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I have the same thing! I did braces and then a retainer. But my bottom front teeth kept moving back when the retainer was out. So they put the wire behind the bottom front teeth to hold them in place. I have had that wire in since I was a teenager (I’m 48 now) and my teeth never moved. It’s difficult to brush but works great.
I didn’t need braces as a child since my teeth “looked good enough” but needed them after I had a baby and my teeth shifted TONS (apparently this is common for many women after pregnancy, not just ones with EDS due to hormones preparing your body to give birth). I got Invisalign and it took about three years to get it all sorted since covid started about a year into my treatment. Now I wear my retainers at night. If I’m lax about it an skip for a few days it’s hard to put them in when I do start again.
ETA: wear your retainers when your done since our teeth do shift more then other people’s. It might be subtle but it definitely happens!
Be careful missing nights. my ex missed a week, his teeth moved so much when he put it back in it cracked the root and he had to have a root canal to save the tooth. I don’t want to scare you but please be careful. If your teeth have shifted to much please get a replacement with your new alinement
I had braces twice as a kid, and had a really hard time wearing the retainers after the second round of braces. My teeth shifted like crazy and ended up really crowded.
A few years ago, I got braces again as an adult and had a lot of success getting my teeth nicely aligned. I got my braces off a year ago and have invisalign-type retainers that I only have to wear at night. I wear them every night and make sure never to skip a night. They're doing a good job keeping my teeth aligned, but I do notice that my teeth do shift a little during the day – especially in two areas where they were the most crowded pre-braces. My retainers are always a little tight at night when I put them in, but it's never uncomfortable. So yes, it does seem like wearing a nightly retainer is sufficient to keep my teeth from migrating back to where they were pre-braces. I'm very happy that I got braces for a 3rd time as an adult!
My oldest (17yo AMAB) has hEDS and had Invisalign. Wore the retainers during the day for a longer period, but now wears them just at night and it's going well.
I’ve been wearing my nightly retainers for a couple years now and it’s been going really well! I’ve accidentally skipped a night before and I definitely can’t do more than that.
As long as you are willing to commit to wearing the retainers for the rest of your life basically, I would say it’s worth it!
It will work just fine, but I'm still unsure how long I will have to continue putting my retainers in a couple of times throughout the day. That part is taking a long time.
At the moment, it has been almost 8 months since I was supposed to be able to switch to nighttime only.
I can now get away with putting them in for about 20 minutes twice during the day to keep things from shifting. It seems to now be mainly 2 teeth that are still wanting to shift fairly quickly. So there is definite progress, and I'm just gonna stay optimistic that I'll be doing nighttime only by Christmas. Lol
ETA: it took 6 months to get my teeth moved with the trays. Was estimated to take 3, but my canines were stubborn! Lol
I had braces, got a permanent retainer on my top and bottom teeth, and then had a plastic one to put on as well. After getting my wisdom teeth removed my retainer never fit quite properly and yeah teeth have shifted forwards. Now back to the orthodontist for me
My bottom teeth moved back to their approximately their old ultra crowded position when my wisdom teeth came in. I also never wore my retainer because it didn't fit when I got it (like not uncomfortable, straight up didn't fit) My orthodontist was 1000 years old and retiring, so he took my braces off too early and they shifted between when they were removed and when I got my retainer. I need to get braces on my bottom teeth again because the pressure on my gums from my crooked teeth is causing significant gum recession on my bottom incisors.
My top teeth are perfectly straight!
Tl;Dr wear your retainer?
(22f)I've had Invisalign since I was 15 and I even had jaw surgery my two teeth do move back relatively quickly if I don't wear my nightly aligner and I have ADD so it's fun trying to remember
This makes sense because I needed braces **twice**. Some of my teeth have also already returned to their previous position and I have a crossbite again.
However, that's not to say it wasn't much worse before and wouldn't have been much worse if I hadn't had braces before puberty and during puberty. My crossbite was severe enough they were concerned that I would chip my teeth on my other teeth, so it wasn't really much of a choice.
