Are you really supposed to wear your retainers for life???

[Linux23]

Please say it aint so! I had my braces removed in Summer of 97 (graduation year). I wore my retainer for about a year, and then stopped wearing them. Then I read a thread here a few months ago saying that you have to wear them forever.

Question is, do you have to put that hunk of metal and plastic into your mouth, every night for the rest of your life???

I suffered daily with the pain of braces, I don't want to have to suffer with the pain of freakin retainers???

 

[Supradude]

depends, afetr a while your teeth should re-root and unless your teeth are still growing and doing so in a crooked manner, you should eb able to stop wearing the retainer, however, if it seems your teeth are moving again, you better use it again fast before you waste the expensive and painful braces you had...

 

[shiznut123]

My dentist said I have to wear them for 15 years. I always forget putting them on at night.

 

[Linux23]

The funny thing is, after I dusted them off and cleaned them tonight, they fit pretty damned well! After 4 years, if my teeth haven't moved by now, then I don't think they will ever move back to the horrible position they were in before i had those braces!

shiznut123, 15 years??? I don't know if I can sleep with these things in my mouth every night! And I hate cleaning these bastards, that's why I stopped wearing.

 

[Jmman]

Some people have worn braces more than once!! Think about going through the whole process again. By the way, I am one of those old guys that currently has braces(ohhh, the shame), but mine come off in two weeks!! Time to party!!!

:]

 

[Whisper]

I was supposed to have a metal rod/retainer glued to the backs of my four front bottom teeth for life. However, it sort of broke off after about a year, heh. The teeth down there have since shifted...which sucks quite badly. Might need braces again to fix it, but don't think I'll be doing that again anytime soon.

 

[Jarwa]

Same thing happened to me as did Whisper. Only the ortho took the bottom retainer out after a couple of years. My top teeth are still straight, though. Bottom teeth could look better. Wish I still had that bottom retainer in.

 

[randomlinh]

jmman.. i'm one of those ppl going thru it twice my first dentist only told me to wear it for only a year or so... then at night for a while.. then he said you're ok to go. i didn't think my teeth were too straight at the end, but i wanted them off and didn't mind it....

until now where it has gotten worse and i need top and bottom. I'll be wearing my retainer for as long as i can but on the upside, in 3 months my teeth have shifted quite a bit... so that's good

i have to pull four teeth out tho if i want to correct my bite.. but i don't know if i want to do that just yet.. it'll leave me w/ less teeth as well as half the teeth to chew with

 

[cxim]

Yes, dufi wear them forever !!

Look at the good side..you get to change from diapers to Depends in another year or 2 .

 

[poop]

I have a permanent on the bottom. My top night-only one will not fit anymore. Haven't worn it for 2 years. Hell, I don't even konw where it is.

I think 80-90% of people with braces are wasting their money. What difference does it make if your teeth are not perfect? Hell, my teeth looked pretty normal before braces. They are a bit straighter now, but $3000 straighter? Hell no. I do know that unles my kids have some pretty screwed up teeth, they are not getting braces.

 

[Jmman]

I spent $4000 on mine, and since I am 33, no soup (insurance) for me!!
Actually, my teeth were not that bad anyway. I just thought I needed that
Tom Cruise smile though. Did you guys need to have teeth removed? How long did you have them on? I guess I was in pretty good shape, no teeth came out and I only have worn my braces for about a 1 1/2 years and they are coming off...

 

[Linux23]

I had mine on for 2 years, during my junior and senior year of High School. Needless to say HS was not my fondess of memory! I just hated smiling and laughing, and the pain! Did anyone else feel the pain when he removed those wires and tightened them up. I couldn't eat for 2 days!

Funny thing is, no one laughed or made fun of me to my face, in HS! Go figure!

 

[crab]

I've been lucky, no need for braces, and no cavities (knock on wood)

 

[lepper boy]

I think technically yes...... but I havnet worn mine for like a year...... I hate those things.... my teeth have moved a little but not enought to worry about it....

 

[shadowfaX]

You're supposed to wear your retainers for a very long, long, long time, from what I heard ... Just got my braces off 2 weeks ago although I was supposed to get them off about 1.5 years ago... That's pretty sad. The orthodontist was probably getting more money out of my parents too...

I was kinda lucky. I got the Invisi-line retainers, so it's not so bulky and whatever.

 

[Azraele]

I think it depends on the person and the dentist. I had to wear a retainer in High school and hated it. I never knew it would hurt.

 

[shiznut123]

Sometimes, the retainers cause blisters on my gum:|
My bottom tooth has been moving a bit so I leave my retainers on more now.

 

[ArkAoss]

my bro has braces, and he's got a bottom jaw that sticks out about half an inch, he needs major surgury to fix it, they want to cut the top jaw loose, and slide it forward and slide the bottom parts back; and one suggested they cut out the bone below each tooth, and use thigh bone as filler, and make every thing precisly perfect, so it can never move again. Crazy frickin doctors... scare's me

for now though, he can't find insurance to cover it. so he's safe.
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