Your body changes continuously, your teeth and gums are living tissue, and as long as there is life “change is the only constant”. During your orthodontic treatment the braces have moved your teeth into a new position, once the braces are removed you still have stimuli for movement:
- chewing forces
- the pressure of the lips
- the tongue
- the periodontal ligaments
Stability depends on each mouth, each person is different because some people press more with their lip muscles, others chew more with one side than the other, others put their tongue between their teeth when swallowing (atypical swallowing),… and add to this natural ageing.
You don’t have the same cheeks or eyes when you are a child as you did when you were young or as an adult, and teeth are no exception. As the years go by, just as wrinkles, grey hair,… appear in the mouth, the sign of age is the crowding of the lower teeth and the darkening of the colour of the teeth. Over the years, the upper lip gradually loses its mobility and we end up showing more of our lower teeth when we speak, which are the ones that are most crowded.
To avoid losing that perfect alignment with which your orthodontics has been completed, the second part of the treatment begins, the passive phase of the orthodontics or retention phase.
At Kaizen Clinic the same day we remove the braces we give you some provisional retainers which are transparent covers that you will only use to sleep, a few days later when your definitive retainers are ready we will change them for fixed or removable retainers depending on your needs.
Does it make sense now that retention is such an important phase of orthodontic treatment? Have your teeth moved after orthodontic treatment? If you would like to straighten them again you can make a free appointment with our doctors on 952 77 77 47, so you can find out how they can be straightened and how long the treatment would take.
