“My Invisalign Journey - Culpeper, VA”

First I want to say that I am waiting to decide on my rating. I am 46 years old and had traditional braces about 20 years ago, but had a tooth bumped (child's head) which moved slightly and some significant relapse of my bite. I will update my journey here and give a final rating when treatment is complete.

Updated on 1 Jun 2011:
Today is June 1st, 2011 and I received my first set of aligners one week ago today. I am scheduled for 12 aligners top and 12 aligners bottom for a 24 week course of treatment with refinements as necessary. When I went in last week they gave me only the first set of aligners instructing me wear them for a week "as is" to get used to them and then come back in a week for attachments. I was hoping for only one or two, but ended up with 11 attachments. The process of having the attachments put on was not painful, but slightly uncomfortable, particularly because my teeth are a little sensative. They basically sandblasted my teeth to rough them up, then applied a hard composite, dried it with a light and the aligners now hook to those when worn. I was a little upset that they had to scuff up the veneers on my front teeth, but my Dr. has promised when its all said and done that he has a buffer that will take out the scratches and polish them back up, we'll have to wait to see on that one. I also believe that he did some filing between my teeth, he didn't say that he was doing it, but he had some sort of drill like tool running it between my teeth and it looks like there is a little space now where he did that, where there used to be crowding. Not too happy about that either, my teeth are on the small side to begin with. Right now the attachments don't look too bad and match my tooth color very closely, but I drink a lot of tea and I'm a smoker, so again I'll have to wait to see how discolored they might get over the next 6 months. Invisalign is definately NOT invisible. Big difference in how it feels with the attachments on, the first week was a breeze barely any pressure at all, but the attachments make it feel more like your mouth is in a vise. I'm sure it will get better in a day or two. I already feel a slight change in my bite in just the first week even without the attachments. The attachments make it very difficult to remove the aligners and I was actually afraid the top ones were going to pull my veneers off with them the one time I've taken them off so far. I won't be taking them off more than necessary, but I hope that too loosens up in a few days.

Updated on 13 Jun 2011:
6/13/2011 I'm one week down on the second set of trays. They were kind of hard to get off the first day but after that they were fine. They do have a little spot though that is hurting the bottom of my tongue, so I took a new unused Pedi Paws (you know those things that are supposed to file dog nails) to it, and it seemed to smooth it out enough that my tongue is healing. Some days I think I notice some movement already and others I don't. I think right now they are just spacing them out a little and then going to bring them back into place. There is definately more room between them when I floss, but when I compare pictures they almost seem more crooked. I'm anxious to get to the point that I KNOW they are working.

Updated on 28 Jun 2011:
June 28, 2011, I'm now on week 5 tray number 3. I'm quite certain things are getting worse, but I talked to my orthodontist and he has assured me its not uncommon for things to get worse before they get better. I see him tomorrow for my 6 week check-up, hopefully he'll tell me everything is on course. What I'm terrified of is getting through the 24 weeks and finding out I need anther 30 weeks of refinement. I'm also disappointed that I seem to be the only person that has never gotten to view their clincheck, I think I would feel much better if I could see what was supposed to be happening along the way, hopefully he'll let me see it tomorrow.

Updated on 20 Jul 2011:
I started tray 5 last night, still not convinced this is all going to come together with just 8 more trays. But I did get to see my clincheck at my last appointment after practically having to insist, and what I learned from that is that there are two trays number 6 & number 9 that seem to make big adjustments to my bite, so I'm anxiously waiting on those. I then discussed the possiblility of refinements with my ortho, and basically they have said all along to expect them, but then he said something I wasn't expecting. He said "oh, we may just end up having to leave your bite a little open", I didn't say anything, but I was thinking, "Oh no we won't", this is the second time I'm wearing braces, I didn't need that much movement and I'm not settling for anything less than an accuate bite after $10,000 for two rounds of braces. I could have just gotten a couple of veneers and been done if I hadn't wanted my bite right. I guess I'll cross that bridge when we get there, it may be that I am willing to accept what may not be perfection to an orthodontist when I see and feel it, but I think I should be the one to make that decision, not him.

Updated on 16 Aug 2011:
Well, I've just completed my 2 weeks with tray 6 which is supposedly halfway there, and so far I am less than impressed (see photo). I have to wait until tomorrow to pick up trays 7-9, so I've still got to wear tray 6 for another day, but it doesn't seem to be doing anything further at this point but acting as a retainer. I will be quite disappointed if I don't see some major improvement in the next 12 weeks after spendig $5K for a second round of braces, that's $10K total I have invested so far in trying to get things right. I'm kind of mentally preparing for a long revision period, because I am not accepting something that the ortho sees as a minor correction as a completed treatment plan, this is it for me, he needs to get it right.

Updated on 28 Aug 2011:
Well, I'm 14 weeks of 24 in now, and I still can't say that at this point that I feel the over $5K I spent is worth it yet. I'm starting to regret it and wishing I had put that same $5K towards some purely cosmetic work, as I'm seeing little if any improvement of my bite, and my teeth were already straight for the most part, now it seems sometimes like the two front teeth are jutting out like rabbit's teeth. I'll remain patient and make my final determination when its complete.

Updated on 8 Oct 2011:
Well, its October now and I'm almost finished with tray 10 of 12 upper and lower. If you can overlook the color of my teeth (which I know I need to do something about) for long enough to look at the alignment and bite, while you will see it has changed slightly, I'm of the opinion at this point that it has been the biggest waste of $5,000 that I have ever experienced in my life. The primary issue that I decided to embark on this journey was because I was tired of seeing my tongue protrude when smiling in pictures. I told my othordontist that I was trying to decide between doing braces for a second time (my bite was closed after the first round but I neglected my retainer) and they showed me beautiful pictures of the final anticipated result after 12 aligners top and bottom. I realize that doesn't change the color, but I at least expected my tongue to not show through my open bite as it did in the beginning (which it didn't after my initial round of braces 20 years ago). I've suggested that maybe I need rubber bands again (although I'd like to avoid it if possible), but I'm not sure he knows how to do that with Invisalign. My bite is funky now and I see really little if any improvement for over $5,000. I will continue to update, but unless my refinement period is going to have at least as many if not more aligners than my initial treatment, I'm not seeing how I'm going to end up happy or finding this treatment to be worthwhile. I could have taken that same money and gotten a few more veneers and I'm certain I would have been much happier at this point.

Updated on 16 May 2012:
Well, its been about a year since I started what was supposed to be a 6 month invisalign journey, and I've decided to come back and give my final impression. I'm voting Not Worth it. As stated in a prior post, after I was not happy with the 6 month Invisalign treatment (which was my second round of braces in 20 years, so we weren't even starting from scratch), we decided to go with ceramic braces with tad implants on the top for 6 months, and then finish top and bottom with Invisalign for another 6 months. I had an ortho appointment today, and as I was getting excited that hopefully all the gear would be out of my mouth by my next appointment, my ortho informed me that while I was making good progress with the ceramics, if we switched back to Invisalign next month I was likely looking at another year of treatment, where as if we just kept the course and added ceramic to the bottom as well, I'd be done in 6 months. Being that Invisalign is not truely invisible and it would mean having more buttons put on my teeth I made the decision to follow his suggestion and continue with the ceramics top and bottom. Wish I had made this decision a year ago and I'd have been done by now. This is just my experience and I know there are many others that are quite happy with Invisalign. I think my ortho summed it up quite fairly, he said "Invisalign is a mediocre product and I am a complicated case". I think if you need anything more than simple alignment you should seriously consider althernatives rather than wasting your time with Invisalign. Good luck all!