This patient was concerned about how his crooked upper left tooth (left lateral incisor) affected his smile. Overlaps like this are fairly common because the upper lateral incisors have relatively small, circular roots and drift out of alignment more easily than the upper central teeth or the upper canines. In fact, before my orthodontic treatment a few years ago, I had an overlapping upper lateral, and my sister still has this same overlap. I discussed options with the patient and he decided to use Invisalign treatment to move the tooth back into an ideal position. Treatment went very well and we were able to achieve a great result using Invisalign.
The overlap is the most easily-identified change, but we also effected a number of more subtle changes to improve the appearance of the smile:
- The crooked tooth was tipped more vertical to better-match the angle of the corresponding tooth on the right side.
- The upper canines were rotated to give a more symmetrical appearance between the left and right sides.
- The chewing edges of the upper front teeth were lined up into an ideal and symmetrical relationship to each other.
- The gap starting to form between the upper central teeth was closed.
- The upper back teeth were tipped out toward the cheeks (this is more evident on the right side) to widen the smile all the way out to the corners of the lips and better-support the soft tissues of the cheeks.
- The lower front teeth were straightened and rotated to provide an ideal alignment that is easier to keep clean, functions better with the upper teeth, and improves the appearance of the smile.
Invisalign treatment allowed us to address this patient’s primary concern and make additional improvements in a non-invasive and conservative way. If you are interested in what Invisalign treatment can do for your teeth, call Dr. Gray’s Fort Collins dental office today to schedule an evaluation.
