CHOMP
Nothing Hard,
Nothing Sticky,
Nothing Chewy

1. Wear them as instructed. Unless otherwise told, that usually means 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. If you don't wear them, your teeth will drift back to where they started. And wouldn't that be a silly waste? The only times they will come out will be as follows:
• Meals (main ones, they can stay in for snacks)
• Brushing your teeth
• Cleaning (ie: soaking in denture cleaner)
• Contact sports (football, soccer, lacrosse, hockey. Bowling doesn't count as a contact sport. Keep 'em in.)
Otherwise, eating, sleeping, making love, standing on your head and spitting wooden nickels while whistling Dixie they're in 24/7.
2. Take them out when you eat major meals. This would be one of those times when you can take them out. Note that they can stay in for all snacks except gum. The only "snack" you can't eat with retainers in place is gum, so no gum, sorry. When you do take them out for those major meals, it's into the case they go, which incidentally brings us to the next point.

3. Take your retainer case everywhere. If your retainers aren't in your mouth, they should be in one of two places, soaking, or in your retainer case. DO NOT FORGET YOUR CASE. If you're eating, if you're playing a contact sport, the retainers go into the case for safekeeping.
4. If you don't have your case, the retainers stay in your mouth. Don't think that you'll remember that you wrapped it up in a napkin. You won't. And they are $175 per retainer to replace. Do you want to fork over $350 because you didn't have your case? We didn't think so. And believe us, you will forget it and leave it on your McDonald's tray and throw it out. So unless you want to go dumpster diving through a day's worth of identical wrappers and napkins to find that one paper product with your retainers wrapped in it, put it in the case or eat with them in.
5. Don't chew gum with the retainers in. If you take your retainers out to chew gum, they are not retaining your teeth. Once in braces is enough. Skip the gum, leave the retainers in, and keep that straight smile you worked so hard to get.
6. Don't leave your retainers out on a table or countertop. Don't leave your retainers where they can be nuked, flushed, disposaled, crunched or crushed. And remember that little siblings and pets loooooove to play with the shiny plastic thing with the wires sticking out. Especially if you picked one of the colored or glittery ones. Remember, it goes in the case, in a dish to be cleaned, or in your mouth.
7. Don't put retainers in your pocket. Two words: Sit. Snap. Are we clear here?
8. Keep talking. Patients with new retainers start out feeling a little uncomfortable. It feels like there's a huge gap between the appliance and the roof of the mouth. In fact, that gap is about the thickness of a piece of paper, and with a little talking, that feeling will disappear. Also, patients sometimes lisp a little when they first put in their retainers. This will also disappear with time and talking. This means that the patient should be encouraged to talk as much as possible.

9. Clean them every day. You won't need a whole lot of encouragement to do this one. Dirty retainers smell and taste nasty. Every day, take your retainers out, put them into a small plastic bowl, like a margarine container, and fill it with room temperature water and throw half of a denture cleaner tablet. Do this at dinnertime, and by the time you're done eating, they'll be fresh and clean and ready to pop back in your mouth. Once in a while, you'll also want to give your retainer case a similar denture cleaner bath. Also, when you take your retainers out to brush your teeth, give them a little going over with your toothbrush. Your minty-fresh mouth will thank you.