Teeth Crowding

Message

#1 Post by **tdc03** » Fri Oct 12, 2007 7:03 am

Is it ok that my teeth are a little crowded, my four front uppers. I mean, when you look at it from the front, it looks pretty decent, but when I run my tongue behind my teeth I can still tell the lateral incisor is overlapping the central incisor on both sides.

I've asked my ortho about this, and he doesn't seem to be concerned. I get my braces off on Wednesday of next week!

Will this slight crowding get in the way of my permanent retainer?

Thanks!

#2 Post by **strugglebuggy** » Fri Oct 12, 2007 11:15 am

tdc, i don't know what you have in store as far as retainers go, but I can tell you that I had a similar problem. one of my bottom teeth was jutting out just a hair more than the others. I asked the ortho and he didn't seem concerned at all. Turns out that he has me in a special retainer called a spring aligner. It's a hawley retainer with little springs in it that actually move teeth. I know it's working because I can see the difference. It requires me wearing them 24/7 until November. I am hoping that by then I can get a set of essix retainers to wear during the day. Don't know if that is what the ortho is planning for you, but it's possible.

#3 Post by **jennielee81** » Fri Oct 12, 2007 11:18 am

Yes, if they really are out of alignment it will impact your bonded retainer.

There is a chance your ortho will look at it on Wednesday and decide to either leave the braces on a bit longer after making an adjustment to the wire, or do what mine did...

My lowers weren't perfect when I got my braces off. My ortho used an essex type retainer to straighten them completely, but STILL I had one out of place after 6 weeks in this retainer.

When they finally did put the bonded retainer on, the assistant pushed REALLY hard on the back of the offending tooth while light curing the adhesive.

It worked, but if it had been any farther out of line, this couldn't have been done.

#4 Post by **tdc03** » Fri Oct 12, 2007 1:20 pm

I will try to take a picture to show you what I am talking about.

Thanks!

#5 Post by **Chris** » Fri Oct 12, 2007 7:15 pm

My lowers weren't perfect when I got my braces off. My ortho used an essex type retainer to straighten them completely, but STILL I had one out of place after 6 weeks in this retainer..

Did he put anything inside the essix to push the tooth?

#6 Post by **jennielee81** » Sat Oct 13, 2007 10:44 am

Yep, he put a dimple into it and it worked. I am still amazed by the simplicity of that technology.

The problem was it wasn't quite detailed enough to get it perfect. I didn't mind it being a little off, but the ortho assured me that they could force it that last mm and glue it that way.

Perfect!

#7 Post by **Chris** » Sat Oct 13, 2007 2:30 pm

Jennie...thats it ...a dimple!! Now I remember someone mentioning it. Can you take a photo of it? Will it stay there permanently even after the tooth as moved? What tooth is it?

I got a lower canine that wants to rotate back and I'm wearing a hawley with a spring (I hate it because my tongue sometimes get caught on it--ouch!) The spring is mostly inside the acrylic but a small part that goes behind the tooth to shift it sticks out. Seems like moving that canine moves the tooth next to it wrong too.

I think he needs to do some IPR..just a tad there.

#8 Post by **jennielee81** » Sat Oct 13, 2007 3:25 pm

OMG! I have a spring in my upper hawley

I have to shove the thing up under my tooth with a fingernail every time I put it in!

do you want a picture of the teeth or the essex???

I'll try and get a picture of the retainer tomorrow. It's a busy day, but I'll try to remember to do it since Monday is worse!!

Jenn

#9 Post by **Chris** » Sun Oct 14, 2007 10:21 am

Jennie, I'd like to see the essix with the dimple in it to see what it looks like.

What tooth is giving you problems?

#10 Post by **jennielee81** » Sun Oct 14, 2007 1:53 pm

They're REALLY hard to see. My photo editing program isn't loaded on my laptop so I wasn't able to circle or point them out. If you look really closely on the lateral and central incisors in this retainer....the 3rd and 4th teeth from the top left, you can see very faint, rectangular areas that are the dimples. They are close to the space between the two teeth.

If you can't see it, let me know as I can give it another try on the desktop.

#11 Post by **Chris** » Sun Oct 14, 2007 6:44 pm

Are they indentures in the essix? I thought they were "additional" stuff put into the essix.

#12 Post by **jennielee81** » Sun Oct 14, 2007 6:48 pm

These were made with a tool called a "bird's beak". They are indentures in the plastic.

Maybe other orthos use other methods, but this one is what my ortho uses.

#13 Post by **Chris** » Sun Oct 14, 2007 6:50 pm

That is really cool. So I imagine he can add a dimple anywhere he wants at any time? Do you think it works well?

#14 Post by **jennielee81** » Mon Oct 15, 2007 6:51 am

I couldn't believe it would work, but it sure did. I reminded myself that it is the gentle, continuous forces that move teeth and this was gentle and continuous. I liked the retainer so I wore it all the time (except when eating and cleaning).

It really did work. It moved them (I had forgotten that there were 2 teeth to move until I saw the retainer again) to about 98% perfection. Maybe it would have worked perfectly if we'd waited a little longer? I'll never know.

The "shove and glue" technique he used to finish it all worked for that last little bit.

It is a very fascinating technique....a little like invisalign, I suppose.

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Teeth Crowding

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