Just Started with Invisalign - Attachments Noticable

Having read your post above, alarm bells started to ring. I too had no or very little pain with my aligners, until I had a mid course correction (only 14 or so weeks in), when the second set of aligners didn't fit properly at the top. This caused the flesh of my inside upper lip to get caught in the aligner and made them extremely uncomfortable. Several months down the road, it became apparent that Invisalign wasn't working for me and the ill-fitting of the aligners at the top was because they simply were not correcting (and indeed COULD not correct) the problem with my top teeth. I'm only mentioning this to you as 84 weeks for an Invisalign treatment is the longest I have ever heard of, and I just wanted to say: Are you with an orthodontist or a dentist? If you're with a dentist (cosmetic or otherwise), go and pay NOW for a second opinion from an orthodontist regarding the projected outcome. Go to an orthodontist who also offers Invisalign then he will have a good understanding and experience of the possibilities. If ANY of your teeth need significantly rotating, it is unlikely that Invisalign will do the job. Sorry to sound like a doom-merchant: of course I hope it goes smoothly and successfully for you, and you may well already be with an orthodontist who knows what he's doing and is confident of the outcome. Too many people on here, however, went - like me- to a dentist and went on to regret it (and on to traditional braces!). Good luck.

Hmm intresting... thanks for your post Jude. I am acutally w/a dentist right now - however i did get a second opinion w/an orthodontist (he indicated that my case was reasonable as he has seen other ones like mine work out. I decided to go w/the dentist b/c the price was $1000 less then the ortho for the same treatement! I am going to try to be optamistic about my treatment, as no teeth need rotation, just need to be aligned... Will keep my blog here posted to inform others of how its working... so far my biggest disspointment has been that the attachments on top are visible.

Very interesting. I started mine 2 days ago and was shocked when I saw the attachments on my teeth (I was told they would be invisible). The worst thing though is that the attachments are really sharp and point upwards, so when I'm taking the aligners out if feels like I'm pulling my teeth out! I'm hoping that they wear down a bit - could anyone confirm if they do please??? They also cut my mouth when I'm eating, but again, hopefully they'll wear down. I can cope with the aching, as I know it's working then! But I really don't like the agony of pulling them out at the moment! Looks like I might have to file them down if they don't naturally wear themselves!

Yes, the attachments take some getting used to, but they will get easier/smoother. I remember mine being very rough and sharp at first and I too cut my mouth when eating, but I got used to them (learned to chew differently, I think). I discovered when taking the aligners out that if I pulled them slightly toward the outside of my mouth (i.e. forwards) it encourage them to "pop" over and off the aligners, rather than just pulling downwards which is extremely uncomfortable on teeth which are already aching, isn't it? I really wouldn't recommend filing down your attachments as it is these which make the aligner fit and pull on your teeth and achieve the movement - just persevere, they will get smoother and if they haven't smoothed off a bit by your next visit get your dentist to take a look at them. Good luck!

Mit78: For my attachments, my dentist made sure they wre sharp or pointy after he put them on.. so he filled it down until it was comfortable for me... and yes, it still fits with my aligners. My dentist showed me a trick as to how to take them off (he has them himself so he knows how it is)... basicaly you need to take the allighers out of their location at the last tooth on one side of your mouth, then do the same on the other side... once that's loose, go to where the attachment is on your teeth and take out out at a forward angle. This seems to work out quite well for me. I am on week 7 now, and i know it's working because my teeth aren't alligned the same way as they were. ALso, my jaw has slight discomfort as the teeth are moving. I have a long time to go, but no real isses w/it so far.. knock on wood! As i mentioed in my first post, my real dissapointment has been w/my attachments in the top teeth are very visible!