Teeth movement even with retainers?
Posted: Sat Sep 15, 2012 1:47 pm
Hi all!
I did invisalign and finished about a year and half ago. When I got done I also had some cosmetic work done (bonding to reshape teeth and gingivectomy) so my dentist did the retainers right in the office (I think those are essix retainers since the vivera are the ones right from invisalign if I remember right). Anyhow, I've worn them every night faithfully since I finished treatment.
At first my teeth were darned near perfect (I have overbite and overjet (buck teeth) and it didn't correct all of the overbite, but I knew that going in it wouldn't). We did family pictures today and while I had noticed a bit here and there that my teeth looked like they had shifted, I really noticed it in the pictures today. So of course I compared to a pic taken the day I had my cosmetic stuff done and they indeed have moved. I think the gingivectomy needs to be redone too - not sure if two of them have receeded further making it look uneven again or if the ones that were removed grew back. That part is easy to fix, the other I'm not sure.
I've had 3 retainers since finishing due to them cracking. My initial one fit great but since they didn't keep (or it broke, not sure which) the original mold, they had to remold when I broke my first one. I know my teeth move a bit during the day with biting down on things etc (likely because there is still some overbite there would be my guess) since my retainers were tight when I'd first put them on. The second one wasn't as tight as my original one initially, I think because when I did the molds it was later in the day after I'd eaten breakfast and lunch, so they likely had moved a little, but over a few weeks it was snug at night again. Then the same thing with the next one with getting remolded later in the day - and this one again was barely snug at all when I tried it on in the office (late afternoon) likely because they were in the "moved" position from eating during the day. Now again it's tight at night when I put it in (because they move during the day a bit). I have a feeling that what is happening is that with each new retainer, plus with the plastic possibly stretching they're moving a bit more and more with each one since I have to be remolded each time and when it's done they are done later in the day after they've moved just a bit. So each time I get a new one they are a bit further off than when I finished.
So I'm wondering if this had happened to anyone else and if it was able to be corrected without doing invisalign all over again (which I couldn't afford at this point - I had to save YEARS to do it the first time). And if I can be how do I prevent it again - should I go for a fixed retainer or a hawley over the essix? Maybe I should even do that now even if it can't be fixed, just to keep it from getting worse.
I'm just a bit sad that I spend so much money, effort and time on getting them to a point that I didn't hate my smile and now they are headed right back that way again.
I did invisalign and finished about a year and half ago. When I got done I also had some cosmetic work done (bonding to reshape teeth and gingivectomy) so my dentist did the retainers right in the office (I think those are essix retainers since the vivera are the ones right from invisalign if I remember right). Anyhow, I've worn them every night faithfully since I finished treatment.
At first my teeth were darned near perfect (I have overbite and overjet (buck teeth) and it didn't correct all of the overbite, but I knew that going in it wouldn't). We did family pictures today and while I had noticed a bit here and there that my teeth looked like they had shifted, I really noticed it in the pictures today. So of course I compared to a pic taken the day I had my cosmetic stuff done and they indeed have moved. I think the gingivectomy needs to be redone too - not sure if two of them have receeded further making it look uneven again or if the ones that were removed grew back. That part is easy to fix, the other I'm not sure.
I've had 3 retainers since finishing due to them cracking. My initial one fit great but since they didn't keep (or it broke, not sure which) the original mold, they had to remold when I broke my first one. I know my teeth move a bit during the day with biting down on things etc (likely because there is still some overbite there would be my guess) since my retainers were tight when I'd first put them on. The second one wasn't as tight as my original one initially, I think because when I did the molds it was later in the day after I'd eaten breakfast and lunch, so they likely had moved a little, but over a few weeks it was snug at night again. Then the same thing with the next one with getting remolded later in the day - and this one again was barely snug at all when I tried it on in the office (late afternoon) likely because they were in the "moved" position from eating during the day. Now again it's tight at night when I put it in (because they move during the day a bit). I have a feeling that what is happening is that with each new retainer, plus with the plastic possibly stretching they're moving a bit more and more with each one since I have to be remolded each time and when it's done they are done later in the day after they've moved just a bit. So each time I get a new one they are a bit further off than when I finished.
So I'm wondering if this had happened to anyone else and if it was able to be corrected without doing invisalign all over again (which I couldn't afford at this point - I had to save YEARS to do it the first time). And if I can be how do I prevent it again - should I go for a fixed retainer or a hawley over the essix? Maybe I should even do that now even if it can't be fixed, just to keep it from getting worse.
I'm just a bit sad that I spend so much money, effort and time on getting them to a point that I didn't hate my smile and now they are headed right back that way again.