 What's up, family? Just wanted to post another fun Invisalign case that is currently IN-PROGRESS! This orthodontic case is described as "Class 3 Malocclusion" - meaning this patient has an underbite, meaning his bottom teeth protrude ahead of his top teeth. A normal "Class 1" position (in basic terms) would have the upper front teeth slightly forward of the lower front teeth. POSITIVE FACTORS IN THIS CASE: This patient is a teenager, so that gives me more confidence that his teeth can move more easily. The older you are, the more SLOWLY teeth will move, which makes orthodontics a bit trickier. He is also extremely responsible - he follows all of our orthodontic rules, wears his appliances and his orthodontic elastics, which help to pull the lower teeth back.  This patient was prescribed Class 3 elastics. These are small but stretchy rubber bands that hook onto the aligners. This is considered an adjunct treatment to Invisalign, since aligners by themselves will NOT be able to correct this much of an underbite. Therefore, Class 3 elastics wearing is MANDATORY! To ensure enough wear time, this patient was required to wear the aligners plus elastics on his left and right for 20-22 hours per day, over a two week period for EACH TRAY. This is crucial to get the teeth to move as efficiently and predictably as possible.
After just 9 months of devoted aligner plus elastics wear, his underbite is already corrected! This case is not yet finished, however we simply could not wait to show off this patient's progress.
Remember: the key to successful Invisalign orthodontic treatment is to follow all the rules! Wear your aligners for the mandatory 20-22 hours per day, switch aligners as directed, use your elastics if they are prescribed, make each and every appointment time, and don't lose any aligners! HAVE A GREAT DAY AND SMILE! :)  "Please don't judge me, I haven't seen a dentist in many years!" This is a common quote we hear from many patients who come through our doors. My usual reply is that we never judge! Instead, we are thinking of many different ways we can to address your concerns and how we can help you smile your best. This case was so fun to restore. The story is that this kind patient (teeth pictured above) lost one of his front teeth, which was now being stabilized by a cantilever bridge supported by stainless steel window. Usually this is a temporary solution for a missing tooth, however the stainless steel had lasted over a decade! This patient was finally ready to replace it with a brand new bridge, as he disliked the esthetics (as you might guess!). One of the important factors for this case was that it was front teeth we were dealing with - we need careful treatment planning and prosthodontics, since one wrong move will completely ruin a smile! So we took careful models (lower left photo) along with fabricating a life-like temporary bridge (lower right photo) as we created his porcelain bridge.
We cemented the bridge to the patient's delight! He and his wife were very happy with the final result! 
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Photo from Michael Dunn~!