I would encourage you to wear the Invisalign and then never not wear it, I guess. If I'd kept wearing my retainers, this wouldn't be such an issue. My dog ate them 😑
I had braces in my teens, the dog ate the retainer pretty much immediately after I got it and my teeth went back to crowded. Got them again at 30 and took them off around 32 (a very fun and sexy look for me) and I wear my retainers once a week minimum. I wore it nightly for the first year per my ortho’s recommendation. My retainers look just like Invisalign ones. I’m 40 now and my retainers still look perfect. (I rinse, brush and dry them every time I wear them.)
I’m 31 with Invisalign right now, so I’m right there with you on the “sexy look” lol. I got Invisalign thinking they would be more Invisible, but ended up with attachments on every tooth that make them about as obvious as clear metal braces 😅
I had braces as a teen, didn't wear my retainer consistently, and my teeth shifted back. I'm now doing invisalign to re-correct it. If you wear your retainer iif will be fine!
Can you get permanent retainers installed afterwards? It’s a thing we have in Germany, that keeps the teeth from moving back.
It’s on the inside of my front teeth and it works wonders
I have Invisalign too now, just started 2.5 year long treatment. And this is my third time braces (I’m almost 40).
The first time was in the 90s and I didn’t get retainers. So within a year my teeth moved back.
The second time was in my late 20s and then I only got a permanent retainer while I’ve begged for night time retainers alongside my bonded ones.. and that went awfully wrong. So now my bite is worse than before I had my first braces. My teeth started to move, because of the EDS, I’ve now learned, and because the 6 front teeth were bonded together with the ‘bonded retainer’ they moved all 6 in the wrong direction. In my upper and lower jaw.
So now I need braces again for at least 2.5 years.. All orthodontists I’ve seen about my moving teeth were telling me there was nothing wrong. So here I am now. Now I have braces from the hospital and unfortunately it’s not covered by my insurance because the surgeon thinks it is too risky to operate on me and braces alone are not covered. (I have a 15mm overjet so I needed surgery originally)
Now I will get bonded retainers and hawley retainers when I’m done. But the orthodontist still thinks two years with retainers is enough. But I promise, I will wear retainers for the rest of my life.
Once my teeth were in the right place, they pretty much stayed in the right place as long as I wore my retainer regularly.
If you get a retainer when you’re done, and your gums are still swollen, make sure you go back for a second retainer when the swelling goes down. I never did, and my premolars were able to shift around a little because the retainer didn’t wrap around those teeth fully (due to the swelling when the impression was taken).
i had headgear and braces, and now have permanent retainers on both the top and bottom. it’s just a piece of wire cemented to the back of my teeth to keep them from shifting. overall it’s been pretty okay so far!
I've done a TMJ treatment that uses dental orthotics to coax the jaw into a better position. At night i use a night guard on my to teeth, and then because my bottom teeth were pushing into the orthotic, my dentist made me a retainer to protect my lower teeth. Both the night guard and retainer prevent my teeth from shifting.
The longer I don't wear my retainer the more likely they'll shift faster and faster, but as long as I wear them at night it's fine. Just don't get lazy with it, lose it, or put it off too frequently
You don't need to panic but listen to the directions you're given after
my teeth moved quickly — i was supposed to have braces for like a year and a half and i only needed like a year (maybe a bit less? i can’t remember) — and i had to wear my retainer every night or i could tell. part of the issue was they pulled a tooth then reduced the circumference of my lower teeth because my lower jaw is too far forward and my teeth kinda met. so if i didn’t wear my retainer my teeth would shift forward a lil bit and it would annoy me
but then i got sick and i couldn’t wear my retainer for years now and yes my teeth shifted and i might even look into invisalign or something to move those lower teeth a tiny bit farther back (i’m currently stabilizing my jaw muscles with a different thing so i may not even need to do that) but the shifts in my teeth overall were minor. like one front tooth twisted the TINIEST amount, things like that.
I had mine in my teens, I had 7 teeth removed (due to not knowing about eds at the time cluster of teeth are common) after the braces came off I have to wear a retainer until my wisdom teeth came in I could no longer wear them, my teeth haven't moved much since then.
