How Long Do I Wear My Retainer For?
After going through active treatment, you will receive a set of retainers whether the traditional metal (Hawley) or clear (Essix). You will wear the retainers 24/7 besides eating or brushing your teeth. After about 6 months of 24/7 wear, Dr. Toppi will let you know if and when you can move to night time only wear. After moving to nighttime wear, you will have to wear your retainer for as long as you want your teeth to stay straight.
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How Do I Clean My Retainers?
You should clean your retainers (whether traditional metal or clear) once a day with a toothbrush and water to remove plaque and eliminate odor. Toothpaste is not recommended to use to clean your retainer due to leaving white residue.
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Issues Removing Retainer and Putting It Back In?
When both removing or placing the retainers in the mouth, make sure to use even pressure on both sides and either push (if you are placing in the retainer) or pull (when removing the retainer). It will be hard at first to get use to, but after a few times it will get easier to put in and take out.
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Lost? Broken? Cracked?
Please call the office to make an appointment if something happened to the retainer so we can make new molds of your teeth and make a new retainer. If you have the retainer, always bring it with you to appointments so we can try and fix it in house first.
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