Osteoporosis medicine during invisalign

Welcome to Connect, @terri3 While you’re waiting for other members to join the conversation I can add a little information for you as a retired dental assistant of 30 + years.
You are correct that there may be a change in the normal cycle of bone resorption and development while on osteoporosis medications. This can create some small challenges for having orthodontic work done while taking the meds. It may take longer for bone to regenerate but that would just mean a retainer to hold the teeth in place or keeping the final Invisalign appliance in longer. (Osteonecrosis is very rare and generally for people on chemotherapy).
I did some quick research for you and the key take away from most of the articles I read: With the reduced bone metabolism and the higher amount of side effects, the treatment should be performed with extremely light forces and frequent monitoring. Since Invisalign is a very slow, low force means of orthodontia, that is most likely why your rheumatologist and dentist have cleared you to go ahead with the correction.

Since you’re already into the process, trust your doctors and enjoy your new smile! Are you seeing some positive changes already?

Thank you for the information.
I’ve only had them in for 4 weeks and already see changes.
My dentist is having me wear them for only 7 months, I feel that is too short a period and wanted to wear them longer. He insisted it’s fine????
It’s still masking me very unsettled. I will talk to him in a few days again
about slowing down the process.

So, Invisalign is switched every two weeks to the next Invisalign retainer.

Your dentist or orthodontist probably has not had many in this category so not much for backup.

What if you wore each retainer every 3 weeks instead of two?
That would give the teeth time to settle. But they would be moved a little bit again with the next retainer.

There must be something natural to take to ensure the bones settle well.
Contact the company so at least they would be aware of this issue and may have had someone with this situation.

Make sure that you are taking vitamin D + K2-MK4 to get calcium to the bones and teeth.

If this is a minor realignment 7 months is a realistic goal. But certainly if you’re concerned you can talk to your dentist about wearing each aligner for a longer period before progressing to the next progressive step. Once the teeth are in the goal position, then you may end up wearing that final appliance as a retainer to keep the teeth in the new position while the bone becomes firm and dense again after the orthodontic treatment. When the treatment has ended, your dentist may want to take images to check the progression of bone density for you.

For minor realignments, Invisalign is such a great development, though it can’t be used for every ortho case. Early in my career I worked for an orthodontist before the advent of bondable brackets and the new positional aligners. The old ‘bands’ had to be pounded into place, abutting together with adjacent teeth. It was so painful for patients.
This is such a kinder, gentler approach to straightening teeth!
Will you keep me posted as you progress with treatment?

My dentist has me switching trays every 4 days.
There are a total of 60 trays.
I know in the past people have used 30 trays. It kept them in for a longer period.
I’ll go over it again with my dentist.
Thank you

I am on Evenity and did Invisalign at same time. Dentist was okay with it. I’m finished with daytime trays and only wear one at night. No problems so far.

such a good question and so glad you posted - this never would have occurred to me!

This is a very interesting question for me as well. I am currently on Evenity with 4 more doses to go. I started orthodontia when I was 50 using Invisalign and had poor results - my teeth were too out of whack to get a good correction. After 18 months struggling with the retainers - buttons on my teeth as well - I asked my dentist if I could go old school and get wired up. He agreed, and gave me a new smile. The total process took a total of 5 years. I was diagnosed with osteoporosis at age 52.

I've been thinking about doing another bout with ortho and was wondering how it might affect my jawbones. I know that my teeth have shifted; whether as a result of OP or just plain old age, I don't know.

Thanks for sharing! Cheers!

Invisalign worked great for me and I’m glad I did it. My dentist is one of my doctors who I trust more than some others and she has been very reassuring about my dental status in general and in relation to my Evenity year. I’m fascinated by the necessity for a nighttime tray for life - I can see that the teeth are not ‘set in stone’ and will revert to where they were.

I was wondering how many trays you had and how o ten you had to change them. Were you on anything prio to the Evenity? Thanks