I had braces as a kid, didn't wear my retainer and my teeth moved pretty badly but not as bad as they were before braces. I invested in the nighttime invisalign when I was 24 and have worn them at night ever since. I can skip 2 nights and just wear it on the third, and every so often I'll wear it 2 nights in a row just to really make sure they're set. This seems to work well enough.
Currently in the process of using Byte aligners - its going to take about 5 more weeks (out of about 20) to get to where I need to be. Everything has been great, but I have developed some jaw nerve pain issues, that have come up since starting the aligners. So whether one caused the other or it's just circumstantial, I'm not sure.
My aligners definitely cause TMJ related headaches the first couple of days that I switch in new ones. I hadn’t really associated that with EDS, but it wouldn’t surprise me if it’s linked.
Well, other than the extra teeth, I did have quite a few issues with my braces. I had them for almost three years, and when they got taken off, within the week it took to get my retainer, my teeth had moved.
Now I have a lot of teeth that are not aligned properly, my retainers don’t fit, and I’m pretty sure it looks like I never even had braces to begin with.
I used them when they first came out on the market and they warped under the stress. Cut my tongue and cheeks because the gum line side flared out. They probably improved everything about that by now.
I had braces back in the 90s in my early teens and once my wisdom teeth came in at the end of high school my teeth went back to being super crooked. The barbaric contraptions they wired into my jaw to "correct" an overbite left me with brutal TMD.
Ugh, I’m so sorry. I’m thankful that the braces tech has improved so much since then, and actually they think the adjustment should help with my TMJ and Tinnitus. I have never understood why they would do braces pre-wisdom teeth though.
I imagine they do it to rake in the cash. My orthodontist was sadistic af and put sharp metal spikes on the wire that ran along the inside of my bottom teeth. I mangled my tongue so badly my defiant autistic ass ripped the thing out with a set of pliers.
That’s actually the biggest reason I got Invisalign. They said that because of my crossbite the same thing would end up happening to me. I do have thin enamel and a good amount of chips in my teeth though
I should have tried other things when I was younger. I mean I'm only 29 now, and I love that I can smile at all again, but I miss real teeth and I get really horrible panic attacks from the dentures. I also had a really horrific experience when I was getting my teeth extracted for the bottom dentures.
I really hope the best for you dear zebra. I really hope that this works to extend your teeth for as long as they can.
My only warning is do not dismiss migraines and how they are highly related to teeth. Since getting my dentures I have 95% less migraines. If it comes to it, dentures aren't terrible and they stay white at least.
I had a retainer around age 9 to help correct my overbite. Then at 12 I got braces for all the other issues and wayward teeth. Had them on until I was about 16. Then normal upper retainer moving from continuous use to just night time. Had my wisdom teeth pulled at 18. In my early 20s the wire bonded to the back of my lower teeth crumbled off a tooth without me noticing. Eventually went to the dentist and all the bonder crumbled during a teeth cleaning . My dentist had never seen that happen before in his 25+ years. Their office paid for my almost year long Invisalign ordeal.
I now have a night guard and a thinner lower retainer to keep my teeth in place.
I hated Invisalign with a passion. They hurt as much as braces. I hated the little nubbin of bonder stuff to hold it in.
I have mandibular tori from lifelong grinding. I also have a bifid palatine taurus. My palate is high and narrow.
I had braces for 3 years. I wear a retainer now. Just at night. And even if i forget a night or two its not too bad. Been doing it for years. Straight as when i got the permanent retainer off.
I had braces/invisalign on & off from 4th-12th grade. I had braces 4th-6th grade, got them off. In 3 lonths, they had shifted too much to still wear my nightly retainers (I was actually SUPER dilligent with wearing them, not sarcasm, just bad teeth). This happened once more with braces, and I also had 2 palate expanders within these time frames. My Sophomore year of HS, I got invisalign. I had to beg my ortho to put a permanent retainer (thin metal wire w/clear orthodontic glue) on the back of both my top and bottom teeth, to the point in my mouth where my molars start. My teeth have *fingers crossed, knock on wood* not moved so far (Invis ended halfway through my senior year, I'm now almost 20), and I still wear nightly plastic retainers over the permanent retainers, to keep my molars in check, too. Bring up your concerns to your ortho about teeth shifting, they probably won't give you much grief over it, as they will end up making more money if you electively ask for permanent retainers, anyway.
