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After months of adjustments and discomfort, Dr. Lynnette Nyberg said it’s time to take off your braces. You now have a beautiful, even smile that functions much better than it used to. Now you need a retainer to make sure your smile doesn’t pull back to where it was before.

After the braces have realigned your teeth, the periodontal ligaments holding your teeth in your mouth will want to pull your teeth back to where they were before. The retainer our orthodontist will make for you will help to counteract that pull. Wearing the retainer until the tension is gone will help you smile stay straight for years to come.

As the tension in the ligaments changes and relaxes, Dr. Lynnette Nyberg may tell you to change when you should wear your retainer during the day and how long you should wear it. You will likely need to wear your retainer for the same amount of time as you wore your braces

For the first few days after you start wearing a retainer, your mouth might salivate more. This is natural and to be expected. After a while, your mouth will adapt and your saliva production will return to normal.

If your braces are about to be removed, and you have questions about retainers, you can call Miller-Nyberg Orthodontics’s office in Dover, New Hampshire at for a consultation.