SMILE-FX® / Back Teeth Contact Guide
Read back tooth contact goals
A goal for the back teeth needs an explanation about that region. A finding from the front teeth does not answer the same regional question. One research comparison shows why the regions and their planned references need to stay clear.
This is a reading of a study’s group result, not a finding about you or a diagnosis of posterior open bite. Study source and limits.
Study cohort group · First set
Obtained counts compared with programmed counts
Programmed means the contact counts planned in the study’s software. Obtained means the counts assessed under the study method at the stated comparison. These are two regional comparisons with those programmed references.
Back region: posterior
In the cohort group at the first-set comparison, obtained posterior contact counts were below programmed counts.
Front region: anterior
In the cohort group at the first-set comparison, obtained anterior contact counts were above programmed counts.
The reference is programmed counts at the first-set comparison. These statements concern the cohort group and do not establish a result for a particular participant.
A completed regional reading
The front comparison cannot answer the back question
First, retain the references. Each region is compared with its own programmed count in the reported first-set group comparison. This is not a comparison of pretreatment with aftercare.
Then, keep the regions separate. The anterior comparison describes the front region. It cannot establish that the intended posterior relationship was obtained. A single combined contact label would leave that regional explanation unfinished.
Finish the interpretation. A stated back-contact goal needs the assessed back-contact relationship explained against that goal. A front-region comparison or the end of a tray sequence does not supply the missing regional answer.
You can now identify the particular comparison that matters to the posterior goal. This is a completed reading of a group result and its references, not a rule for judging an individual’s bite or choosing care.
First set is the stated stage
The study followed 82 people who completed a first set of aligners. At that point, 54 had met the orthodontic goals and 28 had not. Its Methods and Results use the T1 stage label inconsistently. This guide keeps the explicitly stated first-set comparison and does not call all 82 finished-treatment outcomes.
The comparison does not establish cause, chewing function, safety, benefit, harm or personal recovery. It gives no wear, waiting, settling, repair, refinement or other care instruction.
Understand the explanation before deciding
Your clinician explains your actual findings, the proposed goal and any individual care decisions. Understanding those words need not commit you to a treatment. If you are already receiving care, keep the responsible treating team’s contact route and directions.
To understand what a contact measure itself records, read the completed count-and-area explanation.
An optional next conversation
Discuss your orthodontic question
At SMILE-FX®, board-certified orthodontists see every patient, including follow-ups. The one Miramar studio provides full-service digital orthodontics with a clear-aligner focus. Your individual findings, goals and care arrangements belong in that continuing clinical conversation.
Read the complete care model and its individual scope.
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This is a new-treatment conversation. A request is not a confirmed appointment, assessment or case acceptance. The practice confirms individual scope, fees and arrangements; no test, scan, records, repair, appliance or result is promised.
Already receiving care? Use the contact route and instructions supplied by your responsible treating team. A new consultation request is separate from current-care help.
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Source, context and changes
Adapted from Vanessa Marcelino, Sofia Baptista, Sandra Marcelino, Maria Paço, Duarte Rocha, Maria dos Prazeres Gonçalves, Rui Azevedo, António Sérgio Guimarães, Gustavo Vicentis Oliveira Fernandes and Teresa Pinho, Occlusal Changes with Clear Aligners and the Case Complexity Influence: A Longitudinal Cohort Clinical Study, Journal of Clinical Medicine 2023;12(10):3435. Published 12 May 2023. © 2023 by the authors. Original article · DOI 10.3390/jcm12103435 · Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International.
SMILE-FX® simplified and reorganized selected author narrative and added the original text-led comparisons and completed interpretations. These are educational readings, not a patient case. No source figures, tables, captions, formulas, case material, direct third-party quotations or underlying-study expression are reproduced. Reference does not imply author endorsement. The applicable licence terms and warranty disclaimers remain; the licence covers adapted article material separately from practice marks and unrelated content.
This dated study used an observational convenience sample at one Invisalign® practice: 82 people aged 12–49 who completed the first set. It is not a controlled device comparison or a US norm. Detailed eligibility in Table 1 was not read or used. Wear uncertainty, nonuniform sampling and bite-recording error limit interpretation; static measures do not establish cause, chewing function, safety or personal recovery.
The stage labels are inconsistent: Methods describes T1 at goal completion, while Results uses it for the first-set group, including 54 who met the goals and 28 who did not. This guide uses the explicitly stated first-set comparison without treating all 82 as finished treatment. No full eligibility review, later-guidance review or named clinician review of this adaptation is claimed. Read the full guide scope.