Starting with Clearstep...

[Olivia]

Hi clearstepguy,

Good to hear you are getting along nicely with the aligners...I also drink tea with my aligners (after letting it sit for a while, I don't want it to be too hot and damage the aligners)

My understanding was that the aligners must be worn for 300 hours, if you wear them 20-22 hours a day, you can do this in two weeks...So I don't really know why you should wear the first one for a month...

I'm switching to the second aligner tonight...hope it will fit!

[clearstepguy]

Hi Olivia

How did your second aligner fit?

I called the dentist today to ask about moving onto my next aligner and they agreed that I should. So, it's now in and I must admit it's alot tighter than my first one started off like. At first I didn't think it was actually going to fit in since my last one was so easy to take out but it seems to be fine now.

[Olivia]

Hi clearstepguy!

Great news that you could switch to your second aligner! The second one for me fit like a glove I was happy about that, because it means that things are " on track" right?

I have an appointment with my ortho on thursday and I will discuss with her the 10 day cycle, I feel like it's okay to do this, but, ofcourse, she has to agree!

Hope things are going well for you so far!

[hollyclearstep]

Hello!

I'm about to start this whole process with clearstep! Having two teeth out on the 30th November and the first part of my brace fitted. At my first consulation I also was told I had moderate over crowding and that the cost would be around £1500 for around a years treatment; I've now apprently got severe crowding on my upper teeth and it's costing £3000 for 20 months work! I've got a couple of questions and would rally appreciate it if anyone knew the answers and could share them with me!?


On my treatment plan it says before I'm able to go through the process of the clearstep positioners I need to firstly 'open the bite with posterior bite raisors' - which I'm assuming has something to do with having to have two teeth out, I have no idea what posterior bite raisers are and am a bit worried they will affect my speech and be visible! As I'm paying for clear braces I'm hoping they will be clear! I also have no idea how long I have to wear this for. Then after that stage I have a 'nance palatal arch' fitted...again I have no idea what one of these is and if it will affect my speech/be visible!

If anyone has had to have either of these I would really appreciate you sharing your thoughts and knowledge on them!

Thanks,

Holly

[clearstepguy]

Hi Holly

Welcome to the forum!

I've had some bite raisers fitted myself and they're really nothing to worry about. They're just tooth coloured lumps that they stick onto your bottom molars to prevent you from biting together fully (ever so slightly). You have two put in, one on each side and nobody can see them unless you open your mouth really wide. In my case, they sent the 1st batch of aligners to the orthodontist along with a special bite raiser template. The orthodontist used the template to add the bite raisers to my molars in exactly the size and shape that Clearstep wanted. Once they had dried I was able to pop in my new aligners and they fit perfectly (the aligners are created with the additional lumps in mind). The bite raisers take a little bit of getting used to as it means you can no longer close your mouth fully but after a week or so you hardly notice them.

I'm not exactly sure what the "nance palatal arch" is but after a bit of Googling it appears that it's a type of removable brace that slots into the top of your mouth and fits onto your molars. From the images I've seen I doubt anybody would be able to see it. Hope that helps a little!

If you have any more Clearstep questions just shout. I'm 8 months into my treatment so far and I can honestly say it's been a great experience and I've had no problems at all.

[hollyclearstep]

Thank you so much, that's really kind of you to reply. That all sounds great! Do you get the bite raisors removed eventually though? You don't have wear them forever do you?

Thanks again!

[clearstepguy]

No problem!

You only need the bite raisers on whilst your teeth are moving, so once you've finished your treatment they'll take them off.

Good luck with the start of your treatment and keep us updated on your progress!

[hollyclearstep]

Ah I see, awesome. Thanks again!

Yep will be back on after the 30th when it all begins!

Best of luck with the rest of yours!

[Clearstep???]

Guys! You don't know how happy I am to have found this forum and discussion.
There doesn't seem to be too much info available online about ClearStep, so I've been reading how
Invisalign works, not sure if these two really are as similar as it seems...

I should get the results back from the "clearstep people" this week, I had my x-rays and pics etc taken bit over two weeks ago. Can't wait!

My case: I had "regular" braces taken off about 8 years ago and couple years back I lost my retainer that I was supposed to wear couple
nights per week. Since then, one canine tooth has shifted back to it's original "vampire" position.

