When we remove your braces, we will begin the retention stage of your treatment. During this time, the teeth are held in their corrected positions while the teeth set more firmly in place. Typically, we request retainers be worn full-time for six months immediately after treatment, followed by two years of nighttime wear. In some cases, retainers are fixed to the teeth. The retention phase lasts for a minimum of 30 months. Your final orthodontic result depends on your retainers, so follow through with the hard work you’ve put in so far!
Wisdom Teeth
Wisdom teeth, or third molars, are commonly extracted after adolescent orthodontic treatment. When these teeth are impacted or otherwise nonfunctional, it is usually best to have them removed. Wisdom teeth, however, do not cause the front teeth to crowd as some people think. Other maturational factors combine to create the crowding that increases or develops in over 75% of people from mid-teens to late-twenties.
Maturational Changes
As we age, all our body parts and systems change – and usually not for the better. Our eyes change, our skin sags, our hair falls out (ouch!) and the teeth change. One normal maturation change is crowding, especially of the lower front teeth. For that reason, long term periodic retainer wear is indicated to minimize any unwanted maturational changes.
Orthodontic treatment corrects a wide range of problems most of these corrections are quite stable and are beneficial for a lifetime.
We carefully plan every treatment to maximize both the aesthetics and stability of the correction for each patient. When maturational changes occur in the years after orthodontics, these changes are typically quite minor relative to the original problem treated.