How Do You Know If Invisalign is Not Working?
Invisalign treatment for teeth straightening continues to grow in popularity today. Many people have completed their treatment and are happy with the results. Nevertheless, there is a percentage of people who don’t attain the desired results. This is because they didn’t comply with the instructions concerning aligner wear.
As a dentist, you should learn to recognize signs of poor devices ranging from obvious to subtle. This helps you and your patients have a better treatment and outcome. Therefore we’ve submitted some signs of patient non-compliance or Invisalign not working.
Having New Aligners that Fit Poorly
Each new Invisalign in Mississauga, ON, should fit seamlessly and smoothly. Aligners that fit poorly give a sign that they are not tracking well. There are possible reasons for this, but poor compliance is suspected as one of them. When dentists monitor a case, they consider even patients who don’t wear aligners sufficiently. This is because they might be able to cram during hours before their visit.
They do this by jamming or forcing an aligner which can cause your teeth to bend into the aligner but not turn to the right position. When the clear aligner is removed, your teeth can move right back in such a circumstance. For this reason, some patients come in wearing an aligner that looks like it fits well, but the next aligner fits poorly. For this reason, assessing the new aligner during each visit is good.
Non-Tracking of Multiple Teeth
There are many reasons why aligners don’t track. This includes a lack of space for a tooth move and broken or lost attachments. Usually, rotated premolars and maxillary lateral incisors are the most frequent culprits.
When a person presents with grossly non-tracking aligners, it should raise the non-compliance concern. However, the chances of an Invisalign not tracking on both complete sides are unlikely for a person wearing them properly.
You shouldn’t use chewies for these cases because they won’t get the chance back on track. Instead, you should have an honest in-person conversation with your Sherwood Forrest Dental dentist to determine the compliance level.
If You Go to the Dental Clinic with Incorrect Aligners
One of the aspects of aligners’ treatment is the simplicity of the treatment visit. It doesn’t add much time to verify that the aligners worn are in the correct number. Your dentist in Mississauga, ON will ask to see any aligner if you have removed some. Also, you might have lost the aligner, or one was generally disorganized during the process.
Aligners are Too Clean, or Compliance Indicator is not Faded
When the compliance indicator is first introduced into aligners, it’s used for the Invisalign Teen product. This is to serve as motivation for teens to wear clear aligners. Although the indicator hasn’t yet evolved into a sophisticated measure, a remaining blue mark in the aligners is a sign of a brand-new aligner. When the person removes the worn aligner, your dentist looks to see if the indicator has faded to a certain degree.
Patient Goes to the Appointment Without Their Aligners
It’s possible that a person is compliant with wearing the aligners for 22 hours but arrives at the office without their aligner. Perhaps they may think it’s a short trip to the dentist and they’ll get a new one. However, it may be that the patient has lost their aligner recently. Losing an aligner is much more common than people consider.
Patients with a new aligner can move forward without making a dentist aware. However, it’s always helpful for the dentist to remind the patient to carry the previously worn aligner. By doing so, they can revert to them in case the current aligner doesn’t fit properly or it’s lost instead of moving forward to the next set of aligners.
When a Patient’s Parent or Spouse Calls and Asks to Pick up the Next Aligner
If your patient can’t come to pick the next batch of aligners, they’re instructed to wait at least 12 hours until they come in for an exam. When it’s not them calling, they are embarrassed to show the teeth are not tracking due to failures.
If this’s a case of a patient whose treatment has been going on well, you can accept the request and deliver the aligners. However, the dentist in Mississauga, ON always hold firm and insist on monitoring how the new aligners fit.