Invisalign Lite for Crowding and Deep Bite: 9-Month Orthodontic Treatment Period

Hello.

This is Apgujeong Invisalign Dental Clinic.

Today, I’ll share another story about crowding correction with Invisalign Lite.

23.03

This is an elementary school student who visited us in 2023 for crowding correction.

A deep bite is visible, where the front teeth overlap too much, and the front tooth indicated by the blue arrow is significantly rotated.

Invisalign Lite comes with only 14 aligners, so the amount available to rotate a rotated front tooth is limited.

Because all malocclusions must be addressed within the 14 limited aligners and within the limited period of one year, experience and know-how are especially important.

The reason we can confidently recommend Invisalign Lite for this degree of crowding is that we have extensive experience treating similar or even more severe cases with Invisalign Lite.

If this were an adult, Invisalign Comprehensive rather than Invisalign Lite might have been necessary, but considering the patient’s age, tooth movement was expected to be faster than in adults, so we recommended Invisalign Lite.

23.11

This photo was taken after wearing all 14 aligners over 8 months, from April 2023 to November 2023.

The crowding improved significantly, but the midline is not aligned.

If we look again at the original treatment plan simulation, it clearly shows that the midline would be aligned at the end.

Is the reason the midline did not align in reality unlike in ClinCheck because of the Invisalign aligners?

Was the treatment planned incorrectly?

Sometimes, if tooth movement does not occur exactly like in the ClinCheck video, some people misunderstand and think it is the aligners’ fault or the clinic’s fault.

If tooth movement happened 100% exactly the same way as in the ClinCheck simulation without any error, then patients could order aligners online at home, receive them by delivery, change them themselves, and carry out orthodontic treatment on their own.

Then they would not need to visit the clinic in the middle of treatment.

However, the periodontal tissues and teeth inside the mouth are not computers.

Because they are living tissues, each person responds differently to orthodontic forces, and the treatment approach must be adjusted slightly from person to person.

The doctor’s intervention at each stage is essential, and that is what allows the treatment to be completed well.

The more experience the doctor has with Invisalign treatment, the better they understand that each person is different and that Invisalign aligners are applied differently depending on the malocclusion, allowing them to provide appropriate management.

23.11

If you look at the photo after wearing all 14 stages, the crowding area indicated by the blue arrow has still not returned 100% to its original position.

This was intended from the beginning.

If you look at the ClinCheck, you can see that the treatment plan originally rotated the crowding only 80% of the way.

Invisalign Lite can only improve malocclusion within the range allowed in 14 stages.

The remaining 20% of the rotation can be addressed strategically with additional aligners.

This way, you can still achieve a 100% improvement without necessarily starting with the more expensive Invisalign Comprehensive treatment.

To further improve front tooth rotation and fine details, we took an oral scan and began making additional aligners.

23.11

After about a month off during the fabrication period for the additional aligners, we began wearing them.

24.02

And we finished treatment last month.

The deep bite and crowding were neatly corrected.

24.02

A fixed wire retainer was also attached to prevent the crowding from recurring.

We are now in regular follow-up visits.

23.03~24.02

23.03~24.02

If the patient had come in just 5 years later, we may not have been able to confidently recommend Invisalign Lite.

The crowding was relatively severe for a case to be treated with Invisalign Lite, and adults do not have tooth movement as fast as elementary school students.

Because the patient came at the right time during elementary school, treatment was completed simply in just 9 months.