Long-Term Retention

What is Retention?
Retention refers to the period of time after the braces are removed and appliances called “retainers” are used. The purpose of the retainers is to minimize shifting of the teeth back toward their original positions. This shift is termed “relapse."

As the field of orthodontics has evolved, the concept of retention has changed. In the early days of orthodontics, retainers were not used. The theory was, if a case was properly treated, nature would cooperate and maintain the result. Unfortunately, this was not the case. The teeth tended to relapse. As a result, appliances called retainers were developed to maintain the alignment. The use of retainers has lessened this relapse.

Why Long-Term Retention?
At first, it was thought that a year or two of retainers would be sufficient to prevent relapse. Unfortunately, this was not the case. The use of retainers for a year or two was found to be inadequate for certain stubborn relapse tendencies, especially the alignment of the lower front teeth. Studies of the stability of orthodontic treatment done at the University of Washington found unacceptable relapse in about 70% of their sample. These cases had one to two years of retention.

Realizing this reality, our senior partner, now retired, started to use long-term retention in the early 1970s. The use of long-term retention has significantly reduced the amount of relapse. When we repeated the University of Washington study, noted above, using our patients treated with long-term retention, the amount of unacceptable relapse was reduced to less than 10%.

Over Correction
There are certain orthodontic movements that will relapse even years after the retainers are removed. These orthodontic movements require “overcorrection” to allow for these inevitable long-term changes. Many orthodontists prefer not to place overcorrections. They want the teeth to look “perfect” the day the braces are removed. While this looks nice the day the braces are removed, a year or two later the teeth start to appear crooked again.

We will often remark to our patients we are not overly concerned with the appearance of the teeth the day the braces come off. We care how they look next year or ten years down the road.


Our Mission Statement

Treatment Timing

Treatment Options

Long-Term Retention

Conclusion