Cavities & Dental work with Invisalign

[Grantith]

I've been wearing my Invisalign for 9 months now, and everything was going perfectly. However, as my teeth moved they made a certain spot between two teeth notorious for trapping food, and I developed a cavity. My dentist drilled and took care of it, but now I feel like my invisalign isn't fitting as well as it used to. It may just be placebo and I'm thinking the tray is looser than usual, but I was wondering if anyone else else has experience getting dental work done while using Invisalign.

One of my molars needs an onlay (ahhh!), but my dentist thinks I should be able to hold off until I finish my Invis in February. If it gets worse and I need it sooner, I have to pay an extra $500 to get new molds taken. Has anyone needed more extensive dental work and was forced to take new impressions because their aligners no longer fit?

[John37]

A friend of mine had Invisalign before me and he had a similar problem because he got the Invisalign from an orthodontist and then had a filling from his dentist. It may have been at the end when he had just a retainer which no longer fit. This is one of the reasons I went to a dentist for my Invisalign. I was especially worried since my two upper first molars are covered with old fillings and they could break at anytime and I'd need crowns. So I figured my dentist could do whatever work needed to be done and allow the aligners to fit still.

I haven't needed any fillings or crowns since I started Invisalign a year ago.

I don't know if my story helps you. Did your dentist know you were wearing Invisalign and check that the aligners fit after he filled the cavity? That sucks if you will have to pay more for new aligners, especially if you weren't going to need them anyway.

[chpnac]

your doctor should not be charging you to take the new impressions because with each invisalign case dentists are allowed 2 free 'mid course corrections" You should talk this over with you doctor. and if you have any questions I am the invis coordinator in my dental office. so I know all about the finance

[Sofie]

I had a small cavity filled just last night. My dentist is my ortho too which is wonderful. He just told me to make sure I had my aligner with me so that he could be positive it would fit properly after he was done.

[DanielWyatt]

In the case where your Invisalign aligners no longer fit, you should contact your ortho immediately and they will diagnose what remedial action is needed to bring the treatment back on course. This may involve moving back one or two stages in treatment to a previous aligner or possibly some additional orthodontist treatment.

[Rebeccasmells]

I had a small cavity filled just last night. My dentist is my ortho too which is wonderful. He just told me to make sure I had my aligner with me so that he could be positive it would fit properly after he was done.

Without being pedantic an ortho is only someone who has done their post graduate training and graduated in their masters degree. An ortho is a dentist but a dentist isn't always an ortho. It's important as general dentists are offering ortho treatment and the concenus on the board is that orthos are best

[invizzlerizzle]

a mid course treatment might be needed.

I know I had my cavities filled recently and my essix retainer does NOT fit at all anymore. The fillings actually helped my bite out.