I also finished my trays! My teeth look great and I’m so pleased. My top arch was widened and my teeth fill my mouth much better than before when I smile. I had 23 trays but stayed in some longer than a week if I had kept them out for client meetings, traveling/vacation, etc. So I did 17 trays and got scanned for refinements last week.
I have a few spots that need to be tightened up a bit but I’m so pleased I far. I started in mid-April and it’s gone by pretty fast.
A friend of mine just started Invisalign, and I was able to be quite conversant about trays, attachments, the crochet hook, etc., simply because I’ve read this thread, ha. Also, each time the thread resurfaces, I wind up wearing my (24 year old!) retainers. Thanks for that.
I'm about halfway through my treatment (tray 12 of 25), switching every 2 weeks. My dentist isn't comfortable with my switching more often because of how much my canine teeth need to move, and apparently they are notoriously stubborn teeth. I feel like they are tracking pretty well to plan, so I'm not complaining, and it also allows me to be a little more lax about my hours/day (which is probably 21-sih during the week and closer to 20 on the weekends).
Even after reading all this, which was SO SO helpful, the first couple weeks sucked. My mouth was all cut up, and I was super self-conscious about the attachments on my teeth, my newly-formed lisp, taking the trays in and out, etc. I no longer have a lisp (lasted maybe a few weeks), I've only had 1 tray since the first that has caused new sores in my mouth, and I'm more comfortable with the routine. I still miss sipping coffee, tea, and wine, but that's a relatively minor complaint. I'm still ready for it to be over, but I don't hate it the way I did in the early days.
Post by claudiakishi on Oct 15, 2018 19:32:13 GMT -5
I also finally made the leap and got my trays about 8 weeks ago. Knock on wood, but it’s been smooth sailing so far. I don’t notice any difference with my speech and no one has said anything about being able to see them. I have 16 attachments but not on my front teeth, which helps. Everything I was so scared of - speech problems, pain, people noticing - hasn’t happened. The biggest challenge has been not being able to eat whenever I want. When I first got the trays I gained weight because I would take the trays out and I would be like “must eat everything”, but now I have a better handle on taking them in and out and brushing wherever I am, so I’m in a better place with that. It probably helps a lot that I am not a coffee drinker. That would definitely be a tough adjustment. We’ll see as time moves on how I feel, but right now I am so happy I finally did it.
I still have NOT done it. I keep waffling as my teeth keep shifting. There is one thing that I want to follow up on before I make a final decision.
May I ask what it is (if it’s ortho related)? I had SO MANY reservations about moving forward and I’m so glad I did!
I have some bone loss (more than I should for my age) and the ortho recommended that I see a periodontist to get their opinion on whether I should proceed forward. I have been dragging my feet on making the appointment with the perio.
I went for a consult last month. Growing up I never had any orthodontics but one of my front teeth is a bit turned and I have crowding on the bottom. He agreed my teeth aren't in bad shape and any Invisalign would be purely for cosmetics. He told me I would change trays weekly for 18 months! That sounds ridiculously excessive compared to the times I'm seeing on here. I almost cried. I haven't called them back.
Post by carolinagirl831 on Nov 7, 2018 6:20:08 GMT -5
18 months is probably accurate. I will hVe done it 2 years in March. And then I will. Be done! I am on my 3rd and final set of trays and refinement. Mine was to fix my bite and cosmetic for a turned in tooth. I didn't realize my.smile and mouth was that bad until now. With comparison pics it's amazing! I am..so glad I did it. The turned in teeth, over crowding and bite issues.get worse with age so I am glad I fixed it.now!
I got my 2nd set of trays on Monday and my Carriere appliance was removed. My bottom teeth look pretty good from round one, and now that I have a full tray on the top, we can get my top teeth looking better. They look so bad right now, but I hear sometimes it has to look worse before it looks better. I was the lucky recipient of more attachments and some fresh hell new kind of torture. Instead of hooking the elastics into the upper trays, now I have hooks on my upper canines made of the same material as the attachments. The left side isn't bothering me, but the right one is slicing the fuck out of my lip. I have a ball of wax over it when I'm not eating, but eating is painful right now when the wax comes off.
