Refinements queries/concerns

[redstar99]

Ive recently finished my treatment of 20 trays(top) and 13 trays(bottom).

I went down the invisalign route primarily to fix my crooked front teeth, however now ive finished the treatment my front teeth are still not straight. One of my lateral incisers did not move(this tooth not never had an attachment by the way) with the trays which has caused that tooth and the front tooth next to it too not move down inline with the trays, so although my front teeth are much less crooked now, they still slightly overlap so of course are not straight. The bottom teeth are fine by the way and im more or less happy with them.

So im now going down the refinements route, but i have reservations about these working and moving the troublesome lateral inciser and the front tooth - if it didnt work first time. I guess id hope this time around the lateral inciser(and tray) will have an attachment to help move it down.

Does anyone know how likely it would be for my refinements to fix this and give me the straight front teeth i want? Also how long do refinements normally take to arrive after you have had the new impressions done?

Thanks

[DrJasonKTam]

Probably not the answer you want to hear, but refinement aligners are made of the same material as your original set. It is the planning and movement of the teeth that will help get your teeth in to the correct place. Your provider will need to do something different, whether this is placing an attachment or moving the tooth in an alternative way.

On the other hand, don't look at refinement as a failure of the treatment. It is often needed to obtain perfect final results.

The time required for refinement aligners to come in is going to depend on quickly your doctor works through your treatment plan and his/her communication with the animation technicians. It is generally a shorter time than for original aligners, but will vary.

Here's to hoping your treatment turns out the way you would like!

[redstar99]

Thanks for the response, thats more or less what i thought(and yes i was aware the refinement trays are made from the same material ). I guess i should probably expect an attachment on that tooth this time around or at least some difference in how the trays are shaped and designed to move that particular tooth this time around.

Cheers

[Wobblydeb]

I am just finishing up my second set of refinement, and am really pleased I persevered.

Talk to your dentist, explain what you are unhappy about, and ask (in a friendly way!) what they think is the best way to rectify it.

To be honest, my dentist probably would have stopped after my first refinement but agreed when I pointed out a couple of things I was still unhappy with.

As it turned out, attachments had changed since I originally started the treatment, and this new one really did the trick for one particular tooth. The other tooth didn't respond quite as well, but at least I feel we have got all the movement possible from it.