Orthodontic retention

Embrace your smile

After months of carefully taking care of your teeth, the day you’ve been waiting for is finally here — your braces are coming off! While it’s important to celebrate this milestone, your treatment isn’t quite over yet. Wearing a dental retainer ensures your new smile stays in perfect alignment after taking your braces off or ending your Invisalign® treatment.

At Rappahannock Orthodontics’ Chatham and Amyclae offices, we offer three custom retainer options for patients to maintain their beautiful smiles for years to come.

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What are dental retainers for?

Dental retainers are removable or fixed dental appliances to ensure your teeth don’t shift back into misalignment after a patient completes a braces treatment. Before you start orthodontic retention, we’ll create a scan or mold of your teeth to make a retainer custom fit for your mouth.

The amount of time you’ll wear a mouth retainer varies depending on your treatment and age. After receiving your retainer, it’s essential to wear it as directed by Dr. Caspersen or Dr. Lowe to ensure your teeth remain in the correct position.

Types of teeth retainers

Rappahannock Orthodontics is proud to offer a variety of orthodontic retention devices for our patients. Our teeth retainer options include:

Hawley retainers are made of a metal wire on an acrylic arch that we may adjust periodically to ensure your teeth remain in the desired position. When a Hawley retainer is in place, the acrylic arch fits on the lingual walls or palate for a comfortable fit.
Before you receive your Essix retainer, your orthodontist will make a mold of your teeth in their new alignment and then create clear retainer trays. Since Essix retainers are transparent, they won’t affect the appearance of your smile, allowing you to align your teeth discreetly.
Unlike a Hawley or Essix retainer, your orthodontist will attach the single wire of a fixed retainer to the tongue side of a few teeth to continually work to keep the teeth in proper alignment. Fixed retainers are ideal for younger patients or those who are likely to lose or forget their removable retainers.

How to care for your retainer

Whether you have a removable or fixed mouth retainer, it’s essential to properly care for your device to avoid the buildup of bacteria or food debris. If you have a removable retainer, thoroughly scrub the retainer with a toothbrush and water or a specialized retainer cleaner. For fixed retainers, be sure to angle your toothbrush when brushing your teeth to clean the device.

Why Rappahannock Orthodontics?

At Rappahannock Orthodontics, we love helping patients create beautiful smiles that last a lifetime. We treat our patients like family and create customized care solutions to fit their treatment goals and preferences. With a calm and relaxing office environment, you will feel at ease from the second you enter to when you leave. Let Rappahannock Orthodontics help you on your journey toward a beautiful smile!

Explore our retainer options today

Keep your smile beautiful after removing your braces in the Fredericksburg or Stafford areas with a custom retainer from Rappahannock Orthodontics. Call us at 540-371-2611 to schedule an appointment today!

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5 star rating out of 5
They are all friendly and efficient. I never have to wait past my appointment time, and I’m in and out of there in no time. My son was a patient there a few years ago, and our experience was the same then, too. (I’m doing Invisalign and he had “regular” braces.)
Karen C.

5 Star Rating
5 star rating out of 5
My 11 year old needed braces bad and this is the first of many phases to come. Dr. Caspersen was very friendly and helpful and explained the entire process. The staff there as well was very helpful.
Neal R.

5 Star Rating