Past, current, and future Jaw Surgery patients Unite!
jawman22
Member
what kind of retainer wear did you folks have to do? Is one month full-time and then switching to nightly wear for the upper and a fixed lower reasonable?
Some people sound like they have to be in retainers for a year non-stop, or many months - or get fixed in the back.
RachelM
Member
I have one I only have to wear at night. It's like two mouth guards (one for top and bottom). I'm not sure how long I have to keep wearing it but it doesn't cause me any problems so I'm happy to wear it forever!
xdianao
Member
I got my braces off at 7 months post op. I have to wear the top plastic retainer at all time (except when eating) for 6 months, then I can switch to nights only. I got a metal permanent retainer placed behind my bottom teeth so I don't have to wear the plastic one.
jawman22
Member
Rachel, do you have one of those damon splint retainers? http://www.google.com/imgres?um=1&hl=en&sa=N&biw=1600&bih=732&tbm=isch&tbnid=E9ixf0hKQuOpDM:&imgrefurl=http://www.summersortho.com/damon-splint.php&docid=Ubnl5W3DvLNkLM&imgurl=http://www.summersortho.com/images/pic_splint2.jpg&w=290&h=206&ei=ndq-TozMGYLJ0AGnw_TcBA&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=422&sig=104761488032481000507&page=1&tbnh=119&tbnw=168&start=0&ndsp=33&ved=1t:429,r:23,s:0&tx=63&ty=65
RachelM
Member
No. My retainers are separate so I can still open my mouth when I'm wearing them
jawman22
Member
why is there this huge variation? I'm in NY and it seems like most docs here want me to either have upper and lower fixed retainers even before looking at my case, just in talking over the phone.
Does something bad happen if you just wore retainers at night, so long as they fit by the time you put them in at night?
RachelM
Member
I have no idea! (I'm in the UK) Everything is really varied with surgery as well. I had 11mm of movement (7/4) double jaw surgery for an underbite and crossbite. I wasn't banded shut or wired shut either. I just wasn't allowed to chew for six weeks and had one elastic either side for five months to guide my jaw.
My jaw hasn't moved since surgery. Everything still lines up perfectly and isn't off at all. If something bad happens if you only wore retainers at night then they would make me wear them all the time. I guess we'll see in 12 months time if things have moved or not but I trust my ortho and surgeon to make the right decisions for me. I never feel like I'm wedging my teeth into my retainers at night and so long as I wear them EVERY night then my teeth shouldn't move long term. But again, it's different for everyone!
What kind of retainers do you have?
jawman22
Member
i have a clear upper, bonded lower but my switched orthos because he started yelling at me everytime i asked a question and was making some what i feel were very odd or at least sloppy judgement calls - i'll spare the details but i had to get out of there.
which is unfortunate because now i'm kind of in the wilderness, my surgeon is uninvolved orthodontically and doesn't want to believe he wasn't a good ortho, and i'm searching for some who can help me retain my bite to some degree, but everyone has a different philosophy and many are reluctant to say things when it wasn't their case.
momo lee
Member
I have fixed retainers in both upper and lower. I'm getting the removable ones Monday which I'll wear all the time for a month and then after that it's nights only.
I've read that the fixed retainers are the most effective because you'll NEVER forget to wear them (obviously) and it's also recommended if your bite has changed a lot. Your teeth are not likely to shift with the bonded ones. You do have to wear the removable ones too though because you want to avoid the other teeth from shifting.
I'm so happy that I have the bonded ones.! :D It's makes me feel safe lol
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