Age 51 - Wanting Invisalign but Still Have a Baby Tooth

I am 51 and have crowding of my upper front teeth. Bottom teeth look very good. Had an ortho consult 17 years ago & was told I needed palate surgery pre ortho. No thanks. Now am being told I might be a candidate for invisalign. My concern is that I have retained a baby tooth molar on one side on the bottom. It is two teeth to the back from the bottom canine. I'm told the roots are still good & I want to retain as long as I can. Would invisalign hasten it's demise?

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4 Doctor Answers | Asked by Pati in OP in Overland Park, KS

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Invisalign and retained baby teeth

A baby tooth like yours can develop a toothache and infection at any age without undergoing any orthodontic treatment. On the other hand , if it is not moved much in treatment it will probably be OK. With braces you can literally omit placing a brace on the tooth and it will then receive no force at all. With Invisalign you can make the computer simulation appear to not move any particular tooth. In reality, all teeth in an... more

Invisalign treatment is gentle even on a baby tooth

What you describe sounds like the result of a missing permanent lower 2nd bicuspid tooth. This is a very common tooth to be missing and the baby tooth it is supposed to replace can sometimes last decades and even for the rest of a persons life. If it is lost at some point in the future, an implant would be a great option. The Invisalign could work and be gentle on the baby tooth as all aligner movements are very slow and incremental. The other problem you suggest... more

Orthodontic treatment with baby tooth present

It is important to determine why the baby tooth is present. If the adult tooth that should be there is missing, and there is not excess crowding, it is usually best to keep it. If the adult tooth is present in the jaw under the baby tooth, you may want to extract the baby tooth and bring the adult tooth into the mouth. As to the possible narrow jaw, if the bite is not causing problems with your teeth or TMJ, I would not have surgery but move the teeth into as straight a... more

Can I get tx with a baby tooth

One of the nice things about Invisalign is our ability to individually program the tooth movements. In your case we could instruct them not to disturb the baby tooth, so there really should be no reason why you could not get tx!