Retainers: the final phase of teeth straightening

If you are thinking about getting braces in St John’s Wood, you are probably mostly concerned with how you are going to look while the braces are on your teeth, and you are already looking forward to the day that the braces come off and your lovely straight teeth are there looking marvellous for the whole world to admire.

But, hang on a minute. It’s not quite as simple as that. Once you have been through treatment with braces in St John’s Wood with us at Aura Dental, there is another phase. This phase is when you need to wear a retainer.

What is a retainer?

A retainer is a device that holds the teeth in place once they have reached their final position during treatment with braces in St John’s Wood. You need to wear it on your teeth for some time after treatment ends, possibly even the rest of your life. Your teeth will naturally want to return to the position they were in before braces, you see.

Bonded retainer

A bonded retainer is fixed to the insides of your teeth, so no one will be able to see it. The bonding is very strong and only we will be able to remove it. So, if you are not so great at being disciplined about such things, this is probably the retainer for you.

Essix retainer

This is more like a mouth guard, being a very thin sheet of plastic that is heated and sucked down over a plaster-cast of your newly straightened teeth. Once it has hardened the edges are cut away and this becomes your new retainer, which you wear at night. Patients using Invisalign will probably opt for this kind of retainer, and, in fact, Align Technology, the makers of Invisalign, do their own version of an Essix retainer, called a Vivera retainer.

Ask us about retainers

If you are planning on getting braces in St John’s Wood with us, you can ask us all about retainers when you have your consultation appointment. We will be happy to answer all your questions and can even show you examples of retainers.