Is my retainer what's making my teeth crooked?

I had braces for about 2 years when I was in middle/high school. It's been a few years since then, and I had always been good about wearing my retainer (every night for over a year, or more, after the braces came off) with no trouble.





After going away for school, I didn't use it as much. Recently, I started to wear it again, however, my teeth seem to be shifting ever so slightly when I consistently use the retainer. I'm 20, and I've had my wisdom teeth (well, 2 wisdom teeth, 2 molars) removed a while back, but the other 2 wisdom teeth are coming in now.





I don't know whether the problem is caused by my wisdom teeth shifting (in which case I need to wear the retainer) or from the retainer itself, as its about 3 years old at this point. I'm curious as to whether anyone else has had a similar problem due to using their retainer long after it was made.





Note: I'm already scheduling an appt. with my orthodontist, but I just wanted to see if anyone had experienced the same thing.

Is my retainer what's making my teeth crooked?
Your retainer is probably too small now. I would stop using it until I saw the orthodntist.
Reply:The retainer is probably trying to put the teeth back in place because it is made to hold the teeth without it spreading apart and becoming crooked again.





So your teeth are probably different than what the retainer's shape is made in so its pushing the teeth in to its original place when you had the braces off, this is my guess.





(i.e. retainer is too small)
Reply:I would talk to your orthodontist about this, it's weird that your teeth are slightly moving again.



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