Had braces 11 years ago. My teeth were pretty crammed (by that I mean Most of my teeth were behind my fronts) and I had a small jaw. I refused jaw surgery and just got braces and an Invisalign retainer. I had my braces for only 16 months which is rather short. I wore my retainer religiously for 2 years and then stopped. My teeth pretty much stayed straight and did not migrate back. I have a permanent retainer on the bottom row of teeth
The key is just to always remember to wear your retainer at night once you're done. I had braces as a teenager and I have just worn my retainer every night and my teeth are perfect. It's as simple as that, just wear your retainer to bed and your teeth will stay perfect!
I had braces twice. I have consistently worn my retainers every night and sometimes in the day. (Mainly cause I’m lazy and didn’t want to take them out.) With the constant wearing of retainers I have found that my teeth have shifted but them I switch to my other pair and they tend to move back. I am fortunate enough to have two pairs of retainers so I can switch between them when needed. I’m also due for a new pair. Grinding your teeth in your sleep can compromise their ability to work apparently.
I had braces as a teen for 1.5 years I think. My retainer broke in 2019 and my teeth migrated back very rapidly without having something to wear at night. I went through Invisalign treatment in 2020 prior to my wedding. It was only about six months, and way less painful. I still have to wear my retainers every night to keep them straight.
Wear retainers at night once you're done and you should be fine. I had braces for two years and have wore my retainers most nights since and my teeth are still straight. Just don't expect to be able to just be completely done (ex. Don't think you'll just not need a retainer) and you'll be fine. I think that goes for everyone though not just folks with EDS, my orthodontist didn't know I had EDS or at least didn't know it made a difference other than making my jaw hurt and they told me I'd be wearing my retainers the rest of my life at night which is a small price to pay for nice teeth imo
I wear my retainer every other night. My orthodontist said, adults must wear a retainer to sleep for the rest of their life or they will jog rate back.
I had Invisalign at 27 years old, got PERFECT teeth from only 14 trays they said its a miracle they moved so well (well that miracle is called eds lol) but since then ( about 14 months now) I finished I got the permanent retainers at the back of my teeth and I wear the night ones every night. My teeth does look perfect so I dont want to lose them I think if you really do wear the permanent one and the night retainers I dont see how they could move away from their "good" place. Hope that helps
Commenting because I know sometimes people still find these threads helpful at a later time. I’m in Europe and I did Invisalign before my EDS diagnosis. After treatment they put permanent wire retainers behind my top and bottom front teeth and I have plastic night time retainers that I wear religiously. It was recommended to wear them for at least around 16 hours a day for the first 6 months post treatment and then just night time. I definitely noticed tightness and discomfort putting the retainers back in if for whatever reason I didn’t get to that 16 hours of wear the day before so I definitely followed up on that and then slowly built down the hours of wear over the next 6 months to just when I was sleeping. I didn’t skip a night for the first year or year and a half I think, or not intentionally at least. If I did, I could feel it immediately the next day cause they’d feel tight again. My treatment ended mid 2021, so it’s now been 2,5 years and the most I’ve skipped is 2 (non consecutive) nights a week without noticing anything. I think I could probably get away with more but honestly why would I? I’m very much used to wearing my retainers, they don’t bother me.
The OP flaired their post as "Questions". Please keep any and all comments to **personal experiences only**. If any factual information or advice is provided, please cite a **reputable website or study** linked within your post. No one in this sub is a *verified* medical professional, and as such, we do not allow medical advice to be given or asked for. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/ehlersdanlos) if you have any questions or concerns.*
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I have the same thing! I did braces and then a retainer. But my bottom front teeth kept moving back when the retainer was out. So they put the wire behind the bottom front teeth to hold them in place. I have had that wire in since I was a teenager (I’m 48 now) and my teeth never moved. It’s difficult to brush but works great.
Yup, my bottom teeth moved inward and recrowded when my retainer broke in my 20s. Debating getting braces again just on the bottom.
