Replacement Retainers

[rooster222]

Has anyone found a more reasonable way to replace retainers? My dd's are $400 to replace top & bottom. Her friends dog chewed them up a few years ago and tonight our dog chewed them. Ugh!!! I see online options but not sure if that would be a good idea.

[raleighnc]

Unfortunately, I think you're stuck. You really don't want her teeth to get messed up after all the time and money spent on braces. I've heard too many horror stories of OTC night guards, plus my entire bite got messed up even wearing a night guard from my dentist because I grind my teeth so badly. Get a metal box if they can't remember to put the retainers up high. a.co/d/7nW5XQZ

[sent]

$400 total for top and bottom? Or $400 each so $800 total?

$400 total is very average. You're not going to find them much cheaper than that. As orthodontists, we have done a terrible job conveying the fact that retainers are custom made medical devices ordered by a licensed dentist/orthodontist and not just another piece of plastic mass produced somewhere like all the other plastic in our lives. There is a machine that makes the initial imprint of the teeth into the plastic but then they are individually cut and polished by hand so there is a large amount of human labor that goes into making them. 

$800 total is a lot. You could probably find it for less if you call around depending on where you are located. My office sometimes gets these calls. We charge a total fee a little under $400 for a new set of retainers, but for patients who are brand new to our practice we also typically charge some kind of consultation fee since the doctor does have to do an exam and then do an actual prescribing of the retainers. I've been thinking of bumping the fee closer to the $400 mark with the cost of living through the roof for the staff who make the retainers. 

[arielroux]

So, I just got retainers last year because I felt like my teeth were starting to shift. My ortho uses Invisalign’s retainers called Vivera, and with my retainers I get free replacements for 10 years.

My ortho said she also uses them herself, and recommends that her patients request a new set each year for “freshness,” but you can obviously also request a replacement if it breaks, gets lost, etc. I don’t know if that policy is just something that my ortho practice offers, or if that’s a Vivera guarantee, but maybe look into Vivera to see if it’s a universal policy. My retainers were, I think, around $1,500 OOP (after insurance), but like I said…free replacements for 10 years.

[luckystar2]

Oct 15, 2024 7:31:53 GMT -5 arielroux said:

So, I just got retainers last year because I felt like my teeth were starting to shift. My ortho uses Invisalign’s retainers called Vivera, and with my retainers I get free replacements for 10 years.

My ortho said she also uses them herself, and recommends that her patients request a new set each year for “freshness,” but you can obviously also request a replacement if it breaks, gets lost, etc. I don’t know if that policy is just something that my ortho practice offers, or if that’s a Vivera guarantee, but maybe look into Vivera to see if it’s a universal policy. My retainers were, I think, around $1,500 OOP (after insurance), but like I said…free replacements for 10 years.

I also have vivera. My super old retainer broke a few years ago so I needed something new and my dentist does invisalign. So this is what they offered. It was $600 for a set of 4. I was not given any indication that they would be replaced for free. But also I paid way less. So I don’t think that’s a universal policy.

However these could be an option potentially if you could get multiple sets for not much more than 1. However they don’t last forever as they will wear out. I only wear my a few days a week overnight. If she’s wearing them full time they may not last a long time. But it’s something you might want to at least check.

[CrazyLucky]

I got a new set earlier this year for $325. It's the plastic set that looks like invisalign. They lasted about two years and I take care of them like I'm supposed to, so I think it's an ongoing expense, dog chewing or not

[sent]

Oct 15, 2024 8:28:19 GMT -5 CrazyLucky said:

I got a new set earlier this year for $325. It's the plastic set that looks like invisalign. They lasted about two years and I take care of them like I'm supposed to, so I think it's an ongoing expense, dog chewing or not

We tell people they are like eyeglasses. For some people they last what seems like forever and others need a new pair more often because of various reasons.

[sent]

Oct 15, 2024 7:31:53 GMT -5 arielroux said:

So, I just got retainers last year because I felt like my teeth were starting to shift. My ortho uses Invisalign’s retainers called Vivera, and with my retainers I get free replacements for 10 years.

