Question: Question about bone grafts after an extracted tooth and wearing an essix retainer, not wearing it for the first 2 weeks so the tissue isn't supported. Even if I wear the essix now, it's been grinded down to not apply pressure, so there's not much support it can do. How will this affect future bone grafts and implant? The surgeon said something about the tissue closing in. He meant for me to wear the essix the whole time (tooth bonded into retainer) to support the tissue. It was uncomfortable and painful to put in, and he never told me that's what it was for, I thought it was purely for esthetics. So, I didn't wear it. Now, 2 weeks later I have a checkup, he tells me this but doesn't explain what that means for me, how it will affect my healing, or future implant. Just said to XXXXXXX him again in 2 months to see how things are going and to wear the essix, even though he admitted that there might not be much tissue supporting now that it's been grinded down and the area has healed up more, so it's mostly just for esthetics now... so why should I continue to wear it if it's uncomfortable and affects my speech more than I'd like? I work with people a lot at my job, so I'm not comfortable with the speech impediment.