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Dr. Gregory S. Coakley

Dr. Coakley,

I thought that I’d be able to do Invisalign but it turns out that I’m not a candidate. I still want to straighten my teeth but I am not looking forward to having braces on my teeth for a year or longer. Isn’t there a way that we could just tighten the wires really tight and finish my treatment in 2 months?

This is a common sentiment that orthodontists run into a lot. It may seem like it’s feasible to just pull really hard and have everything move into place a lot sooner, but things unfortunately don’t work that way.

The main danger that all orthodontic treatment could run into is a process called root resorption. When your adult teeth are beginning to arrive and the baby teeth are in the way, the natural process of deciduous root resorption occurs. The adult teeth exert pressure on the roots of the baby teeth which causes  surrounding macrophages–neutral bodies present in the surrounding tissue–to differentiate into osteoclasts–specialized bodies which work to resorb bone–which then “eat away” the root of the tooth.

The macrophages are always present in the surrounding tissue, and when orthodontic treatment comes along and exerts similar pressure on the roots of the adult teeth the same process could occur. The reason that orthodontic cases typically have long time frames is to ensure that the treatment exerts a pressure on the teeth and roots in order to move them around but not such a great pressure which would lead to resorption. Once root resorption occurs it cannot be undone, which is again why great care is taken.

I’m always available to take any more of your questions: 732-741-9090 or Two River Orthodontics ^[2].