Invisalign and Sonicare

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#1 Post by **blair** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 10:50 pm

At my dentist's recommendation, I used a Sonicare toothbrush for several years before getting Invisalign. I continued to use it off and on for the first couple months I had Invisalign, but because of a minor problem and the fact that it knocked out the little Invisalign fake "teeth" that concealed my extractions, I stopped using the Sonicare for the last 9 months. But I've dug mine out again and the defect seems to be resolved with some cleaning, and my extractions are closing to the point that I no longer have the little tooth stand-ins. What are people's thoughts on using Sonicare with Invisalign, especially on the retainers? It seems like the buzzing would be nice to remove extra gumminess, and it certainly makes my mouth feel cleaner.

Is there any reason Invisalign and Sonicare shouldn't be combined? Is my tooth enamel getting softer and I could be damaging it? I'm just taking stabs in the dark here - I assume it's fine to use unless told otherwise.

Unrelatedly, if anyone else here has had extractions and subsequent problems with tipping, at what tray did that start being a problem? I had four extractions (all my pre-molars) and I'd like to be on the lookout. What were the signs?

#2 Post by **diehard** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 11:36 am

iv already written a response just scroll down to ( how do u watch out for tipping molars ) have a look and i think i started to notice after 10 or or so trays, im not sure if yours will tip if u had a fake tooth in spaces but i could be wrong wish id been offered fake tooth as thats how my cuz saw something was up, and as for the sonic i use a SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM e9000 and i luv it i dont brush the trays with it though it could damage them so i use a soft toothbrush for that, hope that helps a bit.

#3 Post by **blair** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 10:06 pm

Thanks for the tips. I'm on the lookout for tipping, as it seems I have a very similar case to yours - the four extractions of the premolars. So far I don't see anything, but I think I'm at the point where it would start happening (24 of 42U/48L). I think that my gaps should be closed in maybe 2-3 trays on the bottom and 3-5 on the top (guessing here).

What did Invisalign do with the gaps before they closed for you? My gaps still had tooth "shapes" in them - the tray from the outside looked like it had a tooth there, but it slanted inwards in a way that would have made it impossible to put an actual tooth in there. The space in the tray was filled with kind of a putty that matched my tooth color, so for the first 9 months it looked as though I had a tooth there. The ortho assistant just filled the putty in the trays before she gave them to me. Now the plastic between the teeth dips in closer to the gum and you can see that there's a space if you look - but the teeth are closed together about halfway now, so it's maybe .25 centimeter? You can see it if you look, but not really in casual contact. I can still fit my tongue in between though

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#4 Post by **blair** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 10:07 pm

blair wrote:Thanks for the tips. I'm on the lookout for tipping

Just caught this horrible pun, lol.

#5 Post by **diehard** » Wed Dec 19, 2007 12:16 pm

the good news is i think uv got away without tipping it would have happened way before the 1/2 way mark, i still do not understand why i was not offered a fake tooth option like u all my trays did was stay level with my gums and just got shorter tray after tray, for the 1st year thats all what realy happened the 2nd part of treatment was the good stuff although that said its not just a matter of closing the gaps, it also gave me a wider arch thus giving me a strong jaw line and got rid of the gaunt look

#6 Post by **youngone22** » Wed Dec 19, 2007 12:48 pm

Hi! I just had a quick question. I'm missing 5 teeth on the top of my mouth, and am en route to getting dental implants. However i need to get braces before the implants can be placed due to spacing on one of the sides (and while my sinus lift procedure heals up for 9 months), so this is being down in the meantime. I'm curious to know how the "fake" teeth that they put in the aligners look...do they look real? can you hardly tell? i'm very self-conscious as i am only 24 years old and am very active. its going to be a difficult few months (we're hoping for 6 months max for my treatment), but you never know could go longer. I'm going to be wearing the aligners with the spaces filled in, and then when I have to eat, will be wearing my partial denture...its going to be heard to be make the switch, but at least for most of the day, ill be wearing the aligners.

please let me know about the aligners and how they look/feel.

thanks.

#7 Post by **blair** » Wed Dec 19, 2007 3:23 pm

The fill-ins looked really really good - exactly like the rest of my teeth. Don't worry about the looks at all. I was really nervous about that too - I'm 21 and didn't want it to be AT ALL noticeable (I'm really self-conscious/vain, trust me). But the "fake" teeth are very realistic-looking.

The only thing to be wary of is that sometimes they would pop out, like the glue didn't quite hold. I found that certain ones were more prone to come out depending what space they were in and what was going on in my treatment - I think the way my trays bent when I took them out and put pressure on them in a weird way. For me, this wasn't a huge deal and not very noticeable. Since it's probably more significant visually for you, you might ask if your ortho could give you some of the glue they use to keep the teeth in? The fake teeth usually came out when I was taking out a tray or rinsing them, so just catch them before they go down the drain.

Also, diehard, thanks for the reassurance about tipping! My arch was being widened as well, but my ortho says that everything looks good so far - but she also said that in the 20's is where things can get wonky... any small error along the way just gets magnified. I've been told I'll need braces from the eyeteeth back (at least they're not on the front...) to finish correcting my bite, but I'm not sure if they're just guessing I will need the braces or if they haven't planned from the beginning for Invisalign to take me all the way.

#8 Post by **youngone22** » Thu Dec 20, 2007 7:57 am

Thank you so much for your reassurance!!! So, if they fall out of the tray, can you just put them back in? I have no idea what they will even look like...all my dentist said is that they look like real teeth and will be hard in the tray, so they wont be like just a soft spot.

Thanks for your help.

#9 Post by **blair** » Thu Dec 20, 2007 5:45 pm

The fake teeth are kind of gummy but firm, just little rubber bits. When they're placed in the trays they're liquid, but they harden up with exposure to air (?) and then retain their form. Think of the consistency of a little rubber bouncing ball, but tooth-colored and shaped like the space in your tray. If they fall out, you can just slip them back in, but without more glue they'll just fall out again. Like I said, if you start having problems with them falling out (for me, it varied over the length of the treatment), you might ask for a little extra glue to get them to stay back in.