Hello everybody,
I've been reading for a while and have long considered whether to register. Now I have decided to register and hope that I am right here.

To me: I come from Germany, I am male, in my mid-30s and have had fixed metal braces for two years.
For the first few weeks and months, I felt quite uncomfortable with all the metal in my mouth, but then I got used to the braces and got on well with them.The feedback from a few friends and colleagues, who said independently of each other, that the braces were really good and would underline my friendly manner were helpful.

At my last appointment, the orthodontist said that we are fully on schedule and that the removal is imminent.
While almost all braces wearers can hardly wait for this day, I became aware that I don't really want to get rid of them (yet)!
I kind of like my reflection with the shiny braces smile somehow really good now. The restrictions in terms of nutrition and the more complex dental care do not deter me.
Somehow I feel completely strange because I am not looking forward to getting rid of the part as soon as possible, and i am thinking about what I can do and how I can convince my orthodontist to let them in there. I can hardly ask the orthodontist to leave the braces in there. How should he respond to such a request? He must have never heard that before.

Does anyone else know such thoughts? Or am I alone with it? Do you have an idea or a suggestion how I can deal with my feeling or how I can get the braces to stay in?


I look forward to your answers.

You could ask your ortho to leave the brackets in for the first retention phase. That will first sound a bit weird to him, but with following you could be convincing:

- Retention is required (nearly) 24/7 for the first phase.
- Usually todays lingual bonded retainers are used. Sure, they deliver retention 24/7. But I personally find them quit annoying, the tongue scratches on the ends and in my case it had to be remove after few weeks to remove tartar. In addition, a friend of mine still have his' about 20 years after braces, but the teeth have partly debonded and the retention didn't work.
- I chose Hawley retainer upper and lower as alternative for me which I still (also about 20 years after braces) wear every night, which doesn't bother me at all - otherwise once a week should also be enough after such a long time.
- Wearing Retainer plates 24/7 after removal of braces can be quite hard especially as an adult, while everyone around is well used to seeing you in brackets, so you it may be the option for you to leave the brackets in as long as retention is required 24/7.

At the step down to 16 hours daily you can choose again if you switch to the hawleys, give your ortho a second chance to convince you of the bonded lingual retainers or once again ask to leave the brackets in until the retantion is reduced to only at night. (Or even a mix may be possible, 20 years ago upper hawley and lower bonded retainer were standard, so possibly you can even choose between the 3 option for each jaw seperately.)

As at your age a suppose you are paying yourself you should be able to convince your ortho to offer these options to a paying customer ;-)

Good luck

Dominik