Read: Why You Need To Wear Your Retainer
Traditional retainer or the clear retainer? This is a question we get asked all the time! The answer- it depends.
Clear retainers- Some people jump at this option; they are clear and made from plastic so esthetically speaking, clear retainers are preferred. As they are made from plastic, however, they are frequently thrown out, they suffer from a lot of wear and tear (especially if you are a grinder), and they stretch out over time. All added together, it means that best practices are to replace them every 1.5 to 2 years. Additionally, If your teeth shift a little bit, because maybe we don’t all wear our retainers every night 😉, or if you get any dental work done you cannot alter the clear retainers, you need to get a brand new set to match the teeth!
Traditional retainers- We know these well. They’ve been around a long time. We finish our ortho treatment and get to pick fun colors or designs for them, sometimes we even get to add stickers. However, when we pop them in before bed at night, we can see the pretty silver bar across our teeth. It’s true these retainers also get thrown away sometimes, but they do have some advantages. The trade-off for our friends, roommates, or significant others seeing that shiny silver wire: these retainers tend to be a lot more durable, some lasting 25 years or more. If teeth shift slightly or any dental work is done your orthodontist can make some adjustments, at best moving those pesky troublemakers back into position, at the bare minimum getting them fitting like new!
Let's be real though; Both clear retainers and traditional retainers will keep your teeth straight when worn regularly. They each have downsides and advantages. There is no “silver bullet” solution. So choose what you’re most comfortable with, accept the disadvantages, enjoy the positives, and most importantly…. wear them every night.
Today, we are sharing a success story that would not have happened without the help of traditional retainers.
This patient had a lingual retainer on her bottom teeth. A lingual retainer is also known as a permanent retainer. This retainer is made from wire and is glued to the back of your teeth. This patient saw that one of her bottom teeth had shifted. This was due to the glue pad breaking. This is not uncommon; the glue pads tend to wear down over time and are the main reason we like to see our patients every 1 to 2 years even after treatment.
Our patient had a traditional retainer. So we cleaned off the leftover glue from the tooth and placed a couple of strategic bends in that silver wire we know so well. Check the photo below! After a couple of months of consistent nighttime wear, the bends in the wire added pressure to the misbehaving tooth and helped guide it back into its correct position. When the patient returned for her check-up, the tooth was right back in place and we were able to replace the glue pad, relocking the tooth to the permanent retainer. An inexpensive and easy correction with a happy ending for all, tooth, patient, and the orthodontist!