SOMETIMES WHEN I REMOVE MY ALIGNERS, MY TEETH FEEL LOOSE. IS THAT COMMON?
SOMETIMES WHEN I REMOVE MY ALIGNERS, MY TEETH FEEL LOOSE. IS THAT COMMON?
TROUBLE SHOOTING From DIGITAL ORTHODONTICS - Solo Edition by Dr. Bak Nguyen
While in treatment, that is very normal to feel your teeth loose, especially on the lower front teeth. Here is why.
The movement of your teeth through both braces and aligners is possible thanks to the periodontal ligament attaching your teeth to the bone socket. That ligament is what perceives the tension and pressure from the aligner and kickstarts the hormonal process of bone remolding.
That said, as the movement is a sequence of many micro-movements over a long period of time, your ligament will be adapting. Just like a muscle that you train each day, every day, your ligament will grow in tonus and in volume. Just to be clear, a ligament is not a muscle but it will react the same way if trained daily.
So, over time, your ligament has remolded the tooth from point A to point Z. Because that took several months, your ligament is now thicker. Until your movement is complete, your teeth are free to move within the thickness of the periodontal ligament.
Once your teeth are in place, the second phase of treatment is to fine-tuned and to stabilize your teeth. You heard that one often. In plain English, that means to stop moving your teeth and to give your body time to recuperate. As you stop training your ligament through daily movement, just like a muscle that you stop training, it will start to melt and slowly go back to its original size (thickness).
As it does so, the ligament will be pulling slowly on the walls of the bone surrounding itself in the socket and the bone will grow back to its natural size, thus immobilizing the tooth.
This usually will take months after the end of the active orthodontic treatment. It is natural and will occur for as long as you are as healthy and keep wearing your aligner, even after your teeth have reached their desired position.