My ortho said she also uses them herself, and recommends that her patients request a new set each year for “freshness,” but you can obviously also request a replacement if it breaks, gets lost, etc. I don’t know if that policy is just something that my ortho practice offers, or if that’s a Vivera guarantee, but maybe look into Vivera to see if it’s a universal policy. My retainers were, I think, around $1,500 OOP (after insurance), but like I said…free replacements for 10 years.

At that fee, this sounds more like some type of “retainer guarantee” program being offered to you by that office for 10 years and they use the Vivera product as part of that program. These terms are not part of the Vivera product when we order it directly from Invisalign.

[Nonny]

I have invisalign style retainers, and I think my upper retainer is actually just my last invisalign tray from like 15 years ago. I had to replace my lower one a few years ago because a root canal/crown made it not fit any more, and it just cracked a couple of weeks ago on me.

I had the option of either replacing it with the same style that my dentist does in office for like, $50, or doing a $150 version that was made in an outside lab and was supposed to be made of beefier materials. I went with the $150 option because depending on my anxiety levels, I clench my teeth, and I'm sure that's why the flimsier one cracked.

[bittybomb]

When my daughter accidentally threw hers away in a napkin in the cafeteria lucky for us her orthodontist's lab was running a special - buy two for $500 instead of one for $400.  I was on the fence because holy shit that's a lot of money but she was also 13 so I knew chances were high it would happen again.  My husband was very anti and said no way, try to get metal ones for cheaper or she gets nothing at all.

I took it to my two BFFs for a vote and both voted to go for the extra.  He adores them both and really respects their opinions, and just threw his hands up like whatever!  So we did, and lo and behold two weeks later shes using the second one and I was like omg i don't even want to know and she begged me not to tell her father, lol.

All of that to say I think the orthodontist would have given me a cheaper metal option if I really told them my husband was so against.  They didn't shut me down immediately when I mentioned it anyway.

[skidunks]

I just paid for my son’s retainers last week and they were $550 for a set and if we decided to do a second set at the same time it was $250 for a second upper and lower. I’m keeping the second set so I know if it’s being used!

[Susie]

A year or so ago, I got a backup top & bottom retainer for myself because I had some leftover flex spending $ and it's convenient for me to have a spare in my travel toiletry bag.  I think it was $350, made by my orthodontist.  It will also obviously provide immediate backup if/when I eventually chew through my primary retainer set.  I'm a sleep teeth grinder.

The expense is worth it to me.  I spent thousands and lots of time and pain on orthodontia to fix an anterior open bite as an adult.  I don't have any interest in back sliding.

I would spend the $400 to replace and then work on solutions for how to store them more reliably/safely.  Retainer case in a belt bag or something?

[sent]

So based on this thread, I asked one of the doctors who works for me how much her other workplaces charge for retainers. Turns out a set of upper and lower can run you upto $600 at some of her other offices making my office the lower end of the scale at still under $400. We are having a meeting tomorrow to figure out how to price these.

I am very happy to read that all of you value your retainers! My orthodontist never gave me a removable and my teeth never shifted either, so I always felt unlucky to never have the experience of a removable retainer for life! I mean I could make myself one but I just never have LOL.

[sent]

Oct 15, 2024 14:50:27 GMT -5 Susie said:

A year or so ago, I got a backup top & bottom retainer for myself because I had some leftover flex spending $ and it's convenient for me to have a spare in my travel toiletry bag.  I think it was $350, made by my orthodontist.  It will also obviously provide immediate backup if/when I eventually chew through my primary retainer set.  I'm a sleep teeth grinder.

Sometimes when we know ahead of time that the patient is a teeth grinder, I have them use a different level of plastic to help the retainers last a little longer than our usual plastic. 

[rooster222]

Thanks for the feedback. It's $400 total, if I can find her teeth impressions...but right now I have no idea where they are. Sounds like this is a reasonable cost.

[mommyatty]

I also got the set of 4. I love that because I grind my teeth so after about 18 months I wear literal holes in mine. Highly recommend that option if you can get it.