Can A Retainer Straighten Your Teeth?

By: Your One and Only, Online Dental Expert - Writer, Mr. Efrain E. Silva!

It can! But keep in mind a few things….

This is, on the other hand entirely, something that just usually works when the issue is very small. Retainers are not miracle workers at entirely fixing and straightening up all your teeth, and doing a full 360! We sure wish they were sometimes, do we not? And who could blame us? But no, when your teeth need a little ‘straightening up’ ( and I do mean a little, and they have not been crooked to the point of losing their shape or placement entirely ) , then the retainers can help straighten them that way for a bit. But in most cases, you will still need to keep them on for extended periods and then not take them off for too long, or else run the risk of them re – verting to where they were heading before….

Yet all in all, I want you to know this —- retainers just retain. Like their name, they don’t force, re – align or do other things of that same nature. As a matter of fact, they just hold the teeth in place —- in a position, actually, that they need to stay in, for some time. And what your teeth really need is sudden, rapid, intense force that will get them to straighten up ( if they don’t break or shatter in the process ) and you can already tell how risky and uncouth something like that must be, which is why it’s never really tried by dental experts. If it were, I think they would see a lot more surgeries and urgent care emergency visits than they would returning patients and true, lasting dental health all around, at the end of the day, he he he heh.

The position of the teeth. The placement of the bite. These are the 2 things that the retainer is actually good for and what it actually CAN work on with you, if you let it. It can’t apply the kind of steady, rapid, continuous force that would move your teeth out of place into a new place, all in all… it just can’t do that. Such movements, anyways, like I said, would be so risky and potentially dangerous and damaging to your teeth.

But you can retain your current position, of the teeth. Retainer = retain, like I said. I repeat it once more so it sticks in anyone’s memory, who reads this. So in other words, retainers can stop semi – crooked teeth from becoming even more miserably crooked, while not totally 360 – realigning them to a new position. But they can sure help keep things from getting worse…. we have to pick our battles here.

With all that said, I still recommend using retainers, if the dentist says you need them. Who knows better? They are trained oral pros. Hopefully, your retainers will retain and protect your teeth.