The day that your braces are removed is an exciting one! You’ve completed treatment and are ready to enjoy your beautiful new smile. However, your orthodontic journey is not over yet, and the next step involves your retainer. Wearing your retainer consistently is crucial to maintaining your alignment.
If your retainer feels snug or slightly uncomfortable, make sure you’re pushing it on all the way when you wear it. Increasing the amount of time you wear it will also help.
What If My Retainer Is Feeling Tight?
Even after orthodontic treatment with braces or aligners, your teeth are always on the move. If you skip wearing your retainer for even a few days, your teeth can shift enough to make it feel tight or even impossible to wear. Retainers can also warp if left in a hot car, cleaned with hot water, or if not stored properly.
What If The Retainer Doesn’t Fit At All?
If it feels only slightly snug, try wearing it more consistently for a few days to see if your teeth just needed a gentle nudge back in line. If it won’t fit at all, please let us know. We’ll want to see you to see if the retainer can be modified to fit better or if the retainer needs to be remade. A remade retainer will not re-align teeth that have moved, but it will keep the teeth from moving any further.
Why Wearing Your Retainer Is So Important
Wearing your retainer correctly and as directed will help protect the investment you made in your smile.If your retainer won’t fit, don’t wait for the problem to get worse. Call us! We will schedule an appointment with one of our doctors so we can evaluate your teeth, check your current retainer, and help you decide on the best step to keep your smile healthy and aligned. Our team at Struckhoff and Britt Orthodontics constantly strives to give our patients the best orthodontic care!