Three disasters with orthodontic retainers in ONE WEEK!
This is absolutely true (although I have changed the towns around to keep them anonymous). These things happen regularly throughout the year, because people don't follow simple instructions, but last week they all happened at once:
- A patient from Balbriggan finished their orthodontics treatment and got a great smile. Two days later they were back in to us for a replacement because they left the retainer down on the table while eating and it was tidied away.
- A patient from Skerries who had orthodontic treatment a while ago, with super results and a lovely smile, woke up, took their retainer out and instead of putting it safely into their retainer box, they left it on the bed, then they got up, it fell on the floor where they stood on it and it cracked in two. They had to come in for a replacement.
- A patient from Malahide who had a nice smile after some orthodontic treatment with us was back in to get a replacement retainer because they left the retainer out of its box and it was chewed up by their dog.
And in addition to these we also had a couple of other avoidable orthodontic problems:
- A patient from Donabatewho had finished their orthodontic treatment a few months ago didn't wear their retainer and their teeth moved a bit and now their retainer won't fit so they can't wear it. We'd have to do some new orthodontic treatment for them now if they want their teeth straight again - which is a shame as the teeth were straight just a few months ago and would have stayed that way if they'd worn their retainers.
- A patient from Lusk who was having orthodontic treatment with twin block braces put their braces in a school bag without putting them in their special braces box. Their books were very heavy and broke the braces. They will need replaced now and while new braces are being made up their teeth aren't moving in the right direction, in fact they might even be losing some of the progress they had made so far.
So the basic advice is:
- Follow brace and retainer instructions
- Take care of them when they aren't in the mouth