I got my 2nd set of trays on Monday and my Carriere appliance was removed. My bottom teeth look pretty good from round one, and now that I have a full tray on the top, we can get my top teeth looking better. They look so bad right now, but I hear sometimes it has to look worse before it looks better. I was the lucky recipient of more attachments and some fresh hell new kind of torture. Instead of hooking the elastics into the upper trays, now I have hooks on my upper canines made of the same material as the attachments. The left side isn't bothering me, but the right one is slicing the fuck out of my lip. I have a ball of wax over it when I'm not eating, but eating is painful right now when the wax comes off.
Ow, that sounds really painful.
I just got my refinement trays on Monday, with new attachments. I used to have regular class 2 elastics, like these:
I am now doing triangle elastics, with two buttons on the bottom (one old, one newly added) on each side, and then they go up to my upper canine tray. Like this, but obviously with Invisalign:
I am not amused with how visible the new ugly metal buttons are, that are close to the front of my mouth. "Invisible," my ass.
The fact of the triangle elastics was not a huge surprise. My top canines did not track exactly in my original course of treatment, so the hope is that this will pull them down a little more where they (cosmetically) should be. But OMFG, I am in so much pain from the stupid elastics. They had me do the triangle with the same strength/size elastics that I used to wear as straight class 2, but now they're in a much larger pattern so they're much tighter. I tried, and I just can't do it. Today I'm trying with lighter/bigger elastics that I had leftover from when I first started with elastics at the beginning to see if I can tolerate those.
I'm also struggling with Invisalign + pregnancy. I can't take Advil or a glass of wine to help with the pain (even just to help me fall asleep). I'm also more congested than usual, again, a normal thing in pregnancy, but it's really hard to sleep when you're congested, can't take meds for it, and have rubber bands that pull your top and bottom teeth fully together. I can't breathe, it's misery.
I'm also kind of pissed that at my last appointment my orthodontist was all breezy, "oh, you're almost done, it'll be no more than 10 trays, probably more like 8!" (It's 10, the max my orthodontist ok'ed.) I specifically asked for no attachments on my front teeth, after having 9 straight across the top (+8 on the bottom) last time. "Oh, no problem!" (I have new 2 attachments on the same front tooth!) I hate that they make these representations, and then you show up and the trays are already in, and you're there for attachment application, and it's like ... this is not what I agreed to! But there's nothing you can do about it. A phone call when the ortho reviews Invisalign's treatment plan would go such a long way.
I will finish my 10 refinement trays on 2/12, if I make it that long without giving up. My open bite is closed now, so this is just perfectionism in action. I'm pretty sure I'm going to stop after this refinement, no 2nd round. I will be 24 weeks pregnant, and I'm pretty sure I'm going to be totally over it (I already am). Plus if I waited another month for another refinement round to come in, I'd be starting that round as I begin 3rd tri. That sounds awful.
rxbeth , mine isn't one of those exciting before & afters to look at, because I was fixing bite problems more so than straightness. But I'm happy to share nonetheless. Here are the befores, taken by my orthodontist's office. I started treatment because I was having trouble eating pizza, sandwiches, etc. with that open bite, and it was getting worse. It's totally closed now, and I'm just pulling upper canines down for cosmetic reasons and tweaking the position of certain molars for optimal bite.
Susie, I think the new attachment-like hooks on my canines are there because they blend better than the metal buttons. Honestly, I'd rather have the metal buttons for my elastics on top. At least the metal would be a little smoother.
How often do your elastics break while in your mouth? I have to be careful when using force 2 bands because if I open my mouth too wide, the elastic will break and shoot across the room.
Susie , I think the new attachment-like hooks on my canines are there because they blend better than the metal buttons. Honestly, I'd rather have the metal buttons for my elastics on top. At least the metal would be a little smoother.
How often do your elastics break while in your mouth? I have to be careful when using force 2 bands because if I open my mouth too wide, the elastic will break and shoot across the room.
I guess it's 6 of one, half dozen of the other. The buttons cut up the insides of my mouth too. I have wax this time for the new buttons, which helps some when I am not eating, although when I'm eating is when I'm most likely to cut myself. The peroxyl mouthwash is really my most helpful tool for dealing with cuts and sores.
