Once I got my braces off on July 13th this summer, I was given, like many others in the same situation, a retainer to wear. Also, behind my two top front teeth, the orthodontist glued a small permanent retainer that should supposedly remain there for the rest of my life. (Yippee...) I first had a clear retainer that I had to wear during the day for three weeks. Then I went back to the orthodontist and received a metal retainer that I only have to wear during the night. (Well, he actually said for twelve hours each day, but let’s just pretend I sleep that much... shhhhh!) He recommended that for the full benefit, I wear the retainer for the rest of my life. We’ll have to see how that turns out.
Every morning, including this one, I wake up and fill a
plastic cup with water and drop a Retainer Brite cleansing tablet into it. It
dissolves to a beautiful light blue shade, foaming like the ocean. I have to
remove the retainer from the solution after about twenty minutes, so in that
time, I usually eat breakfast and watch the news, while trying to fall back to
sleep and being urged to stay awake by my mother. Once I finish eating, I brush
my teeth with Colgate Total toothpaste. The retainer is removed from the blue liquid
and brushed as well. It then resides in a sparkly pink case (with a convenient
advertisement for my orthodontist situated right on top) until after I brush my
teeth in the evening and am about to go to sleep.
Please note that this is just the way I clean my retainer,
and I felt like sharing this wonderful experience with you all. There are
plenty of other ways to properly and effectively clean your metallic mouth
accessories. For example, my friend Vivian prefers to intensely rinse her
retainer rather than brush it like I do. This is perfectly acceptable. Also,
please note that I am not an expert on this topic.
Feel free to share your retainer-related experiences down below! :D
What a detailed description of your retainer cleaning regimen. I used to go through something similar when I wore a retainer.
ReplyDeleteBTW: I got my braces off at the age of 12 and wore my retainer 'til I turned 30. My teeth shifted a bit in the past five years since I stopped. It's worth the time you put into it!
Thanks for the encouragement!
DeleteWow, that really sounds like a lot of work... I wasn't exactly expecting something like that after I get my braces off. I was actually sort of looking forward to moving on. But I guess this stuff stays with you for a while... What would you say is worse, in general - braces or retainers?
ReplyDeleteBraces are definitely worse, David. A retainer takes some getting used to and is a bit challenging to speak with, but it is not as much work as having braces glued to your teeth.
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