Last night, I went back to wearing retainers. Darn it hurts! I had orthodontic braces when I was in high school. Back then it was so cool to wear them. It’s an “in” thing. I don’t know why I needed braces but I pushed my parents to let me wear them. However I was aware then that I had this big ugly gap in between my 2 front teeth. So that was a good enough reason.
I remembered that the first few days after every adjust
ment my teeth would be so sore. But after that I relished the feeling of having a hard time talking because of my braces. For me it was cool. I graduated from braces after 2 years and my dentist prescribed me retainers to maintain the position of my teeth. I saw that the front gap disappeared. I wore the retainers for 2-3 years and thought that my teeth were fixed.
But then I saw the gap returning and getting wider after a year. That’s what the dentist would term it a relapse. Because I didn’t want to go back to braces especially I’m older (it seemed that it’s so uncool to wear braces when you’re older and when you’re in the states), I decided that a retainer would fix the problem.
Did I mention that I’m in dental school and that we know how to make ourselves retainers (and that’s how I diagnosed myself that I needed retainers)? We had an orthodontic class and they taught us how to bend wires. I was so poor at it. Before I left for the States 2 years ago, my classmate and I jointly made my retainers. It was never finished. So now I returned, I decided to have it done outside the school by a lab technician since I didn’t have the patience and skill to bend wires. But my classmate kindly volunteered to make my retainers. 3 months after having commissioned her to do my retainers, I was finally able to wear it. And I’m now regretting it because my teeth are so sore! ugh…
I had braces in highschool for two years and was insturcted to wear my retainers for two years after that. For one year I had to wear them all day and for the second year I only had to wear them at night. Its been about 4 years since I stopped wearing them and I noticed my teeth had a slight crooked look to them. I recenly started wearing them again. OMG it is painful! At first, I couldn’t even get them on. It has been about a week and a half now, and the shifting of the teeth isn’t what’s bothering me so much anymore. What is the most painful is the indentations it has made in my gums. When they are in, the pain goes away, but when I take them out or put them back in (especially the latter),the pain can be so bad that it acually makes me a little light headed. Putting them back in irritates the sores from the indentations.I figured this was just from the mouth moving back to the way it should be, but I don’t want to keep doing this if the pain will never go away. I was hoping you can answer my question…will my teeth shift enough to where my gums no longer hurt like this or since I’m 22 now and not a teenager anymore should I just get a new retainer all together? Thanks and I hope to hear from someone soon.
hi! of course your old braces won’t fit again especially if your teeth have relapsed. You need to consult with an orthodontist if what you need is braces or retainers. When I tried my retainers made by my friend, we absolutely made sure that it won’t impinge on my gums, the horizontal wire on the front will touch my front teeth on the middle 3rd of the teeth (because that’s where the right spot to move the teeth), the vertical loop will pass on the middle half of my canine, and the wires should not impede on my bite. Retainers should only make the teeth sore and not your gums.
Me to, I wore braces for about 2 and a half years and i barley wear my retainer, im starting to and the pain is so bad
im 14 and i live in the uk and ot my retainer yestarday and it hurts so much and it wont let me shut my mouth and it hurts alot when i put them on and take them off do have any advice?
you can ask your dentist on how to relieve the pain for example taking a pain reliever medicine but that is if it’s approved by your dentist. what i do, i just don’t take off my retainers for 2-3 days, (i know it’s not hygienic) but after the 3 days the pain is tolerable and i can remove it again when i eat or brush my teeth.
im 9 i had to get a reitainer last night october 16 2009 i woke up early this morning with a terrible pain the reitainer is on my bottom row of teeth in back of them what do i do any advice?
too bad your retainers are bonded to your teeth so you can’t remove it when you can’t stand the pain any longer. but ask your dentist to prescribe you some pain reliever like tylenol – but it should be the dentist who would decide on that. other than that you just have to tolerate the pain. i totally sympathize.
thanks
oh and mine are glued n my bottom back theeth. GLUED!!!!
oh yuck i remember the day i had to get a impression i got my impression back last night too