I haven't had elastics break in my mouth yet. I've only shot them across the room putting them in/out.
I got my 2nd set of trays on Monday and my Carriere appliance was removed. My bottom teeth look pretty good from round one, and now that I have a full tray on the top, we can get my top teeth looking better. They look so bad right now, but I hear sometimes it has to look worse before it looks better. I was the lucky recipient of more attachments and some fresh hell new kind of torture. Instead of hooking the elastics into the upper trays, now I have hooks on my upper canines made of the same material as the attachments. The left side isn't bothering me, but the right one is slicing the fuck out of my lip. I have a ball of wax over it when I'm not eating, but eating is painful right now when the wax comes off.
That sounds awful. I am not a fan of my attachments; they are tricky to navigate when I am eating because they're on my molars. I have ulcers on the insides of my cheeks from them. I can't imagine having hooks like you do!
Post by claudiakishi on Nov 8, 2018 10:29:45 GMT -5
Susie, that is a dramatic improvement in your bite! Very impressive. I also cannot see your attachments in the photos if it makes you feel any better. I am anticipating elastics soon to correct my midline and overbite and am not looking forward to it. My attachments only bother me when I have the trays off; luckily when the tray is on my cheeks are protected. Hang in there! You're so close to being done!
I went for a consult last month. Growing up I never had any orthodontics but one of my front teeth is a bit turned and I have crowding on the bottom. He agreed my teeth aren't in bad shape and any Invisalign would be purely for cosmetics. He told me I would change trays weekly for 18 months! That sounds ridiculously excessive compared to the times I'm seeing on here. I almost cried. I haven't called them back.
18 months doesn't sound crazy to me. I was originally quoted 15-18 and now my ortho says 12-15, so we'll see. I am still counting on 18 months so I don't set myself up for disappointment. I switched every week in the beginning and now am every two weeks. It just depends on how your teeth track.
I started 3 months ago so I don't have a great before and after yet, but I found a lot of great photos and resources on Instagram.
I have no regrets so far. It's kind of a pain to take them out to eat and do the whole brushing thing multiple times a day, but I've gotten used to it and overall it has not greatly affected my every day life. Sometimes I forget they are in! I wish I had done it sooner - I had my first consult in November 2017, if I had started then instead of worrying about it so much, I'd be close to the end by now. Ugh!
I did a TON of research before, and knew that attachments and rubber bands were going to happen. My ortho was upfront about that as well, which is why I chose her. So far I have not been caught off guard with any of it.
rxbeth, here are some not so great before and afters. My issues were both on bottom and top.
Bottom- I had a huge snuggle tooth that was almost entirely behind my row of teeth.
Top- I had some pushing in on the right side of my mouth (back two teeth in the photo) and then some uneven length (long front teeth with short next to those and then long canines- see above photo for that)
Here is my after. I love it. Was worth every week (48) and penny (HCOL-$5000).
Bumping the thread since I went and got scanned for my trays today.
I’m nervous about doing it still but I’m tired of my teeth shifting and the gap between my top front teeth.
I did ask how many attachments I’ll have but he said he won’t know until he gets the models back (I can’t remember the actual word he used). He said he tries to keep them to a minimum so fingers crossed I don’t have a mouth full of them.
Susie, as an orthodontist, I'm impressed! Especially keeping things up while pregnant. I had a pregnant patient who could no longer tolerate the trays after her pregnancy and she had to stop.
Somewhat related - At this time in my life, I know I could not keep up with the compliance my Invisalign patients require. I just started a patient in lingual braces and if I had to get orthodontic treatment right now with the craziness that comes with 2 young needy kids, lingual braces is what I would do.
Thanks sent! I'm now 16.5 weeks pregnant and on refinement tray 5/10... it's still hard but I'm still doing it! Getting past the 1st tri nausea helps immensely.
I'm just getting over my first major cold since starting Invisalign, and the combination of no decongestants because I'm pregnant, and no cough drops because of Invisalign is awful. Things I won't take for granted in the future!