Metal Mouth Message Board

I've read a couple stories on here about people having their treatment ended because of root resportion or shortening. I'm curious if anyone knows to how they can tell it's happened? Can they only tell through an xray?

Root repsorption can only be diagnosed via radiographs...it's rare for the roots to shorten enough to be a concern for the future of the tooth, but it does happen. That is one of the reasons for a panorex taken close to the time when you will be getting your braces off.

Dr. S

Sorry for the typos above...can't seem to edit the post!

I have a resorbed tooth root from a previous ortho treatment. In addition, I had inflamed and receding gums from a severe deep bite. This showed up in my X-rays and discussed during my records consultation. Instead of regular braces, my ortho went with Invisalign since he was concerned excess force with archwires. So far, this is working out although I may need to finish with regular braces once the injured tooth is where it needs to go.

If I had gone with regular braces, I was going to need x-rays every 90 days and possibly require "stop treatments" periodically. At first, I thought my ortho was making a big issue over this until I looked up the consequences - its the same process that causes baby teeth to come out and can cause tooth loss. Its caused by excess force on teeth during treatment and happened when I had braces as a teen.

Thanks for the responses.

So it's more common when a tooth has been previously damaged?

My concern stems from the fact that I had a canine tooth came down so it covered the roots of the tooth beside it and did some damage. I was warned by both the oral surgeon and orthodontist that it may cause problems and I may need an implant. So far I'm a little over 8 months in and no problems but I'm a little paranoid about losing it.

Suggest that you ask your ortho how is the root problem being managed to minimize problems. Also, is the affected tooth becoming overly loose? this can be a symptom the root damage is causing problems. Also ask what you need to do help monitor the problem.

In my case, the resorbed root has caused problems, even with a more conservative treatment plan. I found the tooth was looser than the others and pointed it out to my ortho, who agreed it was becoming a problem. He removed an attachment that was on the rear of my tooth as my lower teeth were putting excess pressure on it. The tooth seems to be not as loose now and I only have two more aligners to go on my uppers, so everything should be ok.

Good luck!!!