Most adults may have had orthodontic treatment as a teenager with NHS fixed braces. They go through the embarrassing 2 years of dental visits, extractions, fixed brace pain, sharp wires, tension headaches and bad oral hygiene.

Then one day, finally the braces were off and they can rejoin the rest of the school as a normal looking teenager.

The kind dentist gave them a set of plastic retainers, that were either worn, lost, could no longer fit onto the teeth, or were still being worn (after 10-15 years).

Fortunately most retainers will not look like this, however no plastic retainer worn regularly will last more than 2-3 years.

Plastic materials will warp or distort under bite pressures and the moist oral cavity.

Teeth are known to move with or without orthodontic treatment (Proffitt) and also teeth are known to move post orthodontically when retention is not adequate (Proffitt).

We see many young adults that have orthodontic relapse because the retention was inadequate.

This lady had been a thumbsucker as a youngster and had had orthodontic treatment.

Sadly the retention device was inadequate and the patient had a relapse, with dental crowding and an increased overjet.

She did not want to wear fixed braces and did not want cosmetic veneers.

We offered her Invisalign treatment to move back the molars and the front teeth.

She agreed and we provided Invisalign treatment for 15 months. The patient attended every 6-8 weeks.

She had no pain, could take them out for eating and could drink with them in.

Nobody at work knew she had Invisalign.

The patient could slowly see the improvement with the aligners and was very happy at the end.

We provided 3 pairs for Vivera retainers, that are worn x2 a week and rotated every 4 months. On average our patients email us for a replacement set every 5-8 years.

invisalign # vivera # clear aligners