Can invisalign torque my canines?

Discussions about treatment with invisible braces that use clear aligners, such as Invisalign, OrthoClear, the Red White and Blue system, etc.

Moderator: bbsadmin

Message
Author
pearlie
Posts: 29
Joined: Mon Nov 20, 2006 8:29 am

Can invisalign torque my canines?

#1 Post by pearlie »

I'm on my last set, but my bottom canines still have not rotated or torqued correctly! I have an ortho appointment tomorrow and I'm worried that he'll want to put me in regular braces! I would prefer a refinement with invisalign (I have had none sofar), but I'm concerned that invisalign just cant do this! Has anyone had any experience with invisalign torqueing or twisting teeth? All of my other teeth have moved beautifully.

John37
Posts: 327
Joined: Wed Mar 12, 2008 3:38 am

#2 Post by John37 »

My lower canines were severely rotated. The teeth behind them were pushing forward and the canines rotated so they were facing toward the front. I have hooks on the bottom of these canines and wear elastic bands from the hooks to the upper aligners. They cut little slits in the upper aligners next to my first molars to put the rubber bands into. I also have attachments on the canines.

My dentist said that even though the Clincheck showed that the canines would rotate, he found in practice that you need rubber bands to help them move. The teeth behind are also moving back, so I guess the bands help move everything back. They are normally not too visible unless I smile very wide or open my mouth wide. In the photo I am pulling my lips with my fingers to show the rubber bands better.

I am on 14 of 28. Because only the back teeth were moving for the first 5 trays, the canines didn't start moving/rotating until the 6th set. So far they seem to be moving as expected and the trays fit as they should.

Image

John37
Posts: 327
Joined: Wed Mar 12, 2008 3:38 am

#3 Post by John37 »

Meryaten wrote:Nice! You apparently found yourself a doc who's pretty experienced with Invisalign.

Also cool that the elastics are clear.
Yeah, he was a dentist that was listed as a premier provider on the Invisalign website. I think that just means he did a certain number of cases. His assistants said he takes extra classes to learn more. He seems to know what he's doing.

I will add that if I ever need to be somewhere talking with a group of people I will take the elastics out. I don't think they are that important near the end of a set of trays after the teeth have pretty much moved and are not giving as much resistance. But I still wear the elastics most of the time. It's just if I'm smiling a lot or laughing that I think they are noticeable.

wantaperfectsmile
Posts: 4
Joined: Wed Mar 26, 2008 5:02 pm
Location: Lakeside, California

Canines and Molars

#4 Post by wantaperfectsmile »

Off and on the subject of tweaking the k-9's. I wore invisalign from 3/2006 to 11/2007 and have been in metal braces since January 2008. One of my k-9's needed to be straightened which couldn't be done via invisalign and also my orthodontist failed to notice that my molar on the top left, that was originally straight, just needed to be moved over a few centimeters had actually moved into a sideways position, so when i was biting, i was biting on the side of my tooth. I am not very happy about this. If I would have known that I needed to have metal braces, I would have done it from the begining and been done with it by now and spent less. I spent $6500.00 US dollars only to be in metal braces. I am so disapointed. My goal was to have my teeth straight by my 30th birthday since I started this process 2 years ago and I was told it would be 15 months. I am 3 weeks away from being 30, and about 5 months away from being out of braces. I feel that my orthodontist wasn't upfront with me when I first started my treatment.

John37
Posts: 327
Joined: Wed Mar 12, 2008 3:38 am

#5 Post by John37 »

wantaperfectsmile, if I understand you correctly you are saying that the Invisalign tilted your molar instead of just moving it and the ortho didn't realize it. I'm sorry to hear that. I don't know if Invisalign is to blame or the ortho for not realizing the molar was moving incorrectly.

I have some movies from my Clincheck. Each frame of the movie represents a different set of aligners, so I am trying to make sure my teeth are moving the way they are supposed to on each tray. I know this doesn't help you, wantaperfectsmile, but I mention it for the benefit of others.

