In her decades-long career, renowned actress Kathy Bates has won Golden Globes, Emmys, and many other honors. Bates began acting in her twenties, but didn’t achieve national recognition until she won the best actress Oscar for Misery — when she was 42 years old! “I was told early on that because of my physique and my look, I’d probably blossom more in my middle age,” she recently told Dear Doctor magazine. “[That] has certainly been true.” So if there’s one lesson we can take from her success, it might be that persistence pays off.

When it comes to her smile, Kathy also recognizes the value of persistence. Now 67, the veteran actress had orthodontic treatment in her 50’s to straighten her teeth. Yet she is still conscientious about wearing her retainer. “I wear a retainer every night,” she said. “I got lazy about it once, and then it was very difficult to put the retainer back in. So I was aware that the teeth really do move.”

Indeed they do. In fact, the ability to move teeth is what makes orthodontic treatment work. By applying consistent and gentle forces, the teeth can be shifted into better positions in the smile. That’s called the active stage of orthodontic treatment. Once that stage is over, another begins: the retention stage. The purpose of retention is to keep that straightened smile looking as good as it did when the braces came off. And that’s where the retainer comes in.

There are several different kinds of retainers, but all have the same purpose: To hold the teeth in their new positions and keep them from shifting back to where they were. We sometimes say teeth have a “memory” — not literally, but in the sense that if left alone, teeth tend to migrate back to their former locations. And if you’ve worn orthodontic appliances, like braces or aligners, that means right back where you started before treatment.

By holding the teeth in place, retainers help stabilize them in their new positions. They allow new bone and ligaments to re-form and mature around them, and give the gums time to remodel themselves. This process can take months to years to be complete. But you may not need to wear a retainer all the time: Often, removable retainers are worn 24 hours a day at first; later they are worn only at night. We will let you know what’s best in your individual situation.

So take a tip from Kathy Bates, star of the hit TV series American Horror Story, and wear your retainer as instructed. That’s the best way to keep your straight new smile from changing back to the way it was — and to keep a bad dream from coming true.

If you would like more information about orthodontic retainers, please contact us or schedule an appointment for a consultation. You can learn more about this topic in the Dear Doctor magazine articles “Why Orthodontic Retainers?” and “The Importance of Orthodontic Retainers.” The interview with Kathy Bates appears in the latest issue of Dear Doctor.

If you’ve lost some teeth you may eventually want to replace them with dental implants. Implants by far are the restoration of choice due to their life-likeness and durability. But those advantages don’t come cheaply — implants can be expensive especially for multiple teeth.

If you’re forced to wait financially for implants, you still have other intermediary options like a removable partial denture (RPD). The conventional RPD has a rigid acrylic base colored to resemble gum tissue supported by a metal frame with attached prosthetic (false) teeth at the missing teeth locations. They’re held secure in the mouth through metal clasps that fit over the remaining teeth.

But these conventional RPDs can sometimes be uncomfortable to wear and don’t always cover the bottom of the gum completely. If this is a concern, you might consider an alternative: flexible RPDs. The base of this RPD is made of a form of flexible nylon rather than acrylic plastic. They’re much more lightweight but still fit securely in the mouth with thin plastic extensions rather than metal clasps. The base can also be more easily formed to cover areas where gum tissue may have receded.

While flexible RPDs hold up better to wear and tear than their conventional counterparts, they must still be maintained like any other appliance. They can accumulate plaque (bacterial biofilm) responsible for tooth decay and periodontal (gum) disease, so daily thorough cleaning is a must. And if there fit becomes loose they can be more difficult to reline or repair than other types of dentures.

They also share a common weakness with other dentures — they can’t prevent and may even stimulate bone loss. As bone ages, old cells dissolve and new ones form to take their place. As we eat and chew our teeth transmit the forces generated through the teeth to the bone to stimulate it to grow. RPDs and other dentures can’t transmit this stimulus, so the bone replaces much slower to the point that the bone volume can diminish.

That’s why it’s best to consider any RPD as a temporary solution until you can obtain an implant for a more permanent and bone-friendly option. In the meantime, though, an RPD can provide you with a great solution for both form and function for missing teeth.

If you would like more information on RPD choices, please contact us or schedule an appointment for a consultation. You can also learn more about this topic by reading the Dear Doctor magazine article “Flexible Partial Dentures: An Aesthetic Way to Replace Teeth Temporarily.”