I would like to know (didn't realize to ask this from the dentist), how is it with the attachments/buttons with clearstep?
What exactly do they do? Rotate the tooth or what? Are they on the outside or inside (= are they visible)? Will the fact about the buttons be mentioned on the info I'll get from the "clearstep people"? I found some pics of Invisalign showing these buttons and they were quite visible in some cases I have to say.... Do they add these on each aligner or only on some of them?

Thanks a million in advance if you can help me out with this stuff. My dentist is not an orthodontist, he is a
cosmetic dentist, so I'm not always sure how knowledgeable he is about teeth straightening in general.

Thaaanx!

[clearstepguy]

Hi

I'll try and answer a few of your questions.

The button/attachments are used in the same way as Invisalign. As far as I'm aware they are used to provide an additional surface for the aligner to push against where a particular movement is needed and which can't be done with the aligner alone. For example, if a canine needs rotating they may add an attachment to the tooth to act as an anchor that the aligner can then push against to rotate the tooth. Otherwise it would be tricky to exert a rotational force to the tooth without one (but may be possible). The attachments are most commonly placed on the outside of the tooth but I've heard of a few instances where they have been put on the inside, but again, it depends what type of movement is required.

It will say on your report from Clearstep whether you'll need any attachments or not. My report explained that I may need some to help move my canines but so far I've not had any added and those particular teeth are moving just fine. If you do need attachments they'll only add them onto the tooth when needed and can remove them once that bit of the treatment has been done.

Let us know how you get on and if you have any more questions don't be afraid to ask!

[clearstepguy]

UPDATE...

So, I've heard rumours that Clearstep have gone into administration.

I only found out yesterday as I stumbled across some Twitter posts by dentists/orthodontists using the system. They were saying that the company was in trouble and they weren't responding to emails or phone calls. I've not heard anything from my dentist yet but I intend to ring him next week to find out more.

To be honest, I'm not surprised that they're having problems as my treatment has been a complete shambles. I'm currently wearing my 48th upper aligner after 25 months of treatment. I have 8 more aligners to go after this one and then I was supposed to close the remaining extraction gaps with sectional fixed appliances. I have no idea what will happen now.

I won't be finished for another 6/7 months at the very least, taking my treatment time up to 32 months minimum. I was originally told it would take 18 months.

What a complete waste of time and money this has been. Unfortunately, I can't turn back the clock and stop myself from doing this in the first place. If I could then I certainly would.

[Tobilei]

Who was supposed to be putting on the fixed appliance at the end of your clearstep treatment? Perhaps you could come to some arrangement with them to get them put on right away and finish your treatment with those so you can get the results you should have faster than things are moving now (and also with the advice and attention you need along the way). Sorry if this sounds stupid, I'm not sure on how the clearstep process works.

[clearstepguy]

Hi Tobilei

Don't worry, it doesn't sound stupid!

Clearstep were meant to supply the sectional fixed braces as part of my treatment after the aligner phase was complete. I'm on my last box now so it should have been the next step (in about 3/4 months). My dentist provides fixed braces through another company so fitting them wouldn't have been a problem. Perhaps he'll suggest them as an alternative? I guess retainers will be an issue too.

[Angel269]

I was originally going to go with Clearstep back in April/May last year.

I had impressions and treatment plan came back. I was originally quoted up to £1500 for single arch. When plan came back quoted £2000 single arch and £3000 for double arch, along with 16 month plan. I was unsure after practice had messed me around several times and lengthy timescale and had already started seeking alternative treatment with another Clearstep provider, who I met with and advised he could do fixed ceramics with coated archwire in about 8 months that would be slightly cheaper and a better result to close my upper midline diastema. I decided to opt for fixed in the end and am being debraced Monday 4th March.

If it hadn't been for the higher cost, dentist with attitude and being messed around I would have gone Clearstep, as I had already started ball rolling with them and would have been a minimum of halfway through and out of pocket and unfinished treatment with this Clearstep news and unable to fund alternative treatment.

So angry with how things seemed at the time but looking back I now know it was the right decision.

[Tobilei]

Best of luck with it. I hope you can get something sorted out without being too much out of pocket.