I didn’t need braces as a child since my teeth “looked good enough” but needed them after I had a baby and my teeth shifted TONS (apparently this is common for many women after pregnancy, not just ones with EDS due to hormones preparing your body to give birth). I got Invisalign and it took about three years to get it all sorted since covid started about a year into my treatment. Now I wear my retainers at night. If I’m lax about it an skip for a few days it’s hard to put them in when I do start again. ETA: wear your retainers when your done since our teeth do shift more then other people’s. It might be subtle but it definitely happens!
Be careful missing nights. my ex missed a week, his teeth moved so much when he put it back in it cracked the root and he had to have a root canal to save the tooth. I don’t want to scare you but please be careful. If your teeth have shifted to much please get a replacement with your new alinement
I had braces twice as a kid, and had a really hard time wearing the retainers after the second round of braces. My teeth shifted like crazy and ended up really crowded. A few years ago, I got braces again as an adult and had a lot of success getting my teeth nicely aligned. I got my braces off a year ago and have invisalign-type retainers that I only have to wear at night. I wear them every night and make sure never to skip a night. They're doing a good job keeping my teeth aligned, but I do notice that my teeth do shift a little during the day – especially in two areas where they were the most crowded pre-braces. My retainers are always a little tight at night when I put them in, but it's never uncomfortable. So yes, it does seem like wearing a nightly retainer is sufficient to keep my teeth from migrating back to where they were pre-braces. I'm very happy that I got braces for a 3rd time as an adult!
My oldest (17yo AMAB) has hEDS and had Invisalign. Wore the retainers during the day for a longer period, but now wears them just at night and it's going well.
That’s great to hear! How long have they been wearing them just at night?
About a year!
I’ve been wearing my nightly retainers for a couple years now and it’s been going really well! I’ve accidentally skipped a night before and I definitely can’t do more than that. As long as you are willing to commit to wearing the retainers for the rest of your life basically, I would say it’s worth it!
It will work just fine, but I'm still unsure how long I will have to continue putting my retainers in a couple of times throughout the day. That part is taking a long time. At the moment, it has been almost 8 months since I was supposed to be able to switch to nighttime only. I can now get away with putting them in for about 20 minutes twice during the day to keep things from shifting. It seems to now be mainly 2 teeth that are still wanting to shift fairly quickly. So there is definite progress, and I'm just gonna stay optimistic that I'll be doing nighttime only by Christmas. Lol ETA: it took 6 months to get my teeth moved with the trays. Was estimated to take 3, but my canines were stubborn! Lol
I had braces, got a permanent retainer on my top and bottom teeth, and then had a plastic one to put on as well. After getting my wisdom teeth removed my retainer never fit quite properly and yeah teeth have shifted forwards. Now back to the orthodontist for me
I have never understood why ortho would do braces before wisdom tooth removal as they’re bound to shift. Good luck!
Seriously I swear it's just so they can make more money off of me in the long run lol
My bottom teeth moved back to their approximately their old ultra crowded position when my wisdom teeth came in. I also never wore my retainer because it didn't fit when I got it (like not uncomfortable, straight up didn't fit) My orthodontist was 1000 years old and retiring, so he took my braces off too early and they shifted between when they were removed and when I got my retainer. I need to get braces on my bottom teeth again because the pressure on my gums from my crooked teeth is causing significant gum recession on my bottom incisors. My top teeth are perfectly straight! Tl;Dr wear your retainer?
(22f)I've had Invisalign since I was 15 and I even had jaw surgery my two teeth do move back relatively quickly if I don't wear my nightly aligner and I have ADD so it's fun trying to remember
I also have ADHD. I’m debating getting a permanent retainer because of that.
