A Small Step Forward

Part of my Invisalign plan since day one was the small ledge behind my front upper teeth. This was created by four bulges in the upper aligner behind the four upper front teeth and the idea was that the lower teeth would sit on the ledge and take pressure to move down rather than backwards and so close the overbite. The problem was that it always felt more comfortable to close my jaws more completely with the lower teeth further back and higher up, so that's what happened, especially at night. But now my teeth have moved around enough that it actually feels more comfortable to rest the lower teeth on the ledge. So I hope that this will speed up the closing of the overbite by putting more downward pressure on the lower front teeth, but also by changing the extension and angle of the interarch elastics to pull the lower molars up.

Otherwise I am not sure how things are going. Some mornings the problem teeth look to be fitting well into the alingers, other mornings I can see clear gaps between the teeth and the aligner. I had no idea teeth could move around so much on a day-to-day basis. Or maybe I am becoming obsessed with my teeth and am imagining it!

Steady as She Goes

So I am back from a beautiful weekend in Budapest. Great weather, great company, stayed in my favorite apartment on Lónyay Utca just a block from the funky restaurant/bar zone of Ráday Utca. Had such a good time that I wasn't too bothered about losing my mobile, which I either dropped or had stolen while waiting for a friend's delayed train at Keleti Station.

Anyway Dr H was fairly pleased with my teeth. The upper premolar problem teeth seem to be moving now with the strong elastic chains. The lower premolars are still a problem and Dr H warned me that we are on thin ice. As long as it possible to get the aligners on, we are OK, but if they fall out of plan too far, we are going to either have to make a mid-term correction (making a new course of aligners) or switching to metal braces (eek!). This warning did focus my mind and I think I have found a strategy which I think is working very well and that I would like to share with my readers. If the aligners stop fitting a tooth snugly, the forces they apply are reduced which means the tooth is likely to drift even further out of plan. My problem is that there is a gap of a few millimetres between the problem premolars and the aligner. My solution is to put a knuckle in between my premolars and bite as hard as I can stand. This keeps the aligners snug around the teeth, applying maximum force, and I think it's had quite a visible effect in just a few days. So I remain optimistic that Dr H will have a nice surprise at our next appointment in early September.