and Dr. Clauss’s diagnosis, meaning it can vary from one patient to another.
- Full-Time Use (6 Months to 1 Year): We previously mentioned “full-time” wear, which can last several months to a year and help stabilize your teeth in their newly adjusted positions initially.
- Nighttime Use: After 1-2 years, most patients transition to wearing their retainer only at night. This time of day can be the riskiest for teeth shifting, which is why consistent wear is so important.
- Ongoing Maintenance: If you aren’t wearing your retainer every night, we might recommend you wear it a few nights a week to keep your teeth in place long-term. This is particularly significant for adolescents whose teeth are stabilizing into adulthood.
- Permanent for Some: Some patients will need to wear their retainer in some capacity indefinitely. For example, a patient might be at higher risk of their teeth shifting back into place due to genetics or other factors.
A Surefire Solution
Retainers are a necessary step to ensure that all of your hard work continues to pay off, well after your braces are taken off! Part of our duty at Clauss Orthodontics is to ensure that your experience with them is as successful as the treatment plan that came first! Never hesitate to reach out to us in Watertown or Middlebury if you have any additional questions.