How to Remove or Take Out a Fixed Permanent Bottom Retainer

How I Took Out and Removed My Fixed Permanent Bottom Retainer!

I cured my poor tongue's habit of playing with the metal wire retainer forever.
But don't try this at home.... always consult your orthodontist or dentist like I did!

This is the story of why and how I removed my bottom fixed retainer.

I got my braces on April 25th, 1988. That was over 20 years ago! And I was left with one of those metal superglued retainers stuck to the bottom 6 teeth in my lower jaw.

remove bottom permanent metal retainer

I always played with it, food got stuck in it, I couldn't floss properly since I was 12, and my tongue got scraped at its tip every week from all the playing with it that I did. All night long I would sleep while playing with it.


Subconsciously the thing couldn't be helping my career. My friend told me, "Jan, that's so anti-human. To touch and feel and receive metal-energy in the mouth day to day unconsciously is not right, for you, at least"

I needed a cure...


So I visited my dentist. She's in the next town over, in Flagstaff, AZ. It takes me an hour to drive to her, about $40 in gas to go up 2500 ft. in elevation with my car, so I always want results when I go.


I said, "I want it out. Please take this fixed, permanent retainer out."

She said," Not so fast. I'll need a note from your orthodontist saying it's ok, and that the teeth won't shift. I don't want to be sued by you if ever your teeth shifted and you got mad at me."

"WTF?!"

I couldn't pay for a $150 visit to the dontist just to remove a piece of superglued metal in my mouth (ok, at least it kept my teeth in place for a couple years). Plus my ortho was a few states away, and I couldn't remember his name.

I couldn't find any good websites on how to do it. I only found this one that says you should go visit your dentist! : http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080323204149AAXDZS7

Here's another site I found....

Remove bonded retainer myself

I talked it over with a healer friend of mine. And we both came up with the same conclusion at the same time: "Do it with one of those little sanding tools that you can find at a hardware store! Jewelers and car mechanics always use those things for creative projects."

The right tool can do anything. I am in India right now (update as of June, 2009), and the only reason this blog is still being posted is that I have seen how other less developed parts of the world work, like Haiti and India. And though it could be perceived as dangerous to post this personal information, I believe in everyone having a right to information if the intention is right. My only intention is that I see how life is for the 5 out of 6 billion other folks around the world. They don't have managed health care or clean water or soap or paper and pencils. And they manage to find extremely creative solutions to everyday problems. This is the 'functional' side of me speaking... I am a well-meaning citizen who was determined to remove his own retainer, because I was in a difficult location to find the proper dental accomodations, and I was all out of money. It was my own personal risk- done with my free will. I believe in there being many options when wanting to do anything in life. In stores across the USA, the only options seem to the be the most expensive, yet the practical side of me always knows there has got to be another way which has somehow been hidden from me. I find these "forgotten" ways daily in developing nations around the world. It's amazing at how resourceful people are when they don't have anything. Most times you never need the newest or the best. You just need something that works.

So I borrowed a friend's tool who makes jewelry and has a creativity shop. You can get the same kind of tool at any Wal-Mart.

I do not recommend this for anyone. But as with all things, there is personal responsibility in what you do. This is just to show my family what I did this past weekend.

(ps: heal your 5th Chakra while you're at it...)

It' took me less than 2 hours to sand it out, and polish my teeth nicely. Best part is that I wasn't as nervous as sitting in that ortho chair with someone else controlling the drill. I've always been nervous about, cause I had major dental work done as a child.

I got my hand drill/ sanding tool and put on a polishing bit on it.

And I kept a handy small towel to wipe my drool and excess metal and superglue shavings. Also I got a small pair of pliers and flathead screwdriver in case I needed to pry on the fixed permanent bottom retainer to loosen it when removing it.

Here's the nerve-racking part... I had no idea what I was doing. I was all alone in the bathroom listening to a Gustavo Cerati album wondering if I'd slip and knock out a tooth.

But that just never happened :) That would go against the entire goal of this project.


yup i was asked to remove this picture, lest I be requested to appear in court.

I kept going. I sanded away at one side first. I sanded all around the metal wire- right on top of it. I exposed and got rid of as much superglue and metal as I could that's glued right on the tooth. But I wasn't afraid to actually sand down the metal- I sanded down lots of it. And I wiped often with towel so I didn't swallow metal shavings.

Don't operate tools and take pictures at the same time....

Almost done sanding on this one side. Tooth getting a little hot. I had to rinse to calm down my tooth's nerve.

Wow, I got an edge up! That was the most comforting feeling telling me it was working and that the bottom retainer was actually going to be out of my mouth for the first time in 20 years!

A little more on the other side and PRESTO! Woohoo!

Each your heart out dentist! I removed the retainer on my own, thanks to some wonderful suggestions you gave me about how a dentist would proceed in removing this retainer from my mouth.

20 years! Can u imagine. I was in 5th grade at the time... I've graduated college and dated like 24 women since then.

Look I'm even flossing :)

One of my teeth started bleeding like crazy as if it hadn't been flossed in like, well... 20 years.

So now I went back in with this little drill thingy and polished down the rough spots of the superglue. I sanded it down smoothly. I knew when I was done. No need to sand down to the tooth's enamel, just make it smoothe where I was happy with it. I needed to scratch around with a knife to see what's what in there. The same tools a dentist will use I found at a hardware and retail shop. But remember, you're taking your life into your own hands and assuming all responsibility!

Ahhh, nice work for a Saturday morning, November, 2008.

Now I each apples like I never have before! I'm done! :) And my tongue loves me for it!! Plus the pectin in the apples will help bind to any of the metal I swallowed, so I poop it out.

Seriously, I ate 10 apples throughout the day.

Ok, gotta run.

I'm gonna have an extra smiley day, yo :)

Good-bye fixed, permanent bottom retainer. I wanted my mouth back, and now I got it. Oh, what a cure!

Update: it's almost been 2 years since I did this little self-surgery. It's now June, 2010. I still can't believe I did this. And I am more than excited each day to touch the bottom of my teeth with my tongue. No teeth have shifted, still smiling when I feel how silky-smoothe my teeth are.

DISCLAIMER

“The John Positive Company” and Jan Tijmes is not a medical doctor, or any other kind of medical practitioner. He does not diagnose, treat or recommend any particular medical treatment, or prescribe any medications/substances.

The service he is providing is not licensed by any state in the United States of America. This service is complimentary to healing arts services licensed by the state of California, and not intended to replace any professional medical care.

You are responsible for seeing your doctor or continuing with your medical treatment and following the doctor’s advice.

To your health and peace!

Jan+
Soul Healer - Bodhisattva
The John Positive Company

Email: juanpositivo at live . com

The John Positive Co.; helping people with acne, depression, health, constipation, careers, spirituality, personal development, goals/ vision, insomnia, migraines, anxiety, and relationships since 2006. Nationwide and Worldwide sessions available via Skype and Phone.


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