Is it normal for gaps in my teeth to return within hours of not having retainers on?

Doctor's Answers 3

congratulations on the completion of your orthodontic treatment!

Our teeth are constantly moving, and people tend to notice that the teeth may "move more" during orthodontic treatment, or within a few months after orthodontic treatment.

The reason is because during orthodontic treatment or after, the periodontal ligament that cushions/holds the teeth in place likes to move back to its old position.

Several of my patients will feedback that upon not wearing the aligners or retainers for a few hours, the teeth may shift slightly, and upon wearing it again it feels tight on the teeth. The aligner or retainers will help to move the teeth back to the ideal position.

The periodontal ligament and bone around the teeth will take a few few months to be stabilized after orthodontic treatment.

The concern would be when the retainer doesn't fit, and a new retainer or another round of orthodontic treatment may be needed to correct the teeth that has since moved out of position.

Most of the time, the retainers issued by your dentist will be sufficient if you adhere to his instructions. You may try that for a start, and if the problem still persists, do consider consulting your dentist.

In some cases, teeth can move back very quickly - these are called high risk relapse cases. This may happen for very rotated teeth, or teeth with gaps in the midline.

You could consider asking your orthodontist for a fixed retainer, which is a wire retainer glued to the back of your teeth to help maintain the teeth position, whenever you are not wearing your removal retainers.

Good luck! And don't ever stop wearing those retainers.

Best wishes,

Dr Sylvia Tan

Congrats on the removal of your braces!

Yes, it’s perfectly normal. Teeth will tend to move back to their original positions after braces is taken off.

Studies have shown that the tissues around the teeth take about 232 days to stabilize, after which the teeth will be less prone to shifting.

However, teeth will continue to move throughout life. Hence we usually advise our patients to wear retainers full time (24/7 except eating or brushing teeth) for the first 6 months to a year and night time thereafter.

For more info, do come to our NDCS inaugural public forum “Smile Sparkle Shine - a public forum on Oral Health” on the 24 March to find out more!

Similar Questions

How do dentists determine when teeth need to be extracted for orthodontic treatment?

When deciding on whether a patient needs extractions as part of orthodontic treatment, I consider the following factors: 1) Space requirements This refers to the amount of space needed to straighten the teeth. If the amount of crowding is severe, this means that more space will be needed. If sufficient space cannot be created by other methods (slimming down the teeth by interproximal reduction or IPR, arch expansion and incisor proclination) then extractions may need to be considered.

Photo of Dr Jaclyn Toh

Answered By

Dr Jaclyn Toh

Dentist

How fast does teeth start to shift after completing orthodontic treatment?

In general your teeth should not be shifting that quickly. The speed of teeth shifting / relapsing back into old position depends largely on the angulation of the tooth roots and the final bite position of your teeth. Taking an xray helps to check this out. In short, it is unusual for teeth to shift in a week so dont worry too much about it unless you personally see significant shifting occuring. A suggestion would be to call your dental clinic to ask if you can get the retainer earlier though at times there may be an express service fee charge for expedited cases. Hope this helps!

Photo of Dr Beth Seow

Answered By

Dr Beth Seow

Dentist

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