Oh No – My Teeth Have Shifted, What Now?

Long Beach, CA – The day you get your braces off is an exciting day! You’ve worked hard for your new smile, and no doubt are excited to show it off. But if you don’t wear your retainer as advised by your orthodontist, you may just see that old smile start to take shape again.

Can an Old Retainer Realign Your Teeth After Years?

If you’ve gone a while without wearing your retainer or if you’re an adult who had orthodontic treatment in your adolescence, is it possible to dig out your old retainer and use it to shift your teeth back? 

If it’s been months or even years since you last wore your retainer, the answer is probably no. Most likely your teeth have shifted too much for a retainer to guide them back into place. A retainer’s job is to hold teeth in their ideal locations, not to move them. They aren’t created to apply the precise forces needed to guide teeth into ideal alignment.

However, if it’s only been a few weeks, you may be able to go back to using your retainer. If you place your retainer back in your mouth and it fits, just a touch more snug than before, it might be fine to just go back to regular retainer wear. Typically, if there is very mild relapse present, you can put your retainer back in and it will sometimes push the teeth back into place if worn full time. If the shifting has already occurred, nighttime wear will not correct the movement, because once the retainers are removed in the morning, the teeth will shift back. 

Why do teeth shift after orthodontic treatment?

Many patients wonder why they have to wear their retainers after braces. Didn’t they just go through all of the work to move their teeth, after all? 

While your braces worked hard to guide your teeth, the rest of your mouth has to catch up to the work that was done. Your braces guided your teeth through bone and ligaments. The periodontal ligament surrounding each tooth is elastic, similar to a rubber band, and until new bone solidifies the teeth in their new places, the ligament will want to pull the teeth back to their old locations. The retainer holds the teeth in their place while this process happens.

Additionally, our teeth also naturally shift some as we age. As most adults know, nothing in the body stays the same over time, we need to work to maintain it. Whether you’ve had braces or not, tooth movement over time is normal and occurs due to the wear and tear we put on our mouths each day. For some people, it may not even be enough to notice. Other people may wonder what happened to their perfectly aligned smiles, though. 

Maintaining Your Smile: Retainer Wear and Orthodontic Aftercare

If you’ve undergone orthodontic treatment, it’s a good idea to keep your retainer on hand indefinitely. This will ensure your smile stays as straight as the day your braces were removed. Every patient is different and the retainer wear they are prescribed may be different depending on the severity of their initial malocclusion. Because we cannot predict whose teeth will shift and whose will not, we recommend full time wear for the first year for all of our patients and then nighttime wear for a lifetime afterwards to prevent relapse. Some patients choose to have permanent retainers placed – these are typically placed in patients with a higher risk of relapse. 

If you find that your retainer no longer fits or are worried about how to keep your smile aligned, schedule an appointment with your orthodontist. You may be able to have a new retainer made, or your orthodontist may make other recommendations. If it has been a long time since you wore your retainer, you may need an additional round of treatment to correct any movement. Some patients may only need a few months in braces or Invisalign to realign their smiles. 

HD Orthodontics is always here to answer questions or address concerns. Call the office at 562-283-6590.