Invisalign: Stories

I decided to finally get Invisalign around August of 2012 at the age of 26. Braces weren't a priority for me growing up as my teeth were not considered that crooked and it would have been for 'cosmetic' purposes. Fast forward a decade or so later, and my teeth have gotten more crowded over time and some of them are starting to show premature wear. I was advised that the crowding would only get worse over time, so I decided to take the plunge with Invisalign as I figured since my case wasn't that bad it likely wouldn't take very long. Unfortunately, my treatment is slated for 23 trays (or 11.5 months), and I have fifteen attachments, including two on one of my front teeth.

Luckily the two attachments on my front tooth aren't on my crooked front tooth which has annoyed me (especially in photos) for forever and is 50% of the reason I want to straighten my teeth! My bottom four teeth aren't great either and it's pretty much my dream to see them perfectly lined up.

Right now I am on tray #6 and I haven't noticed much of a difference so far. My first two trays did not have attachments and the movements were minor, so that is likely why. However, it's a bit frustrating since I'm 10 weeks in and there hasn't been much progress! For the most part I try to be diligent about keeping them in for 20-22 hours, but it can be hard when I'm out with friends on a weekend night.

As for my cost.. it was $5500 USD and insurance covered $2000.

I'll try to post another update in a few weeks when there is (hopefully) some noticeable movement!

Now that I'm on tray 8 I'm finally starting to notice some changes, especially in my top teeth. My two front teeth seem to be straightening out a bit, and the teeth next to them are starting to push out rather than appear clenched inward. The bottom four still have a ways to go, but I'm assuming that's because they were much more crowded to begin with. I'm attaching a before/after pic that shows where my teeth are at at this point.

So I am now on tray #16 and definitely starting to see results. My bottom teeth are still not where I'd like them to be but I'm hoping they will improve a lot by the time I am finished (23 trays total). The only really annoying thing now is that both of my previous two trays (14 and 15) have cracked in nearly the same spot, forcing me to switch to the next tray a few days (or an entire week) early. I don't know how bad this will be in the long run, and if it will mean refinements are necessary. They appear to be cracking around one rather large attachment on one of my back upper teeth. I'm trying to be more careful and dislodge them from the back, but it's difficult when I'm in public and trying to be discrete.

The other slightly annoying thing is my aligners started to protrude from one of my upper canines to the point where my attachment had to be shaved down to get them to fit again. Then the issue was that tooth stopped rotating to the extent it shoul. My ortho used a metal clamp of some sort to 'tweak' the trays and exert more pressure on that tooth, but I'm still concerned that will cause me to need refinements in the end (can you tell I'm sick of dealing with the trays?). I really shouldn't complain too much though; I'm actually starting to see some results at this point and it's awesome!

I just switched to tray 18/23 yesterday, and so far so good. My trays aren't fitting as perfectly as they probably should be - one of my canines isn't rotating as much as it should and there are a couple of small gaps on my bottom front teeth between the enamel and the tray. Overall though, my progress is going pretty well and I hope I'm on track to be finished with everything soon. I have a follow-up with my ortho at tray 20 and at that point we'll decide if it's better to just do a mid-course correction (which counts as 1 of my 2 refinements) rather than wait until tray 23 is complete to begin that process as not to waste time. I'm pretty happy with my results so far, though! Even though my case wasn't one of the worst out there, I still think I have made a ton of progress since I started last September!