Is Invisalign or braces more effective for cross-bite issues?

Doctor's Answers 1

Uprighting your upper 2nd premolars can be achieved with Invisalign or fixed (traditional) braces. If your tooth is very short on the palatal (side facing inward), then it may be more efficient to upright the tooth using fixed braces since the Invisalign aligner will have a smaller surface area to grip on to with a short tooth.

Anterior crossbites (that occur in the front teeth) can be solved with Invisalign or fixed braces. The bigger question is the reason for the crossbite being present in the first place. I have covered this here.

If there is severe crowding or if you need to camouflage an underlying skeletal proportion issue, extractions should also be considered. Which teeth need to be removed should be carefully assessed based on your current facial profile and the health of your teeth.

Sometimes non-extraction (and non-surgical) cases may be more difficult and unpredictable to solve especially in the 2 instances I have mentioned above.

Your dentist or orthodontist can better advise you on your treatment options after a thorough evaluation, so that you can achieve your goals.

Similar Questions

How do orthodontic treatments work together with IPR (interproximal reduction) to address dental crowding problems?

Firstly, interproximal reduction (IPR) is known as teeth stripping or shaving. The overall goal is to narrow the teeth by trimming off a small thickness of tooth enamel [1]. Often, the dentist will recommend this when the patient has: Proclined incisors Overjet correction Tooth crowding Discrepancies in tooth sizes Orthodontic treatments like Invisalign is often paired together with an interproximal reduction [2]. In the past, IPR is done first at the beginning of the treatment process. However, things have changed.

Photo of Dr Enrica Sham

Answered By

Dr Enrica Sham

Orthodontist

How to fix crooked teeth and gaps that remain even after completing braces treatment? (photos)

Your upper front teeth appear to be straight but the edges are not even. This may give rise to the perception that the teeth are not straight EVEN if the root axes (how the roots appear on xray, and correctly placed braces will tend to make the roots of your teeth parallel) have been properly aligned. This is usually diagnosed pre-treatment. When you have crowding, the edges of the teeth tend to wear down in an irregular way but this may not be obvious when the teeth have not yet been straightened out.

Photo of Dr Jaclyn Toh

Answered By

Dr Jaclyn Toh

Dentist

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