An Interdisciplinary Approach to Restorative Treatment with Clear Aligners Sandra Tai, BDS, MS Abstract Interdisciplinary treatment is sometimes the best approach for complicated restorative cases or cases in which the restorative outcome may be compromised by a less than ideal preexisting occlusion. These patients generally prefer an esthetic orthodontic appliance, as their treatment goals are primarily restorative. Clear aligners, which utilize the power of digital treatment planning to assist with planning the space for the fi nal restoration, are uniquely suited for prerestorative orthodontic treatment. This article presents three cases that address, respectively, redistributing space between the anterior teeth for veneers, preparing a single- tooth implant site, and creating posterior occlusal clearance. Key Words: aligners, veneers, implants, TADs, ortho digital treatment planning 84 2020 • Volume 35 • Issue 4 Tai CASE 1 pretreatment radiograph CASE 1 posttreatment radiograph “The occlusion was fi nished without anterior occlusal contact to minimize the lingual tooth preparation on the maxillary incisors and in anticipation that the veneers would lengthen the incisal edges of the anterior teeth.” Journal of Cosmetic Dentistry 85 Introduction The treatment plan involved correcting the anterior crossbite Complex restorative cases often require an interdisciplinary through maxillary incisor proclination and improving the lip approach for optimal treatment outcomes in esthetics, form, support through labial movement of the maxillary incisors. The and function. Recent innovations in technology, such as tem- maxillary incisors would also be extruded to increase incisal porary anchorage devices (TADs), digital treatment planning display on smiling. The dental midline would be aligned with with clear aligners, and digital smile design, have revolution- the facial midline, and the current dental compensations for ized treatment planning for patients presenting with multiple the Class III skeletal pattern would be maintained. Ultimately, dental issues that require complex interdisciplinary treatment. veneers were planned for the maxillary anterior segment, and a This article discusses three cases that illustrate how a prerestor- remake of the implant crown was planned for #12. ative phase of clear aligner treatment can facilitate a more ideal In the ClinCheck software plan (Invisalign, Align Technol- restorative outcome. ogy; San Jose, CA) specific instructions were given to procline the maxillary incisors and move them labially, in combination Case 1: Redistributing Spaces for Veneers with extrusion, to improve the incisal display on smiling. Inter- For restorative patients requiring anterior veneers or crowns, an proximal reduction was requested in the mandible to resolve optimal restorative outcome often can be achieved by integrat- crowding while maintaining the pretreatment mandibular inci- ing minor orthodontic tooth movements into the treatment sor inclination. The posterior occlusion was not changed and plan. These minor adjustments may include: the implant crowns were not moved in the treatment plan. • correcting rotations prior to veneer placement • leveling gingival margins to facilitate restoration of worn Treatment incisal edges Precision-cut hooks for Class III elastics were placed on the • aligning the dental midline with the facial midline maxillary first molars and mandibular canines. Extrusive at- • redistributing space where tooth size discrepancy exists. tachments were placed on #7, #8, and #10. An optimized root A 62-year-old female presented with a Class III skeletal mal- control attachment was placed on #9. The power ridge feature occlusion with anterior crossbite. Both maxillary and mandibu- was applied to the mandibular incisors to prevent excessive ret- lar incisors were retroclined. The mandibular dental midline roclination, as they were retracted to correct the anterior cross- was canted to the left. The posterior teeth in both dental arches bite (Fig 5). were heavily restored (Figs 1a-2b). The patient had a mildly con- Spaces were left mesial and distal of the maxillary lateral in- cave profile with insufficient lip support and an unesthetic smile cisors to facilitate veneer placement. The occlusion was finished arc (Figs 3a-3c). The panoramic radiograph showed moderate without anterior occlusal contact to minimize the lingual tooth bone loss and several endodontically treated teeth. Single-tooth preparation on the maxillary incisors and in anticipation that implants had replaced #12 and #19 (Fig 4). the veneers would lengthen the incisal edges of the anterior teeth (Fig 6). a b c Figures 1a-1c: Pretreatment right lateral, anterior, and left lateral views. a b Figures 2a & 2b: Pretreatment maxillary and mandibular occlusal views. 