After aligner treatment retainers need to be used to help hold your teeth into the new position and to stop them moving back. This is especially important directly at the end of treatment.

Aligners are not effective as long term Retainers unless specifically designed so

Aligners help move teeth and have a short life span ( 2-4 weeks) due to the elastic properties of the plastic deteriorating over time. After they have moved the teeth to the desired position after time they tend to loose their ideal properties and often break. Normally you would change to your next aligner before these things happen that compromise the current aligner.

" Retainers are custom fabricated, generally passive appliances and need to be placed straight after aligner therapy to hold the teeth in the desired position."

1.Fixed bonded retainers. Usually reliable but can break if not made from the correct type of wire or constructed correctly. Must be completely passive or tooth movement will occur. Can have hygiene issues so diligent cleaning required.

2. Removable Wire and Acrylic (eg Hawley) Difficult to construct correctly and can be expensive. Bulky for patient, affects speech but often long lasting.

3.Vac Formed These types of invisible retainers are often made with outdated vacuum equipment and cheap plastics. The problem is they have a limited life and often distort or break easily.

The best type of retainer is one which you will reliably wear.

From our extensive research we have found most patients are attracted to the invisible type of retainer but up until now it has suffered from design, material and processing problems and in need constant replacement. They may look similar to aligners but have major design differences.