Your braces are off!!!! What happens now? 

After your braces are removed, first of all, we at Skelton Orthodontics will celebrate with you!  It's your "Yea! Day"!!! 

Secondly, you will be entering into a new phase called retention. You will need to wear a set of retainers to keep your teeth from relapsing toward their previous position.  Most likely, you will need to keep the retainers in all the time, taking them out only to brush your teeth and during meals, much like the time you may have spent wearing rubber bands, but after one to two years, you probably will be able to wear them just at night.   Dr. Skelton will keep checking you at regular intervals and will inform you how long you will need to wear the retainer. 

Be sure to call the office if you feel your teeth are moving, because your retainer may need to be adjusted, or you may need to wear your retainers more hours per day.  When the braces are first removed, it is normal for the teeth to feel a little loose, because they are not firm in their new positions yet.  The bone needs to fill in around the teeth making them firm again.  If the retainers are not worn full-time during this critical phase, the teeth will try to move when the retainers are out of the mouth, and then the retainers will move them back, keeping the teeth loose.  If the retainers are worn full-time it allows the teeth to become firm in their new places.  Patients who had spacing between their teeth before braces have to be especially careful to wear their retainers correctly.  Our general schedule for retention after one year can be read over here.    

Be sure to keep your retainers in their protective case when out of your mouth.  Dogs love to chew retainers, and they can be easily knocked off counters and stepped on.  NEVER wrap your retainers in napkins to eat a meal.  Moms cleaning the kitchen will throw them away.  Moms just have not learned to search all the trash for retainers before throwing it away.  It is YOUR responsibility to make sure that the retainer is in a safe place.  Backpacks are also dangerous, unless the protective case is used.  Heavy books can bend and break retainers.