Quote:
Originally Posted by Schumi
Alright I'm going to show some knowledge deficiency here and ask:
What does wearing a retainer at night after braces are taken off actually do? I've seen these things before from kids back in school... they just look like some plastic and paperclips. What's that gonna do?
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These are different kind of retainers, they're custom made for the teeth and no metal parts:
the theory is that teeth have memory because there are fibres that may pull back the teeth out of new alignment so the retainer is to prevent that from happening.. I asked the dentist for how long I should wear them at night and she said its basically forever.. what!? then she said at some point become a non-issue anymore so it's ok to wear them occassionally but the benefit is that at night you protect your teeth from grinding.. She explained that theth wear is mostly at night during our sleep not food or during day.. so it's a good way to keep your teeth sharp.
After 2 years sometimes I have to roll my tongue to check if I have them on cause they're part of teeth almost and I can't tell if they're on. Basically nobody can tell if I'm wearing the appliance they're truly invisible.
Pop them out before food and back when done.. that simple..