Refinements - blah!

Message

#1 Post by **lt81** » Fri Mar 12, 2010 2:48 pm

I went to my ortho today for what I thought was going to be my last lot of IPR (started aligner 16 of 17 last night). I've had one tooth which hasn't tracked the aligner as it should have done and had some messing around with going back a few aligners at Christmas trying to get it back on track, but the same thing keeps happening.

At today's appointment instead of carrying on with the aligners, my ortho has instead taken off my attachments and taken impressions to order refinements, as he doesn't think its worth waiting foru weeks for me to finish the aligners, but might as well sort it out now.

Boo to refinements, but atleast he thinks it will just take 6 or so aligners to sort it, so not too bad!

#2 Post by **Phantom Muse** » Fri Mar 12, 2010 9:19 pm

Sounds like in the long run, this is a more efficient path for you. It sounds like it may actually save you some time down the road. Six aligners is not so bad at all...

Best of luck!

#3 Post by **Bellalalala** » Sun Mar 14, 2010 11:11 am

Yeah, I'm going on to refinements as well.
I get my impressions done tomorrow, and we'll see how it goes from there.

The tooth I'm trying to move is a canine, so I have no idea how many aligners it will take to move

The attachment position on the tooth I need to move was always a little funny and often broke off. I hear the new attachments are better, so hopefully that will help. I didn't have too many aligners in the first place, so as long as refinements fix the problem, I'm happy.

#4 Post by **Wireless** » Sun Mar 14, 2010 12:28 pm

I had a mid-course correction last July and only have one more tray to go. However, this isn't going to finish treatment. I have a severe deep bite and my treatment so far is to intrude my front lowers and open my bite. However, I now have about a 2 mm gap between my uppers and lowers where my ortho wants them to extrude naturally. At age 60, I'm not sure how long this will take. The game plan is to finish my last tray then cut the portions of my aligners off that cover the rear teeth. After that, I have to wear aligners that cover my front eight upper and front eight lower teeth until my rear teeth grow out.

Like everyone else, I've been counting down trays thinking I'll finish two week after the last one. However, it does seem from posts that adjustments of some sort are very common at the end, particularly with more complex cases.

I think Bellalalala commented in a post her Invisalign uppers had taken longer than regular lower braces. I'm finding my treatment is taking longer than the 18 months I was originally told. It does look like I will end up with excellent results - just longer treatment time.

#5 Post by **Phantom Muse** » Sun Mar 14, 2010 2:20 pm

When I started Invisalign, I couldn't see how a set of trays could be made that were supposed to ultimately put the teeth in their optimum position over a number of months, and then that not be what happens. As a result, the idea of refinements was confusing to me. Part way into this process, I now understand! I am not close enough to finishing (except my bottom arch, which has only two more trays) to know if I will need refinements, so I have to wait and see.

Has anyone gone ahead with refinements on one arch while the other is still working under the original number of trays? I have 7L and 12U, and I sure would like to keep things moving along if possible. I figure my lowers could then begin their final healing more quickly (and without being "duped" into thinking they are all done only to start moving them again 10-12 weeks later).

One ortho I saw quoted me a treatment time of over 2 years with regular braces. The ortho I went with still sees me taking 9-14 months with Invisalign. I am with you all, though, and I really do want good results, so...

Good luck tomorrow, Bellalalala! Here's to having only a few refinement trays.

#6 Post by **Bellalalala** » Sun Mar 14, 2010 6:56 pm

Wireless wrote: I think Bellalalala commented in a post her Invisalign uppers had taken longer than regular lower braces. I'm finding my treatment is taking longer than the 18 months I was originally told. It does look like I will end up with excellent results - just longer treatment time.

Yeah, my lower arch will be completed with regular metal braces before I've finished my upper arch with invisalign, and my upper arch needed much less movement.

However, my upper arch primarily needs a canine moved, and the attachment on that tooth never seemed particularly secure

#7 Post by **Bellalalala** » Sun Mar 14, 2010 6:58 pm

Here's my refinement thread with some pics of my progress
viewtopic.php?t=34476

#8 Post by **myhollywoodsmile** » Thu Mar 25, 2010 4:56 am

Hi there,

I have just finished my upper refinement (no. 1) but am still going on my first set of lowers. I had 17U and 34L so we decided to do refinements on the upper whilst the lowers were still going. I am now waiting until lowers are finished to do refinements number two on uppers and lowers.

It all seems to be working very well so far, although obviously my treatment time is long. I reckon it will be about two years minimum in the end. Hopefully worth it though!