18 Years Old, Just Some Overcrowding That I Wanted to Get Started Fixing Before College! - Glen Ridge, NJ

The first few days were rough, and I honestly regretted my decision at first. But after the first week my mouth no longer hurt, the cuts quickly healed, and I find that my oral hygiene has improved a lot as well because I need to brush and floss before putting them in again. Overall I love it because nobody even notices I have it! I did have a terrible lisp the first 4 or 5 days but after that it's completely gone. I find it very helpful to use a nail file to soften the sharp edges at the open part of the trays to prevent cuts and sores before putting them in for the two week duration.

I am three weeks into my treatment and on my second set of trays. Next week I am scheduled to go into my dentist's office to get tray three and to have my attachments put on. I recently found out that these attachments do not go into the tray but are glued on to your teeth! I am definitely skeptical of this as I had no idea, and I am worried that they will be obvious when my trays are not only in, but out as well.

When I do go out on a saturday night I take out my trays and what I loved about invisalign was that nobody would ever know that I had it, they would just slowly notice that my teeth were straighter. Now I'm scared that they'll see the attachments and have no clue what they are. I have a friend who has some kind of hard thing on one of her teeth and I'm not really sure if it is plaque build up or something else (I've never wanted to ask), but I don't want people to think that about me.

I have fairly white teeth and have begun using a whitening toothpaste and mouthwash to make sure the trays never make my teeth appear yellow. My dentist also mentioned that putting bleach in the trays to whiten teeth is included in my treatment if I wanted it. Now I'm worried that when I take the attachments off, there will be yellow spots, kind of like why they tell you not to whiten when you have metal, traditional braces.

I wish I had taken a better look at my ClinCheck (the play by play of how your teeth will move and change every week), so that I could remember where the attachments go and how long they stay on for. I'll ask my dentist when I see him next week for the attachments, I'm just really hoping they don't stay on for long because I really don't want yellow spots or to have these weird plastic things glued to my teeth for almost a year!

I am very happy to have gotten invisalign because my sister has metal braces and I didn't want to be the one with bad teeth. I am also British and I hate the stereotype of bad teeth, so I know this will boost my confidence a lot. Invisailgn will be so worth it, but going to college and making a good first impression with people in the fall is very important to me as well.

P.S.- I forgot to post a photo on the right side of my mouth without trays last time so I'll add it here.

I literally just got back from my dentist's office and received trays 3, 4, and 5 as well as my semi permanent attachments which I will have until December and the end of my invisalign treatment. As I was in the waiting room, I was reading some of the reviews on this site for attachments and it made me extremely nervous. However, I can say with extreme confidence that this in office procedure was absolutely painless and I was not uncomfortable at all.

The whole process took about 15 minutes tops, and I had 12 buttons/attachments put on. I read that people experience extreme sensitivity or discomfort during or afterwards, and I felt none of this. I didn't even feel them putting the attachments onto my teeth, I just felt them blowing air and water onto my teeth. Although I'm not thrilled with how they look (but who would be?), it could be a lot worse and I know that it will be extremely worth it in the end.

The color of the attachments match my teeth pretty well, but for some reason the attachments are more noticeable and much whiter than my teeth on the right side of my mouth. This may just be because those are are where my most crooked tooth is though. I was worried that because I have started using whitening toothpaste and mouthwash that the buttons/attachments would look yellow on my teeth, but it's a little of the opposite. I'm happy with this because I know that if I continue to use the whitening toothpaste and mouthwash that it will lead my teeth to match the attachments more. Also, my dentist assures me that whitening with buttons is absolutely fine and won't leave any marks if I'm just using toothpaste and mouthwash, and that even people with braces shouldn't be worried, although I'm still a bit concerned.

The only real problem I am having is taking the trays out and putting them back in. I find that using my nail to pull the back of the trays is the best way, because I can easily pull them off from there. I feel like the attachments will come off every time I do this, but my dentist assures me that most people who have problems with buttons have them immediately upon getting them. If one of them falls off, he says its not a huge deal and to notify him if it does.

Another thing that I don't think I'll get used to is how the attachments feel without the trays. They feel kind of gritty and some people experience sharpness and say it causes their gums pain. If this happens to you its probably a positive because you'll be more motivated to wear your aligners often. I'm hoping that some brushing will take away the gritty feeling! I am also please to report that the attachments are much less noticeable without the retainers on. Although I wished they wouldn't be too noticeable with the aligners on (because they're on the majority of the time) , they are on my right canine, and the others are too if I smile wide enough, but I usually don't smile that way lol. However, it's really not too bad and anybody who already knows you have invisalign wouldn't notice.

Finally, I don't feel any real pain, just a little discomfort from the trays being kind of tight. I actually left my second set of trays at a diner yesterday during lunch (!) so getting a new set today saved me $150! I wasn't as good about wearing my second set of trays as I was with my first, and I can tell by the tightness of tray three, although the buttons may have added to that. I have a bit of a lisp again, but I'm confident that will subside just like it did the first time. The pain or discomfort after attachments is nothing compared to the initial pain I had when I began the invisalign process.

Sorry for such a long post but I know I searched for tons of attachment reviews before I got them. Feel free to leave any questions or comments! I love sharing my invisalign story and getting pointers or feedback from others!