u/Any_Transition_4465

So, ive been quite bad about wearing my retainers since I got. My bottom retainer does not fit, so I don't bother. They were the teeth which were worse, but I honestly don't care about because it's not visible. However, I want my top retainers to still fit. I've had retainers for 2 years. I used to put them in every night, but I had some bad jaw issues with it locking at night, so I stopped wearing them. It made my jaw very unstable (particularly the bottom retainer).

I still want my top retainers to fit because I have a permanent retainer on my top front 2 teeth, and as far as I'm aware permanent retainers aren't actually permanent, so I want them to srill fit when they die. I haven't worn the top retainer in 2 months. Last time, I didn't have tenderness (they don't shift much) so I thought it didn't matter. This time though, it's painful. Not horribly so, only when I first put them in and after a few hours. My gum also gets a little swollen, but this goes away 20 mins after I take them out. There is a gap between the end of my teeth and the retainer, but I was told my retainer was made thicker to hopefully help with my jaw issues, so it could be that.

If I continue to wear them for 4+ hours everyday, will this stop it from hurting? I can't see any visual shifts but I imagine it's microscopic. Ive also seen some scary stuff aboit damaging your roots, but my teeth aren't wobbly and it's not bad pain, more like tenderness.

Im just a bit anxious that maybe my teeth have shifted too much, and they don't fit anymore. I can't afford another retainer.

Today I had my follow up appointment from my MRI. I was told i have disc displacement without reduction in my right jaw (which i did expect to hear). Issue is, I've been discharged. He told me to go to the dentist and get a hard gum shield. I'm not sure how that'll help at all, as I don't grind my teeth. He also said my jaw doesn't seem to be displaced at the moment following a physical exam. That can't be the case as my jaw is the exact same as when I had my MRI. My jaw has been like this since I was 12 (im now 19), I cant see a gum shield magically fixing my jaw. My issue is not muscular. I just feel like he's not helped me at all, and trying to get registered with an NHS dentist will be impossible.