Essix Retainer: Expenses, Care, Advantages, How it Works

Essix retainers are a type of orthodontic retention device used to protect the results of your braces or clear aligner treatment. They are a set of clear, removable plastic retainers, and you will wear them regularly following your treatment.

An Essix retainer is one of the more affordable types of retainers available on the market: they range from about $150 to $500. Your orthodontist may include the cost of an Essix retainer in your total orthodontic care costs, and if insurance covers your braces treatment, it may help cover your retainer costs.

Essix is just one of several kinds of retainers: there are other clear retainers, including the Vivera™ retainer, which is made by Invisalign. According to research published by the National Institute of Health, Essix retainers are as effective as other kinds of retainers.

Vivera retainers are another form of clear aligner that works in a similar way. According to some orthodontists, Vivera retainers tend to be more durable and last longer than Essix retainers. 

Essix retainers are “nighttime for a lifetime”: you’ll wear them all day for the first few months after your treatment phase is completed, and then every night for about a year after that.

If your orthodontist examines your teeth and approves, you can start wearing the Essix retainers every other night, and you’ll want to continue doing that for as long as you can.

A set of Essix retainers can last several years if properly cared for. Eventually, you will need to get a new set of retainers for your nighttime use. If the retainers are damaged, lost, or cracked, you should get a new set.

Many orthodontists offer a packaged set of multiple retainers, so if you lose or break an Essix retainer, you will already have a backup. If or when you run out of backup retainers, you can simply schedule a visit to your orthodontist to get fitted for a new set of Essix retainers.

And if you’ve moved or it’s been a long time since you visited the orthodontist, a new orthodontist can help fit you for an Essix retainer.

Essix retainers have many benefits, but it’s important to consider all aspects of your retainer care to decide which is right for you.

Essix retainers are one of several types of removable clear plastic retainers.

There are also permanent fixed retainers and Hawley retainers. These retainers have a different design but achieve the same goal of protecting the gains made by your orthodontic care.

A Hawley retainer is also removable, like Essix retainers, but made of metal and wire, which makes the Hawley retainer more noticeable, but also more durable. 

A permanent bonded retainer is placed permanently on the back of the teeth (almost always on the bottom teeth), and stays there for many years. This type of retainer provides certain benefits

Because you remove Essix retainers for meals and drinking anything but water, there’s less concern of food getting stuck in the retainer.

You’ll wear the retainer full-time for the first few months after your orthodontic treatment, so you’ll simply remove both sets of retainers and store them in the case while you eat meals or drink anything besides water. Brush your teeth and rinse the retainers before you put them back in your mouth.

Once you switch to wearing the retainer at night, eating and drinking become even easier: just wait to put the retainer on until after you’ve eaten your meals for the day and brush your teeth before putting the retainer in for the night.

There aren’t any food restrictions with clear plastic retainers – as long as it’s stored safely and not in your mouth, you can eat and drink anything you like! Just remember to brush after meals and before bed, and to floss once a day!

Essix retainers are simple to care for and to keep clean. It’s important to keep your retainers clean and safely stored when not worn, to ensure that the gains made with your orthodontic treatment are protected.

• Before you put your retainers in for the night, brush and floss your teeth. When you take the retainers out of your mouth in the morning, clean them right away, so saliva doesn’t dry on the trays.
• You can brush both top and bottom retainers with lukewarm water, and if you need a deeper clean, use a mix of lukewarm water with mild dish soap. Scrub them gently with a soft-bristled toothbrush or a denture brush.
• If there are hard-to-reach grooves in your aligners, use a cotton swab to clean out those areas.
• You can also soak your clear retainers in a special cleaning solution like Efferdent or Polident, or another specialized clear retainer cleaning solution – ask your orthodontist which solution they recommend for your Essix retainers.
• Over time, your Essix retainers will likely become discolored: this is expected as the plastic begins to age. If the discoloration bothers you, it is time to switch to a fresh set of retainers, or go to the orthodontist to get a new set printed.
• If your Essix retainers break, crack, or become misshapen due to heat or being crushed, you will also have to replace with a new set. You can either switch to a new set entirely or just replace the tray that has been damaged.

If you care properly for your Essix retainer, you can expect a single set to last well over a year, potentially up to 5 years. But if the retainers are broken or misshapen, they won’t be as effective at protecting your smile alignment, so when this happens, it’s important to replace the retainer right away.

Even with regular retainer wear, some shifting is inevitable: your teeth will slowly settle into their new, proper positions, and there will be some adjustment involved. Wearing your Essix retainers is the best way to prevent more severe movement, to protect the gains made by your orthodontic treatment.