You need to wear your retainer for at least twice as long as your treatment lasted. If you wore braces for 2 years, the retention period is 4 years after the braces come off.
The first 6 months are the most critical for keeping the result, because new bone forms around the new position of your teeth. During this period, you need to wear the retainer for at least 12 hours a day. This means wearing it at night and for a few hours during the day.
These wearing hours can be split up (for example, 2 hours wearing it, 3 hours not wearing it), as long as they add up to 12 hours in total.
After the first 6 months, you move on to wearing the appliance at night – 8 hours – until the end of the minimum retention period.
When you take the appliance out of your mouth, wash it with a brush and soap and put it in its case so that it does not break. Wash it in lukewarm or cold water.
After the minimum retention period ends, we recommend wearing the appliance every 2-3 nights for as long as you want to maintain the result achieved with treatment.
If the appliance breaks within the first 6 months, a new one is made urgently.
If it breaks more than 6 months after the end of treatment, a new appliance can be made within 1 week.
Do not eat or smoke while wearing the appliance – you can only drink water.
