Iqaluit Dental Clinic Examines If Permanent Retainers Are the Right Choice for You

Introduction

According to Iqaluit Dental Clinic, permanent retainers are metal wires that are glued or bonded to the inner side of your teeth. Generally, you need to wear permanent or fixed retainers after removing your braces to keep your teeth in the correct position and prevent them from shifting back to their original position. Generally, permanent retainers are used on the lower teeth while temporary retainers are used on the top teeth.

The Details

Let’s look at a few points that will help you to decide whether permanent retainers are the correct choice for your needs:

1. The benefits of permanent retainers – Permanent retainers are pretty convenient since you don’t have to take them off and worry about losing them. And, since they are bonded behind your teeth and cause no speech interference, no one will know about them, and you don’t have to feel self-conscious.

Permanent or bonded retainers are difficult to damage with normal everyday use of your mouth. Finally, since they are always in place, they help to keep your teeth aligned permanently.

2. The benefits of removable retainers – Removal retainers can be taken out at any time such as when you are cleaning your teeth or eating. And it just takes between 30 seconds to 1 minute to create a mould or impression of your mouth to create removable retainers.

Maintenance of removable retainers is pretty easy as well. You just have to take them out and soak them in a cleaning solution recommended by your dentist and finally rinse them with water before putting them back. This will prevent the build-up of bacteria on the plastic surface of the removable retainer.

Removable retainers are better for upper teeth compared to fixed retainers since the lower teeth often tend to bite on permanent retainers. And, since you can take out removable retainers, they are also easier to clean and floss.

3. The drawbacks of permanent retainers – One of the biggest problems of permanent retainers is that it requires extra effort to maintain good oral hygiene. You have to spend extra time and effort brushing and flossing around the permanent retainers. Otherwise, it can result in the risk of gum diseases and cavities.

Plus, you have to be more careful and selective about your food choices. Biting on tough foods such as steak or whole apple may cause the wire to bend out of shape. Plus, foods high in additives such as artificial sugar can damage the bonding material over time.

The procedure for attaching permanent retainers is long, uncomfortable, and costly which makes replacements or repairs fairly unwelcoming as well. Plus, they are uncomfortable to wear as your tongue can rub against the wire.

Conclusion

In most cases, permanent retainers may not be required if the root cause of the misaligned teeth is properly. Still, if you are considering replacing your temporary retainers with permanent retainers, Iqaluit Dental Clinic suggests you consult your dentist and ask for their recommendation. Although they do offer a lot of benefits over removable retainers, they also come with a few drawbacks which make them unsuitable for many people.