Metal Mouth Message Board

So a while back I had my last molar lose a corner. The dentist built it back up and made it fit the tray but he said he wasn't sure if it would hold or not for the duration of treatments - it really needs a crown, but that involves doing the crown and new impressions and waiting, etc which I didn't want to do at the time (money and the waiting).

Well this morning part of that same corner broke off again. No pain, just a little sharp in one spot if I hit it just right with my tongue, so thankfully nothing that can't wait until Monday since they are closed today.

When he did it before he said that if we couldn't get it to the shape of the tray or if I did get a crown that since that tooth isn't being moved we could just cut the back tooth off of the remainder of my aligners. So I'm hoping that is still an option - just file the sharp spot since there is no tooth/root exposed and remove the backs of the trays.

I guess my main concern is how uncomfortable this is to have the tray not go all the way over the last tooth. Does it feel strange or have weird edges on it that feel funny with it cut off (I'm sure they'll file it smooth and round the edges to make it not sharp). Would it be better or feel more "uniform" or less odd if he cut the last tooth off the back of the other side too (provided that tooth isn't being moved)?

I know there were a couple people here that had the backs removed to allow teeth to move down/decend so thought I'd ask what your experiences were with it.

Thanks - and I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas!

It will probably depend on how the aligner is cut - whether over part of the tooth or the entire tooth. I've had partial aligners and now partial retainers that are to allow my rear teeth to grow out. They are cut so that no tooth is partially covered. I don't feel any discomfort from this at all. The only problem I had with partial aligners and no attachments at the end was the upper aligner would not stay in place - it came out when I sneezed. My orthodontist replaced it with an Essix retainer that covers my front 8 teeth.

You probably won't experience any problems. Good luck with the molar - hopefully it won't interfere with your treatment.

Thanks! It is still an option, thankfully. He filed/shaped the back part of the tooth (well filling material really since that is the back corner he built up with the filling/composite material before) so that it is smooth, etc. It doesn't fit all the way to the back of the tray so there is a little tiny space between the end of the tooth and the end of the tray, but so far it's not bothersome at all. He said since that tooth isn't being moved that I can either keep them on and just have the tooth not go all the way to the back or cut them off, my choice. Since it's not uncomfortable this way I think I'll stick to it unless I get a tray that it feels weird. Good to know that if I cut it off between teeth (instead of going partially over like you said) that it won't be/feel odd. I have attachments (one on bottom and one on top - and the top is on that side of my mouth) so I don't think there would be issues with it falling off at all.

Thanks for the input! I can't wait for this journey to be done and get onto the "retaining" portion. While they aren't horrible, I am one of the few that is always aware they are in my mouth, and I have excess saliva so seemingly am always swallowing and trying to keep the saliva bubbles out of the trays. I have one more "phase", as he calls it, left - so I think 5 trays. With 3 weeks per tray that's only 4 months left, provided I don't need refinements - which I'm hoping not to since I have had 2 course corrections due to teeth not moving as projected (canines). I know there will be some fine tuning to be done (shaping teeth that aren't the same length/shape, whitening, etc) but that'll be nothing compared to what I've gone through already!