cracked and ripped aligner

[pompompadom]

Hi there

I'm on 2 or 29 and this is my second week.

I've a crack right at the front and a tear at the back tooth.

What should I do?

Did I do this being to rough taking them off/putting them on?

I'm due to go on holiday Friday, and have an appointment with my Ortho next Tuesday.

My invisalign experience has not started well at all.

thanks in advance for your advice.

[Wireless]

If your set 2 is not wearable, you probably need to go back to set 1 until your ortho appt. I don't know how badly your tray is damaged. Are the crack and tear on the same tray?

At this point, I assume you don't have attachments yet, which can make removal more difficult and damage to your aligners more likely.

My aligners are very difficult to remove, so I often use both hands to get them out if they are difficult. I put one finger or thumb as far back as I can go on the aligner and start lifting, then use the second thumb or finger to pry and hard spots loose. This sounds like a lot of trouble, but after you've done it for a week or two, it gets easier.

If your ortho is available on Thursday, give them a call about your specific problem and see if they suggest anything other than going back to your first trays.

Good luck!!

[comedyfish]

If you have the next one, go forward. The same thing happened to me my dentist said it's ok if it happens once or twice.

[DrJasonKTam]

Sometimes if you have severe undercuts, it is difficult to remove the aligners. In most cases, teeth have a tilt outwards from the gum to the biting surface. Therefore, it is actually easier to remove the aligners from the inside at the back and slide it out and around the teeth.

Take caution in advancing to the next aligners too quickly. Your teeth may not be in the right spot to go ahead just yet and you will not discover this until several aligners into treatment. If your orthodontist is following a protocol like many big Invisalign offices, you should be getting attachments at stage 3. This means your teeth must be in the correct position for stage 3 for the attachments to go on. If they are not, you will have a greater chance of attachments falling off, or treatment going off track.

It may be prudent to go back one stage and call your orthodontist to reorder stage 2. In any case, it is best to speak to your orthodontist for advice in your particular situation. Best of luck!

[John37]

I think using a plastic hook to take the aligners off helps prevent cracks since you don't have to bend the aligners so much to get them off. You can pull the aligners off a little in the back then a little near the front and work around that way. Many people here say that their doctors didn't give them a plastic hook. I don't know why doctors wouldn't want to get some to give out to help make the Invisalign experience better.

[DrJasonKTam]

Great point John37. The hooks work great, especially for those without fingernails. The problem is that many offices do not treat enough Invisalign to order these hooks through a 3rd party company as they are not provided by Invisalign. Like the aligner chewies, the hooks definitely help improve the experience and outcome of treatment.

[pompompadom]

Thanks for your replies.

I'm gutted this has happened but I'll call my Ortho today and see what happens.

Is there a chance it won't matter? It seems too early for things to be going wrong already!!!

I'll keep you posted.

Ta

[pompompadom]

Well I spoke to the receptionist who then spoke to the Orthodentist and he said 'if the aligner isn't in peices and falling apart in your hands theres no need to worry and he'll see me next Tuesday'

Fingers crossed it'll be all okay. Eeek.

[myhollywoodsmile]

Hi pompomadon,

I have had a couple of aligners crack at the point where I have a very severely misaligned tooth. Like your orthodontist mine has said that if it is wearable keep going with it.
I always felt that the integrity of the aligner wasn't compromised with mine so I kept going and it all seemed to be ok.
I am now on aligner 9 and all seems to be progressing fine.

I must say though that I found getting the aligners out much harder after I got my attachments, they were relatively easy before that.
Anyway, good luck.

[stickytiff]

hi, i too had my first 2 lower trays crack at the front, the crack was at the lower side and about 2mm long; my teeth are quite crooked so i was having to pull very hard indeed with my fingers to remove the tray. I think i was bending the tray while pulling and as soon as i noticed the crack, i took geater care to remove the tray by easing it off over my front teeth rather than tugging hard from the back corner

i'm on my 4th tray now and no more cracks. i guess i was being a bit heavy handed