This patient originally came to me with a malocclusion which was the result of complete failure of a previous orthodontic treatment that included fixed appliances and the extraction of two upper premolars and a lower incisor. When I first saw her, she had lost her faith in orthodontics and was extremely concerned about whether more treatment would work for her, if it was safe to attempt another orthodontic treatment considering the complexity of her malocclusion and if she’d be able to endure two years of aligner therapy.
I planned an Invisalign digital 3D treatment for her with the ClinCheck software, to transform her collapsed smile and severe crowding, and deal with her significant bite relationship problems and TMJ symptoms. The result was a fully restored smile, well aligned dental arches, significant bite improvement considering the discrepancy in the number of upper and lower teeth after the previous extractions, and symptom-free temporomandibular disorders (TMJ). Furthermore, the adaptation of the surrounding bone and gum tissues was outstanding considering the extent of changes we made to the shape of her dental arches.
Final images in order: left, front and right.
It is fair to say that this treatment had a life-changing effect on the patient and demonstrated to me the real possibilities of the Invisalign treatment system and the advantages of gentle orthodontic force delivered from the aligners to the teeth. She is now a great ambassador of the possibilities that modern, bespoke 3D, digitally-designed Invisalign aligners can achieve. She was immensely satisfied on completion of her treatment and so happy with her decision to trust the Invisalign appliances to commit to the treatment process. The outcome of this treatment speaks for itself.
Orthodontists need some experience and training with aligners to treat malocclusions of this severity. However, Invisalign treatment gives clinicians the safety net of being able to monitor treatment progress and apply changes to the set-up through the refinement stages to control any unwanted effects. The 3D planning tool allows patients to see the possible final result, while the removable nature of aligners helps to maintain good oral hygiene.