Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Ouch! Putting my Retainers Back In

I had braces from the age of 15 to 17. When it came time to take those bad boys off, I requested the clear retainers, so that I could wear them all the time without them being too noticeable. Ha. Ha. Ha. I wore them 24/7 for about a month, and then just at night time for about the next year. College came around, and every couple months I would make sure I wore my retainers for a few nights in a row. Every time it became a little harder to put the retainers back on, which meant that every time I quit wearing them again.

Now that it has been eight years braces-free, I decided the other day that I should try wearing my retainers again to put my teeth back in shape. OUCH!! It was difficult for me to even push them over my teeth, and I knew right then that I had to change my terrible teeth-shifting ways. I am hoping if I wear my top retainer 24/7 (except while eating) for the next month or so that my teeth will go back to their perfect positions. The bottom retainer doesn't fit quite as snugly, probably since having wisdom teeth removed and a crown installed means that they are "stuck" in a new position. But even putting the bottom one on halfway at nighttime should help prevent further shifting.

I am just wishing now that I had kept wearing these annoying things at night so that I wouldn't have to go through this sore mouth phase for the next month or two. Here's to hoping that my teeth can return to their perfectly aligned positions! Anybody else that can commiserate with my terrible retainer habits?

3 comments:

  1. I had to give up wearing mine in college because I would take them out in the middle of the night and hide them. I used to be a horrible sleep walker. So now I can't even fit them on my teethies!

    Adventures of a Third Grade Teacher

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  2. I tried putting mine back in for awhile, and then when they shifted again they were worse :/ I think it's something you either need to 100% commit to or not do at all

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  3. I had mine out for about three weeks and now I have a ortho appointment so it will be hard to tell them I haven't been wearing it :(

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