My retainer has broken: orthodontist?

Will81

Hello,

I had free braces when I was a teenager. When it ended, they left me with a fixed retainer wire top and bottom.

The bonding is coming loose. It's actually causing me pain as a tooth is moving now. But I'm thinking after 10 years(!) of having fitted wires, I should just get them removed completely and let me teeth do whatever.
No professional wants to tell me "yes that's a good idea"... I guess my teeth may not be perfect any more if I get the wires off, but am I supposed to have them all my life??

Cost is a concern, (orthodontistry is expensive as heck) as well as the fact that the glue is obviously ending up in my body over the months/ years.

Am I being short sighted to want them off? Should I repair them or just accept imperfect teeth?

Toothsmith

It's YOUR choice.

You know that if you have them taken off, things will move. To what degree is very hard to predict.

This is hardly going to affect the function of the teeth, and no one every died of slightly squiffy teeth

It is entirely a cosmetic matter,and you have to weigh up how YOU feel about getting it fixed (Which should be pretty simple, and any half competent dentist should be able to do it, although the NHS wouldn't pay for it - so it would be a private charge.) Vs How YOU would feel about the teeth moving about to some degree. (And being free of the wires)

What do YOU think? They're YOUR teeth.

brook2jack

In the past it was different but the thinking , in general, now is if you don't want teeth to move you have to wear retainers for life.

If your retainers are taken off there is a good chance your teeth will move back to where they started. All that time wearing a brace will have been for nothing.

But it's your choice.

Will81

Oh so I don't have to go to an orthodontist.

How much would it possibly cost for the bonding to be replaced? I didn't go and ask because I was quoted £45 just to be seen.
I paid equiv to £9.50 in a 3rd world country last year for one tooth. I wish I had got them all done.


I am utterly stunned that none of the three (NHS) dentists I've seen in the last year or 2 ever bothered to mention that I should consider getting the bond replaced. The bond was clearly very thin but I trusted them when they said "its fine"... And now look! My teeth are moving. I would quite like neat teeth. I just can't believe that in the last 12 years not a single dentist including the guy who fitted the wire ever bothered to mention that
A) it's a possibly lifelong requirement (to retain perfect teeth)
anything about future maintenance (like the bloody bond might wear off)

No leaflet. No prep talk. Is this considered acceptable in the dental industry?

Toothsmith

Will81 wrote: »

I am utterly stunned that none of the three (NHS) dentists I've seen in the last year or 2 ever bothered to mention that I should consider getting the bond replaced. The bond was clearly very thin but I trusted them when they said "its fine"...

You were advised correctly.

No-one can predict exactly when the bond might break. It's quite right to leave it alone so long as it's doing it's job.

If it goes, it's dead easy to book yourself in and get it fixed. Unless you start whinging about the fact you have to put your hand in your pocket to actually pay someone to do the job, and faff about for so long that you end up not getting it done!

If you want to have it replaced every time it starts to look a bit 'second hand' - then over your lifetime you would end up spending way more money than if you just go along when one does actually go. And then you'd be moaning about dentists 'making up work'! But if you'd prefer to do it that way, then let your dentist know this, and I'm sure they'd be happy to accommodate you.

As for warnings - it has been a pretty standard warning with orthodontics for a fair few decades that the teeth will always try to go back, and that retention is necessary to make sure they don't. I find it hard to believe that you weren't told this. I think you've just forgotten.

So - stop the whinging and just get in and get it fixed, if that's what you want to do! If not, just get in and have it taken off.

indiepanda

Very surprised to hear they are recommending retention for life now.

I had significant orthodontic treatment as a teenager and had a retainer to wear at night for a year at the end of the treatment, which was back in 1989.

As far as I can make out my teeth have pretty much remained where they were at the end of the treatment. They definitely haven't moved to the point they were at when I started - I would have noticed if a centimetre gap had opened up between upper and lower jaw.

Perhaps because I had my number 7s extracted part way through the treatment because my wisdom teeth were growing beneath the roots but only about 50% overlapped, that gave the space for my teeth to spread out and so not move back.

Toothsmith

indiepanda wrote: »

Very surprised to hear they are recommending retention for life now.

I had significant orthodontic treatment as a teenager and had a retainer to wear at night for a year at the end of the treatment, which was back in 1989.

As far as I can make out my teeth have pretty much remained where they were at the end of the treatment. They definitely haven't moved to the point they were at when I started - I would have noticed if a centimetre gap had opened up between upper and lower jaw.

Perhaps because I had my number 7s extracted part way through the treatment because my wisdom teeth were growing beneath the roots but only about 50% overlapped, that gave the space for my teeth to spread out and so not move back.

There are some treatments that achieve quite a stable result. If this was the case with you, you might have been just recommended retention for a few months, then OK.

Most treatments have some potential for relapse though, so advice is often that the only way to guarantee NO movement is permanent retention. It's all about degrees of relapse, and specific advice for specific cases.

brook2jack

When I did my training many years ago we only used to retain teeth for 6 months. However research now shows to be sure of the result staying you need to retain for life.

As to never being warned a retainer might need replacing...... No dental work lasts for life , it all will need replacing.

As to cost ..... A gallon of oil is around $50 a barrel , a barrel of bonding agent , just one of the materials used, is around $ 4,000,000. Composite, the other material used is 2/3 the price of gold weight for weight.

indiepanda

Toothsmith wrote: »

There are some treatments that achieve quite a stable result. If this was the case with you, you might have been just recommended retention for a few months, then OK.

Most treatments have some potential for relapse though, so advice is often that the only way to guarantee NO movement is permanent retention. It's all about degrees of relapse, and specific advice for specific cases.

Interesting. I think I wore a retainer for about a year at nights. Seemed to do the trick for me anyway - guess I am just one of the lucky ones.

I did have quite a lot of treatment, quite impressed really looking back that it was all free on the NHS. Mind you my dentist did say if they stopped cosmetic orthodontist work being available on the NHS for children I would still have got some work free as my front teeth stuck out so far I could easily have knocked them out if I tripped over. Don't think that was a complement looking back!