Karin Grinbaum, DDS

Braces as well as aligners can straighten overcrowded teeth. One thing to keep in mind is the severity of overcrowding along with possibly needing extractions, bite correction, etc. The ideal thing to do, is to see your local orthodontist for a complete and thorough consultation to properly diagnose you.

I hope this helps,

Dr. Karin Grinbaum

Hi there, it may be that your clear retainer shrunk due to overheating. If the retainer still fits and sits completely on your teeth, I would recommend to continue using for now. The ideal thing to do is to see your local orthodontist and he/she can determine if the retainer is still a good fit to properly retain your teeth.

I hope this helps,

Dr. Karin Grinbaum

Hi Megan,




Thank you for posting photos along with your question.

Clear aligners would be able to correct your front tooth. It is difficult to say if "stripping/ filing/polishing" would be necessary in this case. However, if your provider thinks it is necessary they would make sure you are not left with a space.  In addition to clear aligners, you may need an attachment on that tooth to help the aligner "track/grab and move" that tooth into the proper position.

Good Luck!

Hi Suzanne,




I would definitely recommend straightening your teeth verse dental contouring.  Aligning your teeth will allow the orthodontist to place your teeth in the proper position such as aligning the front teeth, widening your upper arch to give your a broader smile.  (From your second photo you can see that your upper arch has a "V" shape and ideally we like to see a "U" shape to give you a more broad smile).

You can also note that your lower teeth do not show when you bite down, this is called a deep bite.  I can not see your lower teeth but can guess that they are crowded and may have some wear on them due to the depth of your bite.  Aligning your teeth with aligners or any other orthodontic option will not only benefit your upper alignment but will give you a healthy bite and protect your lower teeth from severe wear thus shortening your teeth. 




Good luck with your choice!

Dr. Grinbaum

Hi,

Good news! your teeth are fixable.

You have some crowding and you may need to have some space created to align your teeth.  Depending on you bite, the angulation of your teeth and position within the bone, your orthodontist will decide if this can be done with some expansion, extractions or some stripping.  Any of these are possible modalities to align your teeth.  If you don't want any facial change your best options would probably be expansion and stripping.  I would like to emphasize that these options all depend on a few other factors.

Go in to see an orthodontist and see what they have to say!

Best,

Dr. Grinbaum