Why does a patient need a retainer at the end of treatment?
It is unrealistic to expect teeth that have taken one’s whole life to achieve a certain position to remain in a new position after being moved for a short period of time (let’s say 18 months). Most patients want their braces off as soon as possible – after they have been moved into acceptable positions. Ideally, we would hold teeth in their new positions, once achieved, for as long as it took for the teeth to erupt into the bad position in the first place. In stead, we use appliances that don’t need to be on the teeth constantly, but continue to provide stable, reproducible maintenance of the new position long enough that we might have a realistic chance of having the teeth stay in their new positions. And the period of retention (wearing of retainers) must take into consideration the original cause of the problem; were the teeth put into wrong positions because of some problem that continues in the mouth, in spite of the fact that braces have provided a new position? Retainers are a w
Related Questions
- What do I do if I have a patient for who requires their scan urgently because they need treatment before a specific date (i.e. a patient on the 62 day treatment pathway)?
- Can I give my patient advocate the right to make decisions to withhold or withdraw life sustaining treatment?
- Why does a patient need a retainer at the end of treatment?
