Metal Mouth Message Board

Hi everyone,
I'm coming towards the end of a year and a half of invisalign. I will have five more trays for my lower teeth than for my uppers and am also getting two porcelain veneers placed on my upper lateral incisors. My question is, will I be able to get the veneers on my upper teeth as soon as I've completed the last tray for my uppers, or do you think I'll have to wait until the lower teeth are fully straightened too?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Sounds like a question for your Ortho as he will be able to advise on the best retainer for you also

Hi Jenny, I am in a very similar situation to yours -- almost finished Invisalign uppers, still in (fixed) lowers and I need a veneer on one upper lateral. I am hoping my ortho will send me to the dentist for the veneer after filing off the attachments but before taking impressions for the retainer. It certainly would make sense that way. I don't see any reason to wait for the lowers to get in place before having the veneer. I have an ortho appointment next week, so I'll ask and let you know.

P.S. Isn't it exciting to be close to finishing?

It is usually best to wait so that the occlusion can be correct on the veneer.

I'm not sure. My ortho told me that I could get my new crown before treatment was completed on my lowers, but I actually chose not to in the end. I decided that I want it done right at the end so every little bit is perfect.

Great to be so near the end, congratulations.

So an update on my situation. My dentist practically insisted on putting the veneers on the top before the bottom refinements were finished and as a result, I'm no longer able to completely close my back teeth when I bite. He now says that we'll wait until the refinements have been completed on the bottom to see if he can shave a bit off the veneers. He also took over 2 months to create a retainer for my top teeth (I couldn't continue wearing the last tray of uppers because I now had veneers on them) and my teeth have moved around a lot in that time. I asked if we could get a refinement on my upper teeth to move them back to where they were when he first put the veneers on (and they looked great) but he says that Invisalign won't allow any refinements on my upper teeth now that there are veneers! He also insists that he wouldn't be able to get them any better with fixed line braces because of the shape of my teeth- even though they did look better when they were first finished!

So my advice to anyone reading this is firstly, pick your dentist (there are no orthos in the UK) very carefully. I thought I had but have been disappointed. I wouldn't be in this position if my dentist had been better organized and hadn't taken such a long time making me retainers. Or if he'd listened to me when I suggested waiting to put on the veneers.

I also have a question. Does anyone know if what he's saying is true? Will Invisalign absolutely refuse to do a refinement once veneers have been put over corrected teeth?

Thank you for listening and for your advice!

jennysauve wrote:
So my advice to anyone reading this is firstly, pick your dentist (there are no orthos in the UK) very carefully.

thanks a lot for your advise! I want veneers as well when I finish my treatment, but as i want to whiten them before I need to wait until I get my braces off on the lowers anyway, but I guess I will need to do that all before my retainers are made..

But what makes you think there are no Orthos in the UK? I have my treatment done by an Ortho, even in a specialist Orthodontic practice.. in the UK!

It's my understanding (please correct me if I'm wrong) that unlike in other parts of the world, you do not require a special qualification in order to call yourself an orthodontist in the UK. This means that somebody with general dentist training can set up an orthodontic practice but not have special knowledge beyond the one day training courses offered by Invisalign, etc. So make sure you check your provider's actual qualifications before accepting their claim to be specialists!

I really don't think that's correct! Not sure if that is an official source, but have a look here for example: http://www.bos.org.uk/orthodonticsandyo ... thodontist

I do know the qualifications of my Ortho as well.

Here's a link to the British Orthodontic Society's website, where they state that anyone with a qualification in general dentistry can join.

http://www.bos.org.uk/aboutbos/becomeamember

Consequently, people in the UK may see a general dentist and make the reasonable assumption that because they are members of the BOS, they have some specialist knowledge and training. Everybody should know that this is not the case and that you must therefore ask a lot of specific questions to find out exactly what your practitioner's background is.

There are def orthodontists in the UK.

In the US a dentist can perform orthodontic procedures -- just like they can perform oral surgery, endodontics (root canal) and periodontal treatment.

A dentist however cannot call themselves an orthodontist or a specialist.

Thanks Dr Rick. Do you know if my dentist is correct that Invisalign will absolutely refuse to perform refinements upon teeth which have had veneers put on them after the first course of trays?

Perhaps a mid course correction can be performed. that is what may need to be done when there are significant changes during tx as opposed to a refinement.

Yep, definitely orthodontists in the Uk. I saw a few when I was over there over the years and they definitely had additional training. ( I checked)

Dr. Rick, how would the course correction work? I was originally prescribed 11 upper aligners and 17 lowers. After completing both sets, my dentist requested a refinement for my lowers only and put two veneers on my upper lateral incisors. I am now in the process of refining my lower teeth but my dentist says that because he's put the veneers on the top teeth and did not request refinements for the upper teeth at the same time that he ordered them for the lowers, Invisalign will not consent to any further refinement on the top.

Would calling this a course correction make some difference? I getting close to the point of contacting a lawyer about all of this; I am dissatisfied with my results and the service I've received. Ultimately I just want my teeth to be straight and to be able to close my mouth again! I don't want to take the legal route if I can avoid it but I really can't afford to pay an orthodontist to do the whole thing over again; especially as I'm still paying installments to my current dentist!