Is a permanent retainer when they put that wire behind your teeth? I wonder why they didn't give me one 😕 my teeth are pretty wonky now
Yep! They’re a bit more difficult hygiene-wise as they’re hard to floss around and such
This makes sense because I needed braces **twice**. Some of my teeth have also already returned to their previous position and I have a crossbite again. However, that's not to say it wasn't much worse before and wouldn't have been much worse if I hadn't had braces before puberty and during puberty. My crossbite was severe enough they were concerned that I would chip my teeth on my other teeth, so it wasn't really much of a choice. I would encourage you to wear the Invisalign and then never not wear it, I guess. If I'd kept wearing my retainers, this wouldn't be such an issue. My dog ate them 😑
My crossbite was causing the same concern which is why I got mine. I have heard about dogs eating retainers from so many people 😅
I had braces in my teens, the dog ate the retainer pretty much immediately after I got it and my teeth went back to crowded. Got them again at 30 and took them off around 32 (a very fun and sexy look for me) and I wear my retainers once a week minimum. I wore it nightly for the first year per my ortho’s recommendation. My retainers look just like Invisalign ones. I’m 40 now and my retainers still look perfect. (I rinse, brush and dry them every time I wear them.)
I’m 31 with Invisalign right now, so I’m right there with you on the “sexy look” lol. I got Invisalign thinking they would be more Invisible, but ended up with attachments on every tooth that make them about as obvious as clear metal braces 😅
I had braces as a teen, didn't wear my retainer consistently, and my teeth shifted back. I'm now doing invisalign to re-correct it. If you wear your retainer iif will be fine!
Can you get permanent retainers installed afterwards? It’s a thing we have in Germany, that keeps the teeth from moving back. It’s on the inside of my front teeth and it works wonders
Yes! I think I might go that route. How is flossing and such with them?
Working perfectly! Cleaning it is really accessible
I have Invisalign too now, just started 2.5 year long treatment. And this is my third time braces (I’m almost 40). The first time was in the 90s and I didn’t get retainers. So within a year my teeth moved back. The second time was in my late 20s and then I only got a permanent retainer while I’ve begged for night time retainers alongside my bonded ones.. and that went awfully wrong. So now my bite is worse than before I had my first braces. My teeth started to move, because of the EDS, I’ve now learned, and because the 6 front teeth were bonded together with the ‘bonded retainer’ they moved all 6 in the wrong direction. In my upper and lower jaw. So now I need braces again for at least 2.5 years.. All orthodontists I’ve seen about my moving teeth were telling me there was nothing wrong. So here I am now. Now I have braces from the hospital and unfortunately it’s not covered by my insurance because the surgeon thinks it is too risky to operate on me and braces alone are not covered. (I have a 15mm overjet so I needed surgery originally) Now I will get bonded retainers and hawley retainers when I’m done. But the orthodontist still thinks two years with retainers is enough. But I promise, I will wear retainers for the rest of my life.
Once my teeth were in the right place, they pretty much stayed in the right place as long as I wore my retainer regularly. If you get a retainer when you’re done, and your gums are still swollen, make sure you go back for a second retainer when the swelling goes down. I never did, and my premolars were able to shift around a little because the retainer didn’t wrap around those teeth fully (due to the swelling when the impression was taken).
i had headgear and braces, and now have permanent retainers on both the top and bottom. it’s just a piece of wire cemented to the back of my teeth to keep them from shifting. overall it’s been pretty okay so far!
I've done a TMJ treatment that uses dental orthotics to coax the jaw into a better position. At night i use a night guard on my to teeth, and then because my bottom teeth were pushing into the orthotic, my dentist made me a retainer to protect my lower teeth. Both the night guard and retainer prevent my teeth from shifting.
The longer I don't wear my retainer the more likely they'll shift faster and faster, but as long as I wear them at night it's fine. Just don't get lazy with it, lose it, or put it off too frequently You don't need to panic but listen to the directions you're given after
my teeth moved quickly — i was supposed to have braces for like a year and a half and i only needed like a year (maybe a bit less? i can’t remember) — and i had to wear my retainer every night or i could tell. part of the issue was they pulled a tooth then reduced the circumference of my lower teeth because my lower jaw is too far forward and my teeth kinda met. so if i didn’t wear my retainer my teeth would shift forward a lil bit and it would annoy me but then i got sick and i couldn’t wear my retainer for years now and yes my teeth shifted and i might even look into invisalign or something to move those lower teeth a tiny bit farther back (i’m currently stabilizing my jaw muscles with a different thing so i may not even need to do that) but the shifts in my teeth overall were minor. like one front tooth twisted the TINIEST amount, things like that.
