Keeping Your Smile in Place
Retainers → to Retain
Your Beautiful New Smile
At Great Smiles, we like to say: braces move your teeth, but retainers keep them there. Retainers help make sure all that hard work stays put, and your smile stays as straight and healthy as the day your treatment ended.
Why are Orthodontic Retainers for Teeth Important?
Your teeth naturally want to shift back to where they started—especially in the months right after treatment. Retainers:
- Prevent relapse (teeth moving out of place)
- Protect your investment in orthodontic care
- Help keep your bite stable as your jaw continues to grow and settle
Most patients wear their retainer full-time for the first few months, then transition to nighttime wear as directed. Some people wear retainers at night for years—and that’s totally normal! Every smile is different, and your Great Smiles orthodontist will give you a custom plan.
Types of Retainers
Most orthodontists will use either clear, removable retainers for teeth or sometimes fixed retainers will be required or preferred, and these types are placed on the back side of the teeth.
Removable
These retainers are nearly invisible and fit snugly on the teeth, similar to an invisible aligner.
Fixed
Invisible from the outside, fixed retainers are a small wire bonded to the back of the teeth
Treat Your Teeth Right with Retainers
We want you to keep that beautiful smile for years to come! After orthodontic treatment is complete, each patient receives a plan for maintaining their smile using retainers. For removable retainers, it’s important to clean them daily and store safely. For fixed retainers, flossing tools and regular dental cleanings are key.
We’re here to guide you through every phase of your smile journey—including retention. If you’ve lost or damaged your retainer, or just have questions about keeping your results long-term, reach out to the Great Smiles team. We’re always happy to help.
Patient Reviews
What to do in Meantime
Sometimes you might not be able to get to see an emergency pediatric dentist right away. We’ve got some important tips for the most common emergencies here!
Knocked-Out Tooth
First, find the tooth. Always handle the tooth by the crown (that’s the big chewing part) and not the roots (the pointy side). You can rinse it off, but don’t handle it unnecessarily. After inspecting the tooth for fractures, you can try to reinsert the tooth into the socket if it’s undamaged (have your child bite down on gauze to keep it in place). If you can’t reinsert it, place the tooth in a cup of milk until you can see us. While baby teeth are not usually replaced, we recommend seeing your pediatric dentist ASAP!
Broken Tooth
Use warm water to rinse the injured area and apply a cold compress over the face. Find and save any pieces of the broken tooth that you can, and call your dentist for immediate treatment.
Cut or Bitten Tongue, Lip, or Cheek
Apply ice to bruised areas and apply firm pressure with a gauze or a cloth to areas that are bleeding. If the bleeding doesn’t stop after 15 minutes (or it doesn’t respond to applied pressure), head to the hospital emergency room.
Toothache
Toothaches are the worst, and you’ll want to make an appointment with your pediatric dentist since there could be decay, infection, or worse! To help with the toothache, clean the affected tooth thoroughly and rinse with warm water. You can use dental floss to remove any impacted food or debris. DO NOT place aspirin on the gum or tooth! If the face is swollen, use a cold compress to relieve some of the pain.
No matter what, you’ll want to take your child to the pediatric dentist as soon as possible if you have any of these dental emergencies. Even if you can’t get to the doctor right away, make an appointment for follow-up care or treatment for your little one.
