You’ve put in the time and money to have your teeth straightened into the perfect smile. It was a long journey, but now your teeth are ready to be shown off as you’ve always dreamed. Before you leave the dentist, he gives you a retainer and tells you to wear it every night. As you hastily drive away ready to show off your new smile, your retainer case falls between the seat and the center console only to be lost for three weeks. What happens if you don’t wear your retainer?
Teeth are incredible tools for your mouth. They help assist us in communication with speaking by forming words. Teeth also help break down our food while protecting our tongue, but they also have one more trick that we can’t visibly see, and that’s elastic memory.
Elastic memory means that your teeth will always want to return to their natural position no matter how much time has passed since the orthodontic work. It could be a few weeks after getting your braces off or it could be a few years, but your teeth will begin to shift back. This is what happens if you don’t wear your retainer.
A retainer is a device that stops your teeth from shifting after you’ve completed your aligners, Invisalign, or braces. They are clear and made from plastic to fit snuggly on your teeth at night to firmly hold your teeth in place. By wearing a retainer at night, it tricks your teeth into thinking that they are where they are supposed to be. When you don’t wear a retainer, your teeth return to their natural position using their elastic memory.
What happens if you don’t wear your retainer? The perfect smile that you spent thousands of dollars on will slowly fade as your teeth shift back to their natural position. To fix it, you’ll need to come up with a new plan with your dentist which may require a new schedule of aligners. It’s the reality of what happens if you don’t wear your retainer.
When you lose a retainer, or if your old one is getting worn or with yellow spots, it’s time to order a new one. The faster you receive a new one the less chance your teeth will have to shift. SportingSmiles offers replacement retainers at half the cost of the dentist. With no need to visit the dentist, no insurance required, you’ll have retainers before your teeth have begun to shift. Even if you have a retainer currently, it’s recommended that you keep a backup on hand. That way, the minute you lose your retainer or if the dog gets ahold of it, you’ll have one ready.
SportingSmiles offers both Essix and Essix plus retainers, and you can receive a full set or a single retainer. Depending on how quickly you need your retainers, you can order three different speeds. The default speed offers free 3-Way shipping and you’ll have new replacement retainers within 15-20 business days. The second option is rush retainers which will put your retainers to the front of the production line and priority shipping. You can expect rush retainers in 10-12 business days. The last option is emergency retainers which are overnight shipping and come with extreme lab processing. These retainers can be yours in 6 to 7 business days.
