Getting new retainers (teeth, orthodontist, braces)

[connorhawke]

I've been using the essix retainers provided by my UK braces orthodontist for several years and think I should get a replacement soon, and am wondering what the best route is. Some questions I have:

Should I see an orthodontist (I now live in NYC) or use an online service (if so, any recommendations)?

I have moulds that were given to me following essix retainer creation from my braces orthodontist - should I use these to create any new impressions (since the current retainers still fit) or just use my teeth? Accounting for accuracy, error rate, etc.

Thanks for any help.

[connorhawke]

I was shopping around for orthodontists for a replacement set of essix retainers and got quotes ranging from about $250/set from my original (UK) orthodontist (after conversion from GBP) to $600/set (a LES orthodontist in NYC). Not sure why it should vary so much for the same type of retainers between different orthodontists.

I was also browsing online services due to convenience and cost (typically ~$130/set). Two of the seemingly most prominent Google Search results are clearretain.com and sportingsmiles.com. However, the former uses a seemingly uncommonly-used material called Invisacryl Ultra which I'd never heard of so I'm somewhat skeptical, whereas the latter has some sketchy complaints and company replies on the BBB and elsewhere. Other results I found include retainersdirect.com (not many reviews) and justretainers.com (new company). I also checked out more established companies, like byteme or smiledirectclub, but they apparently offer retainers only to prior aligner customers.