Consequences of removing permanent retainer?

[Matthew Richardson]

Hi, I had braces when I was 19 (I'm 28 now) and after they were removed, they put a permanent retainer on the bottom, it's one of the metal ones that hooks to the bicuspids on each side then has a wire on the back side hooked to those bicuspid brace points, well one side broke, it's still on but it's loose, it's been this way for a couple years, I move it to brush under it to make sure it's clean everyday but I'm tired of it, can I remove it? My original dentist that put it on said he would like it on a minimum of 4 years but said he would rather 6 or more before removing it, he never said it was permanent but now I hear they are? What would happen if it was removed, would the teeth quickly start moving back to their old positions or would it be years before that happened?

Also just a curious question, when you have braces done is it normal to sometimes not straighten the teeth completely? There is one tooth on the bottom front that is out of line with the others, it sits just in front of them slightly, right after they removed the braces I asked my dentist if he can fix it and he said no, which surprised me because we paid like 4 grand to have them fixed! Is that normal?