The AAO’s Retainer Care Guide offers essential tips on keeping your retainer clean and well-maintained to protect both your oral health and the results of your orthodontic treatment. Proper care ensures your retainer lasts longer and keeps your smile in its ideal position.

Orthodontic retainers are custom-made devices used after braces or aligners to maintain teeth in their new positions. Without them, teeth can gradually shift back to their original alignment.

Nothing can prevent 100% of tooth movement, but when retainers are worn as prescribed, they are the best tool available to minimize movement.

As long as your retainer doesn’t hurt and still fits over your teeth, you can wear it – even if it feels tight. Your teeth may have slightly shifted, and you may need to wear your retainer longer each day to prevent your teeth from moving.

The working theory is that dogs are attracted by the smell of the materials from which retainers are made, as well as saliva. With their powerful jaws, dogs can render retainers useless in no time.

The answer is yes, and here’s why. Getting straight teeth is only half the battle; the other half is keeping them straight, and that is where retainers come in.

While small changes after treatment concludes are normal, retainers prevent teeth from going back to their original positions.