Teeth No Longer Touching After Using Invisalign Retainer?

Question

I finished my invisalign treatment in January of 2010 and I have been wearing my invisalign retainer every night since then. After I finished my treatment my teeth looked perfect and all of my teeth touched each other. However, I was a given a retainer that did not cover the back molars. The molars are now the only teeth that touch when I do not have my retainer in. The pictures are of me biting down and clearly none of my teeth are touching. Should I just stop wearing the retainer?

Brian Povolny, DDS, PhD · Answer

Since your teeth touched after your treatment was completed this problem likely has nothing to do with Invisalign. It may have to do with retainer design. If the very back molars are not included in a full-coverage retainer they will "erupt' and be the only teeth touching. A new retainer may be needed which allows all the teeth to re-establish a bite. If you have no retainer at all you may see your teeth get crooked again so that is not the best solution.

Janet H. Stoess-Allen, DMD · Answer

The fact that your teeth are no longer touching (except your back molars) is
	indicative of wearing a retainer that is not fully covering all of your teeth. If the retainer is too short and not covering your back molars, your back molars can extrude which will cause your bite to be open on all anterior teeth, with exception of those back molars. Maybe the retainer has broken or worn very thin on the back molars. It is very important that you visit your orthodontist to discuss the problem so that the situation can be remedied. The sooner you visit your orthodontist to discuss your situation, the better.

Gerilyn Alfe, DMD · Answer

A wire/plastic retainer (called a "Hawley") will hold the teeth in place front to back, but allow them to touch on the biting surfaces. This may be a good option for you to allow the teeth to settle into a bite for you and then if fine tuning is necessary, your dentist can probably accomplish that for you pretty easily.

Robert Waxler, DMD, MS · Answer

Ideally the retainer should cover all of the teeth (clear invisalign type retainer, or none of the teeth (traditional colored plastic and wire retainer. Sounds lke you need to get a different type of retainer

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