Q: When do I get to stop wearing my retainers?

Doctor Herman's Answer: The purpose for wearing retainers is to keep your teeth from moving after you are done with braces. The goal is to make it easy for you to wear them and to minimize the number of hours and/or days you need to wear them. I routinely place a fixed retainer for both top and bottom teeth (A wire glued onto the back of your teeth). With the fixed retainer in place you need to wear the clear removable retainer every night. You do this for a year. The 2nd year the clear removable retainer is worn 3-4 times a week. The third year wearing once a week usually works. I do not recommend wearing a retainer less that 1 time per week. It is the least you can do to keep your smile looking as good as the day your braces were removed.