Refinements?

[rapidfire7]

Hello Im an Australian guy who has been living in London and decided to get Invisalign treatment while I was here.
As you can see in my attachment below of my upper teeth (before) I have a couple of badly protrouding teeth that I was a bit self conscious of. Also my teeth didn't seem to be in line with the centre of my face by a few mm's which I badly wanted corrected.

My provider gave me 13 Uppers and 6 Lowers which will take 26 weeks (6 Months). This didn't seem like much considering the first provider I was considering said my treatment would take 14-16 months! I really don't understand how there can be such a discrepency between providers but that's another matter.

I'm on tray 8 and the tooth that really protrouds has hardly moved it seems. I know there's still time left but I can't see how it's possibly going to move enough. I have recently learned that there are things called refinement trays from reading forums but my provider never mentioned anything about these. Looking how things are going I feel I may need them.

So I want to know were most of you happy at the end of your initial treatment or did you need refinement? Was it free? How long did the refinement process last because I am almost ready to go home and don't want to be stranded in the UK for a long time but at the same time I have spent a lot of money and want the best possible result.

Thanks

[Phantom Muse]

Rapidfire - I had a series of 12 upper and 7 lower, and I had a front tooth that was "bucking" out because of crowding. I was certain that I would have refinements after 12 trays, but the final 3 trays really made a difference for me and fixed the problem. It seems that the first 8-9 trays were making room for that tooth to scoot back into place.

I have been in retainers for about one month, and if I don't wear them 20 hours or so daily, that same tooth wants to move again, but that should settle over time.

Refinements are basically an additional series of trays much like your original series. Often, those with fewer initial trays need fewer refinements, but that is not always the case. In addition, it can be difficult to estimate how many refinement trays you'll need - if any. When I was about halfway through treatment, my ortho estimated me needing another series of 12 and 7 trays. Another month or two later, he thought only half that, and one month before completion he estimated only another 2 trays. When I saw him at the end of that month, all was well, and into retainers I went.

I hope somehow this helps! Hang in there, and I suspect you'll see more movement soon!

[Stellina]

I am halfway of my 24 Upper (11th tray) and on the last week of my 11 Lower.. In case of my lower ones there was a teeth almost on top of the other one at the front and I barely noticed any difference until this last two trays in which teeth have really straighten and I think they look very good now.. I don't know if I would need refinements after this week (for the lower teeth) but I think they look pretty good already and being the lower ones I don't mind if they are not perfectly aligned...!

Back to your question, I think Phantom is right and you'll just need to wait a little bit for the last trays to act and perhaps your teeth will move as planned!! Also as a tip, have a look at the last set of trays you have in their little bag and observe how the teeth are positioned.. this might give you some clues of how your teeth will end with the last set of trays.

[Phy]

Hrm, your Clincheck should tell you when that crooked tooth starts moving right? Unless your teeth are not progressing as planned, every step of movement in Clincheck should correspond to the movement of each set of trays, and therefore you should be able to tell at which tray approximately that particular tooth starts straightening out..and whether it only straightens out towards the end of the treatment or otherwise.