If you’ve been meaning to get braces, going with invisible braces can seem like a no-brainer decision.
They’re:
There’s just one catch though…
While invisible braces can now solve a host of teeth misalignment problems ranging from mild to complex, there are still some severe conditions that may require other orthodontic treatment options.
Unsure if your teeth concerns can be fixed with invisible braces?
Here we give you the low-down on the conditions that invisible braces may not be able to fix.
If you have a rotated tooth, it’s likely to be highly visible–especially if it’s one of your incisors, the flat teeth at the front of your mouth.
There are several reasons why your teeth are rotated including:
Research has consistently shown that clear aligners are typically limited in correcting severely rotated teeth. If your rotated tooth is severe (i.e. more than 50 degrees), clear aligners might not be a suitable treatment option for you.
Gap teeth, or teeth spacing, refers to when you have large spaces in between your teeth.
Gap teeth are usually the result of a discrepancy between your jaw and teeth size–either your jaw is too large and your teeth too small, or a combination of the two.
Nonetheless, there are other causes of teeth spacing as well:
While clear aligners are perfect for closing small gaps in the teeth, the same can’t be said for large tooth spacings.
These large gaps are typically the result of losing a back tooth, missing multiple teeth, or a congenitally missing tooth.
Closing large tooth gaps with clear aligners, without additional orthodontic attention and treatment, can worsen your bite (the way your upper and lower teeth come together) and lead to other severe dental problems!
When you don’t have enough room (i.e. ‘real estate’) in your jaw for your teeth to fit properly, your teeth can overlap, bunch up, and twist–sometimes getting pushed to the front of back. The common signs of overcrowding include:
Lack of orthodontic care, and even genetics (thanks, Mom and Dad!) can all contribute to overcrowding.
In comparison to conventional metal braces, invisible braces can’t exert the necessary force needed to create complex tooth movements in order to correct severe overcrowding.
Also, in cases of severe overcrowding, teeth extraction may be necessary to create space in your jaw.
Patients having premolar extractions may not be suitable candidates for invisible braces as the aligners cannot always keep the teeth upright during space closure.
In other words, there’s a high level of unpredictability involved during the treatment process.
An overbite refers to the vertical overlap between your upper and lower front teeth when you’re biting down.
Most people have at least a little overbite, which is approximately 30% to 50% of the height of the lower teeth. Anything over that, however, is considered a deep bite.
For severe, deep bites, clear aligners alone won’t be a suitable treatment option.
This is a developmental deformity which may vary from minor to major malformations of skeletal origin, such as the size, shape, and relative positions of the upper and lower jaws.
With skeletal malocclusions, clear aligners are not the answer. Instead, depending on the patient’s growth status, treatment options commonly include use of the following:
If your lower and upper front teeth do not touch each other when you close your mouth, you have an open bite. Because an open bite may be caused by inherited skeletal problems, the same treatment options apply with skeletal malocclusions (i.e. not clear aligners).
The gold-standard treatment typically involves the combined approach of orthodontic treatment with fixed appliances and orthognathic surgery.
Answer a few questions, and take four teeth pictures. It only takes a few minutes!
Receive a call from us to schedule your dentist appointment
You’ll have 3D scans and X-rays taken of your teeth by your dentist
Give the green light for your Zenyum aligners to go into production after approved by your dentist.