This is an automatically translated article.
The article was professionally consulted by Doctor of Dentistry - Jaw - Face - Department of Medical Examination & Internal Medicine - Vinmec Hai Phong International General Hospital.
A retainer is an appliance ordered by a doctor after removing braces. The retainer jaw works to ensure stability in the new position of the tooth, avoiding shifting and returning to the original position. Depending on each person's situation, the doctor will advise the patient to wear the appropriate retainer.
1. Why is it necessary to wear retainers after braces?
After the end of the braces period, the doctor still requires the need to wear a retainer for a while because the teeth and jawbone after braces are finished, must undergo a great impact to adjust and organize. around the teeth are not stable, fixed, they are easy to be pulled back to the original position by the ligaments.
Moreover, gum tissue and periodontal tissue still need more time to reorganize the structure after braces. Therefore, it is necessary to use an appliance to maintain the position of the teeth at the time of braces removal to maintain that result.
2. How many types of maintenance functions are there?
Maintenance has two methods:
Maintaining fixed: using a metal rod or a retainer attached to the inside of the tooth (maintaining the lingual surface) with Composite. However, this maintenance case is not possible in every clinical case because it depends on the client's occlusion. Maintaining the assembly, customers will be sampled and sent to the factory to make removable jaws, removable jaws can be in the form of a transparent trough or a flexible plastic combination with a metal arch that hugs the tooth.
Advantages of fixed maintenance function
Customers are fixed continuously, do not forget to bring, forget to use.
Disadvantages of fixed function:
Not all cases can do fixed function. Always stick tightly, so it is difficult to clean the interdental spaces, easily leading to cavities if you do not know how to clean well. Do not bite directly into the area that carries the wire maintaining it, it will cause detachment (due to the adhesion mechanism, there is a high risk of detachment).
3. Removable retainer with transparent plastic tray
The orthodontist will check, take a sample of the jaw and send the denture Labo to give the customer two retainers.
Removable retainer with transparent plastic tray brings high aesthetics, very suitable for people who go to work and school because the tray is transparent plastic, difficult to detect, can confidently wear transparent tray 24 now without worrying about affecting the aesthetics.
Removable retainers with transparent plastic trays are also easily removable, so it's easy to clean your teeth and gums.
When chewing, the jaws are removed, so you can eat and chew comfortably.
The disadvantage of the removable retainer with a transparent plastic tray is also from the advantage of easy removal because the wearer may forget to wear it, affecting the results. Because of its transparency, when chewing, forgetting to remove the jaw leads to breakage and needs to be redone, so it is economical.
4. Metal removable retainer
Advantages: Metal removable retainers are made of metal. This type of jaw is like a removable retainer with a transparent plastic tray that can be easily removed, so when eating, chewing will be easy, easy to clean the teeth and retainer.
Cons: Less aesthetic due to exposing the metal wire to the outside of the dental arch.
Due to the ability to take off, customers may forget to wear it, if it happens often, it will affect the results after treatment. Customers forget to take it off when chewing, so it can cause broken or broken jaws. Re-employment can cost more economically. The metal retainer jaw is very useful for all orthodontic cases because it determines the long-term treatment results for the patient, avoiding recurrence.
Depending on the patient's clinical situation, the patient's economy, the doctor decides what type of maintenance to use.
5. How long do retainers need to be worn?
Usually, the patient needs to wear the retainer almost forever, but the longer the patient is away, the shorter the time can be (eg, twice a week).
Vinmec Times City International General Hospital applies and deploys a new generation of orthodontic braces to meet the increasing aesthetic needs of customers. When using the service package, customers will receive comprehensive oral care such as general oral examination, panoramic dental film, orthodontic treatment using self-ligating metal brackets and tartar removal,... In addition In addition, customers also receive 2 dental cleanings during the braces process, and a free retainer after half a year of braces to ensure the results of braces.
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