After completing your Invisalign treatment, how many hours a day do you have to wear your retainer?

The recommendation standard is that a patient wear their retainer ever day indefinitely, however; studies show that most patients permanently stop wearing their retainers within the first 12 months of completing their orthodontic care.  This is why retention is a huge problem for past Invisalign patients.  I would recommend that you wear your retainer every day for the first 6 months, and then just wear them at night, indefinitely.  Another option is to have a permanent bracket cemented to the back of some of your teeth; this will serve as a lifelong retainer, but will require more maintenance on your part.    Good luck and I hope this helps. Follow me if you have more questions.Sarah Thompson, DMD

Before a patient begins orthodontics retention should always be discussed.There are 2 options removable or fixed .In general we would tell the patient to wear the retainer full time for 3 Months and then reduce the time to night time.In practice everyone is different,teeth do move and review is always essential .I have patients who still wear their retainers at night 7 years later ....and thats true !Maintenance ,review and assessment of each case is different but I would always inform a a patient that retention is the key to long term success and is something that has to be considered prior to any type of orthodontics 

Good Question!  After 5 years of being an Invisalign provider and being a firm believer in the Vivera System we have come up with what has produced very good results for our patients. 1.  Wear first retainer full time, 24/7 like your Invisalign aligners, for your first 3 months post Invisalign movement.2.  Then wear at night. Every night.3.  Change to retainer #2 when first retainer is soft or worn through or seemingly no longer effective or when at recare we tell you to. 4.  We like our patients to have in their mind that retention is a lifetime commitment. Whether it be retainers or a night guard or another form of retention, the only way to guarantee your teeth won't move is to use some form of retention. 5.  Bring your current retainers to your recare appointment so we can check them. Teeth will move as you age. Part of that is aging. Part of that is wear and tear. Lifelong retention can alleviate some of those effects and certainly will curtail any tendency toward  post orthodontic relapse. Enjoy your new smile and don't skimp on your retention.  In my adult practice nearly 1/2 of my Invisalign patients are in treatment they tell me because they did not wear their retainer like their orthodontist said.