Will my teeth straighten back out after re-wearing my retainer?

Question

when i got my braces off about 5 years ago i hardly ever wore my retainer but lately i begin to feel my teeth shift and notice a change in how they look. I found my retainer and now i'm wearing it again, will my teeth straighten back out or is it a lost cause?

Answer 1

Hi, the short answer to your question is, it depends on the strength that your retainer has been made with,

my first set of retainers were fairly soft and probably wouldn't have straightened them out if i was in your position.

my current set is a really strong plastic. and they move my teeth back to being straight when i havent worn my retainer for a few days :)

Answer 2

well it depends how much did your teeth moved, if you can fit your retainer back onto your teeth then i would say yes just wait it out about 3 weeks and if nothing improves then got see your orthindontest and he can make a new retainer that will fix your problem