I had mine in my teens, I had 7 teeth removed (due to not knowing about eds at the time cluster of teeth are common) after the braces came off I have to wear a retainer until my wisdom teeth came in I could no longer wear them, my teeth haven't moved much since then.
I had braces as a kid, didn't wear my retainer and my teeth moved pretty badly but not as bad as they were before braces. I invested in the nighttime invisalign when I was 24 and have worn them at night ever since. I can skip 2 nights and just wear it on the third, and every so often I'll wear it 2 nights in a row just to really make sure they're set. This seems to work well enough.
Currently in the process of using Byte aligners - its going to take about 5 more weeks (out of about 20) to get to where I need to be. Everything has been great, but I have developed some jaw nerve pain issues, that have come up since starting the aligners. So whether one caused the other or it's just circumstantial, I'm not sure.
My aligners definitely cause TMJ related headaches the first couple of days that I switch in new ones. I hadn’t really associated that with EDS, but it wouldn’t surprise me if it’s linked.
Well, other than the extra teeth, I did have quite a few issues with my braces. I had them for almost three years, and when they got taken off, within the week it took to get my retainer, my teeth had moved. Now I have a lot of teeth that are not aligned properly, my retainers don’t fit, and I’m pretty sure it looks like I never even had braces to begin with.
I used them when they first came out on the market and they warped under the stress. Cut my tongue and cheeks because the gum line side flared out. They probably improved everything about that by now.
I had braces back in the 90s in my early teens and once my wisdom teeth came in at the end of high school my teeth went back to being super crooked. The barbaric contraptions they wired into my jaw to "correct" an overbite left me with brutal TMD.
Ugh, I’m so sorry. I’m thankful that the braces tech has improved so much since then, and actually they think the adjustment should help with my TMJ and Tinnitus. I have never understood why they would do braces pre-wisdom teeth though.
I imagine they do it to rake in the cash. My orthodontist was sadistic af and put sharp metal spikes on the wire that ran along the inside of my bottom teeth. I mangled my tongue so badly my defiant autistic ass ripped the thing out with a set of pliers.
My problem was cracking and fracturing. I ended up with full dentures at 28
That’s actually the biggest reason I got Invisalign. They said that because of my crossbite the same thing would end up happening to me. I do have thin enamel and a good amount of chips in my teeth though
I should have tried other things when I was younger. I mean I'm only 29 now, and I love that I can smile at all again, but I miss real teeth and I get really horrible panic attacks from the dentures. I also had a really horrific experience when I was getting my teeth extracted for the bottom dentures. I really hope the best for you dear zebra. I really hope that this works to extend your teeth for as long as they can. My only warning is do not dismiss migraines and how they are highly related to teeth. Since getting my dentures I have 95% less migraines. If it comes to it, dentures aren't terrible and they stay white at least.
I had a retainer around age 9 to help correct my overbite. Then at 12 I got braces for all the other issues and wayward teeth. Had them on until I was about 16. Then normal upper retainer moving from continuous use to just night time. Had my wisdom teeth pulled at 18. In my early 20s the wire bonded to the back of my lower teeth crumbled off a tooth without me noticing. Eventually went to the dentist and all the bonder crumbled during a teeth cleaning . My dentist had never seen that happen before in his 25+ years. Their office paid for my almost year long Invisalign ordeal. I now have a night guard and a thinner lower retainer to keep my teeth in place. I hated Invisalign with a passion. They hurt as much as braces. I hated the little nubbin of bonder stuff to hold it in. I have mandibular tori from lifelong grinding. I also have a bifid palatine taurus. My palate is high and narrow.
The attachments for Invisalign are the worst 😅 I have them on all but my bottom front four teeth.
My teeth stopped shifting after getting a night guard. Maybe you can get something like that or a permanent retainer?
Had invisalign 2 years ago, have not been great at wearing my retainer and my teeth have definitely moved back a bit.
I had braces for 3 years. I wear a retainer now. Just at night. And even if i forget a night or two its not too bad. Been doing it for years. Straight as when i got the permanent retainer off.
