Switch to Hawley Retainer?

[Phantom Muse]

My 15 year old daughter has been in plastic (non-Essix) retainers now for 4 weeks after spending 20 months in metal braces. She went in for her first retainer check today, and the ortho wants to switch her to the Hawley retainer on top while continuing to have her wear the plastic retainer on the bottom arch. He is concerned about her bite with both arches in plastic. I assume he is not too concerned as her appointment to pick-up the Hawley is not until another 4 weeks. Until then, she will continue to wear both plastic retainers 24/7.

I have two questions in particular...

1. Has anyone had to (or chosen to) to make a switch such as this, and how difficult was the adjustment? My daughter is a little concerned about lisping again and that it may hurt because the fit will be different than what she is used to. However, she is encouraged that the Hawley may be easier to keep clean...

2. Is the estimated time to wear a Hawley any different than with any other type of retainer? She has been counting the days until she can wear the retainer only at night (3 months full time was her initial estimate)! If she has been wearing her current retainers for two full months when she finally gets the Hawley, is it likely she'll have just one more month 24/7? If this is a bite issue, won't her bite "settle" better without the interference of one arch in plastic? (You can hear my hopefulness, yes?!)

I know everyone is different and each ortho likes to do things their own way, but more than anything, my daughter really just needs a little bit of encouragment. I thought having braces was tougher for adults, but I think we all have our moments!

Thanks in advance for any stories, suggestions, and encouragment for her. I will pass it along.

[Sunny]

Phantom Muse I'm not in retainers yet, so I can't speak from experience, but I can refer to how we use retainers at work and also from my daughter's experience.

It's great that your daughter's ortho has realised that her bite may open if she continues to wear two plastic retainers and here's to the change to a hawley making sure that doesn't happen.

There may be a slight delay due to the change over, only if it takes a week or two to adjust to wearing a different type of retainer. Some of our patients find no side affects and change is easy, for other's it can be a bit more challenging and this means that they are in and out of the new retainer more and this can affect their time slightly. Some patients do find they lisp with the hawley and some don't, the same goes for the clear plastic retainers we use. Hopefully for your daughter lisping will be non existant or minimal.

Your daughter's ortho will have given a recommended 'full time wear' time, which as with all things orthodontic can change depending on how the teeth are settling. I hope your daughter will realise that it won't be long till it'll be night time only and hopefully this change will go smoothly for her.

Talk to her ortho about why he's decided to keep a plastic retainer on the lowers, there must be a good reason, as I'd have thought if it was fine to have it on one arch only, he'd have chosen the top one, as that's the one that is most noticable. Since he hasn't, I'd suspect there's another reason why he's doing things this way round. It would be interesting to know.

I hope everything goes well for your daughter!

[Phantom Muse]

Thank you so much for your encouraging words, Sunny! My daughter felt better last night after reading your response.

I just got off the phone with her ortho. As it turns out, my daughter was so surprised to hear that she was going to get the Hawley that she didn't really hear the rest of what the ortho said! In fact, he is going to check again in one month to see if he is pleased with her in the upper and lower plastic retainers (ie. if the bite is "socking-in"). If not, he will put her in a Hawley on the uppers, for nighttime wear only. In addition, he said that she can wear her current retainers at night only now, although he would like her to wear it full time two days weekly until he sees her in 4 weeks. How she missed that part of her visit, I am not sure! I am glad you reminded me of the importance of calling the ortho, Sunny. I have a tendency to try and solve crises myself, so thanks!

Now, for the ortho's reasoning:

He said my daughter has a "light bite" which means that there can be a tendency toward the bite opening after treatment, and he wants to prevent that. In addition, he says she has a gentle muscle pull on her teeth {which actually may mean the same thing as a "light bite"} - which he is happy about - but the two layers of plastic (by having the plastic retainer on both arches) can sometimes keep "gentle biters" from the contact with other teeth that they need. He would go with a Hawley on the uppers instead of the lowers because he said her teeth are "fairly settled" now, and sometimes patients find it easier to get used to the Hawley on the uppers rather than on the lowers. Because he won't prescribe the Hawley for anything other than nighttime wear, he didn't consider the aesthetics an issue.

We are breathing more easily over here! Thanks again!

[Sunny]

Fantastic to get all that information from your daughter's ortho! Sounds like your daughter is doing really well!