If you recently completed treatment at King Orthodontics, we’d like to congratulate you! Now that your braces have been removed, Drs. King will provide—or has provided you—with retainers. After braces are removed, teeth can shift out of position if they are not stabilized. Retainers provide that stabilization. They are designed to hold teeth in their corrected, ideal positions until the bones and gums adapt to the treatment changes. Wearing retainers exactly as instructed is the best insurance that the treatment improvements last for a lifetime. Here are some things to remember when you receive your retainers:
- Wear your retainers full time, until the doctor instructs otherwise. Wearing your retainers at night ensures that your pearly whites won’t relapse.
- Take your retainers out when eating…and always put retainers in their case! (Most appliances are lost in school lunchrooms 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.
- Retainers are breakable, so treat them with care. If retainers are lost or broken, give us a call immediately.
- 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, soccer, etc.).
We hope this helps! You can always contact our team if you have any questions!
Dr. Bryan King earned his DMD from The University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine and holds his Master of Dental Science in Periodontics from The University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine. Dr. Bryan has also completed an Orthodontic residency at St Barnabas Hospital in The Bronx, New York. Dr Bryan has received many honors as a practicing orthodontist including, being named a Diplomate of the American Board ofOrthodontics and being named a “Top Dentist” by Pittsburgh Magazine for several years running. He also earned the Lifetime achievement award given by Align Technologies in 2014 for his work with Invisalign.
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