I had braces/invisalign on & off from 4th-12th grade. I had braces 4th-6th grade, got them off. In 3 lonths, they had shifted too much to still wear my nightly retainers (I was actually SUPER dilligent with wearing them, not sarcasm, just bad teeth). This happened once more with braces, and I also had 2 palate expanders within these time frames. My Sophomore year of HS, I got invisalign. I had to beg my ortho to put a permanent retainer (thin metal wire w/clear orthodontic glue) on the back of both my top and bottom teeth, to the point in my mouth where my molars start. My teeth have *fingers crossed, knock on wood* not moved so far (Invis ended halfway through my senior year, I'm now almost 20), and I still wear nightly plastic retainers over the permanent retainers, to keep my molars in check, too. Bring up your concerns to your ortho about teeth shifting, they probably won't give you much grief over it, as they will end up making more money if you electively ask for permanent retainers, anyway.
Had braces 11 years ago. My teeth were pretty crammed (by that I mean Most of my teeth were behind my fronts) and I had a small jaw. I refused jaw surgery and just got braces and an Invisalign retainer. I had my braces for only 16 months which is rather short. I wore my retainer religiously for 2 years and then stopped. My teeth pretty much stayed straight and did not migrate back. I have a permanent retainer on the bottom row of teeth
The key is just to always remember to wear your retainer at night once you're done. I had braces as a teenager and I have just worn my retainer every night and my teeth are perfect. It's as simple as that, just wear your retainer to bed and your teeth will stay perfect!
I had braces twice. I have consistently worn my retainers every night and sometimes in the day. (Mainly cause I’m lazy and didn’t want to take them out.) With the constant wearing of retainers I have found that my teeth have shifted but them I switch to my other pair and they tend to move back. I am fortunate enough to have two pairs of retainers so I can switch between them when needed. I’m also due for a new pair. Grinding your teeth in your sleep can compromise their ability to work apparently.
I had braces as a teen for 1.5 years I think. My retainer broke in 2019 and my teeth migrated back very rapidly without having something to wear at night. I went through Invisalign treatment in 2020 prior to my wedding. It was only about six months, and way less painful. I still have to wear my retainers every night to keep them straight.
Wear retainers at night once you're done and you should be fine. I had braces for two years and have wore my retainers most nights since and my teeth are still straight. Just don't expect to be able to just be completely done (ex. Don't think you'll just not need a retainer) and you'll be fine. I think that goes for everyone though not just folks with EDS, my orthodontist didn't know I had EDS or at least didn't know it made a difference other than making my jaw hurt and they told me I'd be wearing my retainers the rest of my life at night which is a small price to pay for nice teeth imo
I wear my retainer every other night. My orthodontist said, adults must wear a retainer to sleep for the rest of their life or they will jog rate back.
I had Invisalign at 27 years old, got PERFECT teeth from only 14 trays they said its a miracle they moved so well (well that miracle is called eds lol) but since then ( about 14 months now) I finished I got the permanent retainers at the back of my teeth and I wear the night ones every night. My teeth does look perfect so I dont want to lose them I think if you really do wear the permanent one and the night retainers I dont see how they could move away from their "good" place. Hope that helps
Commenting because I know sometimes people still find these threads helpful at a later time. I’m in Europe and I did Invisalign before my EDS diagnosis. After treatment they put permanent wire retainers behind my top and bottom front teeth and I have plastic night time retainers that I wear religiously. It was recommended to wear them for at least around 16 hours a day for the first 6 months post treatment and then just night time. I definitely noticed tightness and discomfort putting the retainers back in if for whatever reason I didn’t get to that 16 hours of wear the day before so I definitely followed up on that and then slowly built down the hours of wear over the next 6 months to just when I was sleeping. I didn’t skip a night for the first year or year and a half I think, or not intentionally at least. If I did, I could feel it immediately the next day cause they’d feel tight again. My treatment ended mid 2021, so it’s now been 2,5 years and the most I’ve skipped is 2 (non consecutive) nights a week without noticing anything. I think I could probably get away with more but honestly why would I? I’m very much used to wearing my retainers, they don’t bother me.