A dental retainer is a small, removable dental appliance that helps hold your teeth in place. It can be removed before sleep or at any time, and then it simply falls out in the morning.
But what happens if your retainer is lost? This article provides ideas for what to do if you have lost your retainer.
It is important that you do not lose your retainer for too long because otherwise, it could impact the movement of your teeth while you do not have it in.
This can become a more expensive issue if left for too long!
What Are The Issues With Losing Your Retainer?
If you lose your retainer, it might not seem like a huge issue to start with but as time passes it will only start to cause you problems.
You have a retainer after you have had braces. People have braces on for different periods of time to straighten their teeth or sort out different issues such as an overbite, underbite or crowded teeth.
After your teeth have been straightened by the braces, you need to stop them from returning to how they were before.
The way to do this is to continuously wear your retainer throughout the day to keep them aligned.
Therefore, if you lose your retainer and do not go and get a new one fitted straight away, you could start to see those teeth moving back to their original place.
Many people just assume that the braces are the only part of the job, but the retainers actually do most of the lifting afterwards to make sure your teeth stay in good condition.
Most people tend to find them quite irritating to wear and keep in for long periods of time, but you do get used to them and they have huge benefits.
It does not take too long before they start moving back because the only thing stopping your teeth before was the braces.
Most people only tend to wear retainers during the night after a while because this is the period where your teeth are likely to move the most which make it easier to keep hold of them.
However, some people do tend to wear them on a daily basis throughout the day, which can make it easier to lose when taking them out to eat and brush your teeth.
Time Periods Of Movement
- After one week of movement, your teeth will start to shift slightly and it might not be anything too visible, but you might be able to feel that happening. This amount of time will not completely ruin the progress you made with braces if you get a new retainer after.
- After a month, you will notice visible signs of your teeth moving into different positions because your teeth and gums will be very flexible.
- If you leave your teeth without a retainer for a year or more, you might need to have braces again if they have moved back into a crooked position or old issues have risen again.
Can’t Afford A New Retainer?
In the past, getting your hands on a new retainer would’ve been more of a problem due to the many visits you would have to take to the orthodontist to get another one molded to your mouth.
However, now the process is a lot easier because of the online services they have available to everyone.
This will cut out the visits which cost due to the orthodontist’s time and you only have to pay for the retainer itself.
There are also online retainer websites where you can purchase your retainer that could be cheaper than your original orthodontist centre.
This process is fast and efficient for most people who do not want to go to several appointments and dish out $300 on a new retainer.
A lot of these online services will send you a home kit where you are able to mold your retainer and send it off to be made by the company.
Then they will send it back to your home and you can start wearing it again. This new system has been perfect to cut out the middleman and make it easier for the customer.
Conclusion
Overall, if you have lost your retainer, you need to make sure you do something about it fast if you want to keep your teeth straight.
Don’t waste all your time with braces on for years maybe, then not look after your retainer.
Money is always important to most, and you don’t want to be wasting your money on buying several new retainers because it is a lot cheaper to just look after them.
However, if you do end up losing your retainer, the online services do tend to be a lot more efficient for most people. It saves them time, money and travel to and from the orthodontist.
Your retainer is more important than you might think because it is the force that keeps your teeth aligned now your braces are no three.
Without it, you are looking at your teeth going back to how they used to be and all of that work on your teeth would have been for nothing.
It is important to look after your teeth because it can also affect your confidence in smiling and taking photographs if they go back to being crooked again.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Much Is It If You Lose Your Retainer?
The cost of replacement retainers will depend on the type of retainer you get and whether you get it in-office or online. Invisalign retainers can cost anywhere from $400 to $1,000. Essix retainers generally cost between $50 and $200, and Hawley replacement retainers cost between $150 and $300 to replace.
He has combined both of these skills to create his first company, Isopharm Limited, which became one of the top learning platforms within the dental industry.
With over 120,000 active users, he has been able to educate others in order to provide better dental care around the world.
With his expertise and work in the field, Andrew has been able to help many dental care professionals succeed in treating their patients.
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