I hope your teeth end up great. Look on the bright side. Other people have waited longer to get their teeth fixed. I will be 38 soon and wished I had straightened my teeth 10 years ago like you!

wantaperfectsmile
Posts: 4
Joined: Wed Mar 26, 2008 5:02 pm
Location: Lakeside, California

Molar rotating

#6 Post by wantaperfectsmile »

Thanks John! You are correct, I don't think that invisalign is to blame for my Dr. not paying attention. Invisalign did a great thing to get my teeth the way they are, and I probably would have had to only wear metal braces for a month or two to perfect my smile had my Dr. paid attention. He never looked at my teeth with out my aligners on. It is very frustrating at this point to see large gaps in my teeth that were perfectly straight a few months ago. They are having to use 3 of my other teeth to move that one molar. It is also very painful. I also had that video you are speaking of, and it didn't show my tooth doing that. What I have learned is that sometimes your root will move faster than your tooth and that is what caused this problem with my tooth. If my Dr. would have noticed it to begin with he could have stopped my tooth from moving. Thanks for your input, I can't wait to get these things off and I'll be posting before and afters! :lol:



I have some xrays I'd like to post on here to show everyone what happend, but I'm not sure how to do it, they are in jpg format.

John37
Posts: 327
Joined: Wed Mar 12, 2008 3:38 am

#7 Post by John37 »

To post pictures look at this thread:
viewtopic.php?t=11741

jeni
Posts: 96
Joined: Mon Oct 09, 2006 7:07 am
Location: Indiana

#8 Post by jeni »

When one of my lower canines didn't turn enough (though I thought that the biggest problem with my original series was the canine right above it), they just gave me a new attachment on it and a 7 set refinement series. Look alright now (I am one week from being finished with the refinement series!!).

scorpetteFL
Posts: 60
Joined: Tue Mar 06, 2007 8:04 pm

#9 Post by scorpetteFL »

I'm having this problem with one of my upper canines - I'm in refinement now and they had to add 6 attachments to my upper teeth. Jury is still out as to whether it's working! My ortho didn't mention rubber bands, hm. My lower teeth are progressing perfectly.

wantaperfectsmile
Posts: 4
Joined: Wed Mar 26, 2008 5:02 pm
Location: Lakeside, California

xrays of molar

#10 Post by wantaperfectsmile »

Hello all- here are my x rays, the 1st one from Feb 2006, the 2nd from April 2007 and the final one from Nov 2007. I got my metal braces put on in Jan 2007 to correct the molar. You the molar is the last one on the upper right side of the xray. I had another tooth next to it but the root canal was bad and I had to get it pulled, so all they had to do was move it over.....

Image

Image

Image

John37
Posts: 327
Joined: Wed Mar 12, 2008 3:38 am

#11 Post by John37 »

scorpetteFL wrote:I'm having this problem with one of my upper canines - I'm in refinement now and they had to add 6 attachments to my upper teeth. Jury is still out as to whether it's working! My ortho didn't mention rubber bands, hm. My lower teeth are progressing perfectly.
About the rubber bands...
In my case the molars and premolars are all moving back, so the elastics may not have been just to torque the canines, but to also help move all the teeth backward. That is, so that the front incisors didn't move forward instead of the molars moving backward.

John37
Posts: 327
Joined: Wed Mar 12, 2008 3:38 am

#12 Post by John37 »

Thanks for posting the x-ray pictures wantaperfectsmile. Now I understand what happened. Did you ever discuss possibly getting an implant for the missing tooth? I bet that would have been expensive though. I hope the molar straightens up for you.

DrBill
Posts: 39
Joined: Fri Nov 03, 2006 11:50 am
Location: Oak Park, IL
Contact:

#13 Post by DrBill »

Wantaperfectsmile,

I PM'd you - check your box.

wantaperfectsmile
Posts: 4
Joined: Wed Mar 26, 2008 5:02 pm
Location: Lakeside, California

#14 Post by wantaperfectsmile »

So far the braces are working pretty well....the tooth is straight now, its just getting the final adjustments, hopefully only another month or two with the train tracks on! :roll:

modulo
Posts: 7
Joined: Fri Dec 22, 2006 7:08 pm

#15 Post by modulo »

glad i stumbled upon this thread because i think i'm having the same problem.

viewtopic.php?t=25201

about when did begin to notice you were biting down on the side of that molar? i'm already noticing it now.

Post Reply