The importance of retainers, from Dau Orthodontics

If you recently completed treatment at Dau Orthodontics, we’d like to congratulate you! Now that your braces have been removed, Dr. Steven Dau will provide you with retainers. Retainers are important as they hold your teeth in their corrected positions your braces have been removed.

Without retainers, your teeth may relapse out of their newly-aligned positions and regress to their original positions. If a relapse occurs, it usually requires braces to correct the alignment of teeth again. Here are some things to remember when you receiver your retainers from Dr. Dau:

* Wear your retainers full time, until the doctor instructs otherwise.
* Take your retainers out when eating...and always put retainers in their case! (Most appliances are lost in school lunch rooms or restaurants.)
* Clean retainers thoroughly once a day with a toothbrush and only a small amount of toothpaste. Use warm but not hot water.
* When retainers are not in your mouth they should ALWAYS be in a retainer case.
* Initially, you may find it difficult to speak. Practice speaking, reading, or singing aloud to get used to them quicker.
* Retainers are breakable, so treat them with care. If retainers are lost or broken, give us a call immediately.
* Try to remember to bring your retainers to your appointments.
* Retainer replacement is expensive...with proper care they will last for years!
* Remove retainers when swimming or during any sporting activity in which the retainers could fall out and get broken or lost (cheerleading, basketball, etc.) or when you should be wearing a mouth guard (football, lacrosse, etc.).
* Keep retainers away from hot water, hot car dashboards, pockets, the washing machine, and napkins.

We hope this helps! You can always give our team a call if you have any questions!