There are several types of retainers that you may see in our office.

1. Retainers after braces -a typical retainer worn following treatment with braces, is used to hold the teeth in the position we left them in with the braces. Retainers have very little inherent tooth moving capacity. They are intended to simply retain the properly aligned teeth.

2. Schwartz retainers - these retainers have a lengthwise split in the middle and an expansion screw to widen the appliance. They are used on growing children to help widen the child's jaws in order to create more space. This space gain is limited to 6-8mm, so these appliances are not effective on teens or adults.

3. Spring retainers - retainers that are specifically built to move teeth to a specified extent. The use of these appliances is limited to minor tooth movement.

4. Invisalign type appliances - these computer modeled appliances are created by Align Technology, Inc. They are used in adult cases necessitating minor tooth movement. Each patient must be evaluated by the Dr. Long to determine whether or not they are suitable candidates for the use of this device.

5. RPE (Rapid Palatal Expander) - A fixed (glued in) appliance used to expand the upper jaw for crossbite correction and/or space gain.