I was seventeen and a half when I got my braces off. My orthodontist told me to wear the retainers until I got married. I wore them, sporadically, until my eighteenth birthday, and then figured I was old enough to get married and it was silly that I should be penalized for not running out and doing the deed.
Seven years later, I’m still not married and my teeth look OK, so I guess I made the right choice.
Maybe it has something to do with how much adjustment was required to move your teeth into position in the first place? Mine ortho also told me to wear mine forever and when I quit they did move. Mostly my overbite came back though, which I don’t think the retainers would help anyway, and is my own fault for “cheating” on my headgear wearing. (Instead of wearing it at the light resistance setting for 12 hours, I made the hooks ultra-painfully tight and only wore it to bed, as a result the movement was too quick to stick.)
As to the enamel on TheOtherOne’s teeth, I’m guessing he’s saying that while s/he had his/her braces on, s/he was not diligent about keeping them clean. As a result the globs of food and bacteria ate through his/her teeth so that when the brackets were removed they looked pretty gross. Have your orthodontist show you the “worst-case-scenario” photograph, of someone with actual holes in their teeth to get an idea of how important not letting the crud fester between the brackets is.
VogueVixen (former ortho assistant.)
I had braces for 3.5 years, and had them taken off in 1988. I wore my retainer for about a year, then stopped.
I’ve noticed my teeth have shifted slightly in the past 13 years, but it’s only been noticable to me. I didn’t really have an overbite, just really, really crooked teeth.
YMMV.
I was told to wear my retainers at night for the rest of my life. That was 1982. If I don’t wear it for a week my teeth shift. Guess I’m stuck with it forever.