86 2020 • Volume 35 • Issue 4 Tai a b c Figures 3a-3c: Pretreatment facial photographs. Figure 4: Pretreatment panoramic radiograph. Figure 5: Software showing the Figure 6: Software showing the projected posttreatment anterior projected posttreatment anterior view. overjet view. a b c Figures 7a-7c: Postorthodontic right lateral, anterior, and left lateral views. a b Figures 8a & 8b: Postorthodontic maxillary and mandibular occlusal views. Journal of Cosmetic Dentistry 87 a b c Figures 9a-9c: Postrestorative right lateral, anterior, and left lateral views. a b c Figures 10a-10c: Postrestorative facial photographs. Figures 7a through 8b show the occlusion after orthodon- tic treatment. Pretreatment and posttreatment cephalometric radiographs shown earlier indicate the change in maxillary and mandibular incisor inclination. The maxillary incisors had lingual root torque placed for proclination. The man- dibular incisors were uprighted slightly. The patient wore the fi nal aligners at night as retainers until the restorative phase was completed. Figures 9a through 11 show the occlusion after the restorative treatment was completed. New maxillary and mandibular clear vacuum-formed retainers, to be worn at night, were then made for both arches. Figure 11: Postrestorative panoramic radiograph. “The treatment plan involved correcting the anterior crossbite through maxillary incisor proclination and improving the lip support through labial movement of the maxillary incisors.” 88 2020 • Volume 35 • Issue 4 Tai Case 2: Preparing the Single-Tooth Implant Site although some occlusal clearance was planned to allow for ve- neer placement without incisal reduction. Patient History A 14-year-old female presented with a congenitally missing #7, Treatment a peg-shaped #10, and a Class I malocclusion with mesial erup- Optimized root control attachments were placed on #6 and #8 tion of #11 into the #10 site, resulting in a Class II canine rela- for bodily movement to create the implant site. Optimized an- tionship. A midline diastema was present and the mesial surface terior extrusive attachments were also placed on #9 and #10 of #10 was coincident with the facial midline (Figs 12a-12c). for incisor extrusion to increase the amount of overbite in the fi nished occlusion (Fig 14). At stage 6, a pontic for the miss- Treatment Plan ing #7 appeared on the maxillary aligner; this was fi lled with The interdisciplinary treatment plan included opening space a tooth-colored polyvinyl siloxane pontic material for esthetic for a single-tooth implant restoration to replace the missing #7, purposes. The pontic increased in mesiodistal width as space preparing #10 for veneer placement, and closing the midline was progressively created at the implant site (Fig 15). diastema. The dental midline would be aligned with the facial At the end of the fi rst series of 21 aligners, #6 had been suc- midline. A single-tooth implant would replace the missing #7 cessfully distalized into a Class I position. The midline diastema and a veneer would be placed to restore the peg-shaped #10 was closed and the dental midline was coincident with the fa- to normal morphology. The pretreatment root inclinations of cial midline. There was space created mesial and distal to #10 to #6 and #8 were parallel (Fig 13). Bodily movement would be facilitate veneer placement. A panoramic radiograph (Fig 16) required to open up space for single-tooth implant placement. was taken at this time to assess the root inclinations adjacent A minimum of 7 mm of space would be required; this space to the implant site. The root inclinations appeared parallel and would be created through distal movement of #6 and mesial there was an adequate space of 6.9 mm in mesiodistal width movement of #8, which also would effectively close the mid- created for implant placement. Additional aligners were made line diastema. Maximum anchorage would be required on the to coordinate the dental arch widths and to establish canine right buccal segment to move the canine into a Class I canine guidance on the right side. The fi nal occlusion prior to implant relationship. Tooth #10 would require some minor extrusion, placement and restoration is shown in Figures 17a through 20. a b c Figures 12a-12c: Pretreatment intraoral right lateral, anterior, and lateral views. Figure 13: Pretreatment panoramic radiograph. Figure 14: Software showing the Figure 15: Software showing the attachment design, projected pontic and planned space for implant pretreatment anterior view. placement, projected posttreatment view. Journal of Cosmetic Dentistry 89 Figure 16: Panoramic radiograph of treatment progress showing root inclinations adjacent to the implant site are parallel. a b c