Invisalign Retainers for Teeth Straightening:
What Are They and Are They Essential at Eternal Smiles?
When you first decide to get your teeth straightened, you may spend most of your time figuring out what method you want to use. Should you go for treatment with clear aligners like the Invisalign® system, or do you go with something traditional like metal or ceramic braces?
What often gets forgotten is your choice of retainer that comes after your teeth-straightening treatment. Let’s look at what retainers for after teeth straightening are, the different kinds of retainers, and why they are an essential part of protecting your straighter smile (and investment!) after treatment.
What are retainers and what do they do?
When you first start to straighten your teeth, whether it’s with traditional braces, lingual braces, or clear aligners, you are essentially changing the positioning of your teeth. This means your teeth could need time to adjust to their new positions1.
Throughout your teeth-straightening journey, your teeth will of course become straighter, but those ligaments and muscle tissues need a little more time to adapt to their new, more aligned teeth positions.
This is where a retainer comes in — it’s the device you wear after your teeth-straightening treatment to keep your teeth in their new straightened alignment.
Without a retainer, your teeth will want to move back toward their original positions. It essentially acts as a “reminder” for your teeth, helping them stay in the new position.
In essence, a retainer is a final tool you use in your teeth straightening journey to ensure a lifelong straighter smile.
How long do you have to wear a retainer for?
As with all things related to teeth straightening, how long you will have to wear your retainer will depend on your individual needs, and is something you will need to discuss with your dentist or orthodontist.
As an example3 though, your dentist might instruct you to wear your retainer full time for a period of time, and then only at night time (or even just a few nights per week).
