Is It Bad To Wear Old Retainers?

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

Good question. I like where your mind is going. You, like the thousands of other retainer users past and present, now want to know if it’s okay to put back on that old retainer ( assuming you’ve sanitized it, please, for your own sake, he he he he heh ) . And the answer is not a straight and direct one this time around ….. as a matter of fact, the answer can depend. And what do I mean by that? Well, keep reading.

I mean that, if you try it back on, and it fits just right, without needing to apply too much force or to extend the retainer too much past what it can flexibly stretched…. then you can surely put it back on without any problems, for the most part. This just goes to tell you that your teeth have manage to retain themselves in place after you took the retainer off, which is always a good sign, and that they have not significantly shifted out to where they should not, so to speak. So go ahead, if you want to put that old retainer right back on, in this case, then it can help you to keep the alignment going, and to keep those teeth retained both right where they’re at and right where they ought to be. Put it back on and worry about it no more.

Now on the other hand, if you find that those old retainers now seem to be a super – tight fit and hurt you when you try to fit them through, but to little avail, then you can more than likely forget about this whole idea of putting them back on ( though it was worth a try, of course, and don’t forget to re – cycle them, at this point, since they are no good to you now ) and just get new ones fitted and molded for you. Sorry. It did not work out, and that is okay. You just need more work on your teeth, and the teeth likely moved around quite a bit…. which is why those dental pros suggested you not stop wearing the retainers in the first place. Because now you need to start all over again and get new ones, which you ought to not take off… what a drag, you might think. But I’ve seen worse situations in life.

Usually, when you put on an old retainer that you took off a few weeks ago, then it’ll more than likely still work for you. But if we’re talking anywhere from, say, 8 months…. to years, even, then it may not be the case. You may need new ones. In either case, never force old retainers to squeeze or stretch over areas of your mouth… they simply don’t fit anymore. Toss them out and avoid the temptation to try to make them “work again”.