Today, I made the difficult decision between Invisalign and Clear Correct. I've spent countless hours reading positive and negative reviews on the Invisalign product. When I learned about the Clear Correct option, I just felt more at ease about making the committment. I've outline below WHY I chose Clear Correct over other options.
I have crowding on the lower jawline and a big gap in my front teeth as well as a significant overbit (maybe even overjet since it sticks out there pretty far). At 59 years old, I wanted to FINALLY have a great smile. When the bonding and a gold onlay fell out recently, I thought NOW is the time.
Dr. Frye is awesome; very gentle and felt that I am a good candidate for the procedure. As things progress, I'll keep everyone informed. Also will upload photos as soon as received from the DDS.
If you are considering Invisalign, do yourself an favor and check out the Clear Correct.....you find it a CLEAR CHOICE! :-)
Clear Correct - My Clear Solution! - Lexington, NC
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DZappala
- Worth It
- Cost: $4,500
- Sarah Frye, DDS, Lexington, NC
Today, I made the difficult decision between...
03/28/13 - Still waiting to hear from the Dr....
03/28/13 - Still waiting to hear from the Dr. Sarah Frye's office as to when my Phase Zero is going to be arriving. Also have been working on cutting back on the coffee at work since I won't have such a hard time of giving it up when the trays come in! Also waiting for the DDS to send me beginning pics to share! More to come
04/04/2013 - Still waiting...the longer I wait the...
04/04/2013 - Still waiting...the longer I wait the more negative comments I find about Clear Correct. Would like to see some POSITIVE postings about people's experiences!
04/09 - Today I've posted one of the many pictures...
04/09 - Today I've posted one of the many pictures that my dentist's office forwarded to me. As you can see, there are significant gaps, overbite or overjet and just plain old misalignment. I'm waiting for my Phase Zero tray to come. I hope it gets here soon!!
04/28/13 - It took about 3 weeks for me to receive...
04/28/13 - It took about 3 weeks for me to receive my Phase 0 trays and clincheck. All I can say is that I am so thrilled at the prospective outcome! This is the third day of using my Phase 0 trays and my excitement seems to grow daily as I think that I'm another day closer to my next set of trays! It appears right now that I'll have about 24 trays x 3 weeks = 72 weeks of constant teeth care, but if my teeth turnout anything like the clincheck shows, I will be a VERY happy person.
Here's what I've noticed so far: The first two days, I found myself exploring how these trays feel in my mouth - as if it was a involuntary reaction to these foreign matters being in my mouth. So much so, that my tongue is sore and I've had a couple of cuts at the very inner top of my lips and under my tongue. It started hurting so badly under my tongue that I took a nail file and filed down the little ridge left by the laser dye cutter and it helped tremendously! The other thing I've noticed is that you get VERY thirsty. I've committed myself to only drink water as instructed when the trays are in. That meant I had a terrific caffeine withdrawal headache the first couple of days - which isn't really a bad thing if I am stopping another bad habit of too much coffee and diet soda!
I'm expecting that I will also lose weight as I go through this. My teeth were very sore the first few days-to the point where I couldn't bite off anything, but rather cut or broke food into bite size pieces so that I could chew them Since my overjet is the most severe part of my bite, that made sense that the front teeth are the ones being aligned first (that's the reason for the extra sensitivity). When I found myself wanting a snack I've already convinced myself that it isn't worth the hassle of taking my trays out, then cleaning them, flossing and brushing my teeth over a snack I didn't need in the first place.
Please do not think these are negatives...but just honest actions and reactions to my first few days. I'm sure as time goes on, that I won't even notice them in my mouth other than the time when you switch to a new set of trays. All in all, I am still very happy and look forward to the progression! There's more to come, including the before/after pics from my clincheck so you can see what will be happening!
Here's what I've noticed so far: The first two days, I found myself exploring how these trays feel in my mouth - as if it was a involuntary reaction to these foreign matters being in my mouth. So much so, that my tongue is sore and I've had a couple of cuts at the very inner top of my lips and under my tongue. It started hurting so badly under my tongue that I took a nail file and filed down the little ridge left by the laser dye cutter and it helped tremendously! The other thing I've noticed is that you get VERY thirsty. I've committed myself to only drink water as instructed when the trays are in. That meant I had a terrific caffeine withdrawal headache the first couple of days - which isn't really a bad thing if I am stopping another bad habit of too much coffee and diet soda!
I'm expecting that I will also lose weight as I go through this. My teeth were very sore the first few days-to the point where I couldn't bite off anything, but rather cut or broke food into bite size pieces so that I could chew them Since my overjet is the most severe part of my bite, that made sense that the front teeth are the ones being aligned first (that's the reason for the extra sensitivity). When I found myself wanting a snack I've already convinced myself that it isn't worth the hassle of taking my trays out, then cleaning them, flossing and brushing my teeth over a snack I didn't need in the first place.
Please do not think these are negatives...but just honest actions and reactions to my first few days. I'm sure as time goes on, that I won't even notice them in my mouth other than the time when you switch to a new set of trays. All in all, I am still very happy and look forward to the progression! There's more to come, including the before/after pics from my clincheck so you can see what will be happening!
So Far So Good!
As of today, I'm about 1/2 way on my Phase 1 tray. I love the flexibility of being able to take the trays out; and I've adapted fairly easily to having to brush and floss after meals and certain drinks.
There has already been movement between the Phase 0 and Phase 1 trays. The gap in my front teeth are showing some signs of closure, but what I've found most is that my molars are moving more and correcting my bite. I'm VERY excited about that.
Changing trays from 0 to 1 was tight but not as bad as when I first put in the Phase 0 trays....maybe I just knew what to expect. I took some Motrin when I put the trays in and that was about it. Sure, you have pain/sensitive in your teeth and find that chewing crunching things are hard to do without some pain, but MY TEETH are moving, so what would I expect. Phase 2 starts June 5....then the next Phase I will get some of the buttons or whatever they call them in Clear Correct land...that will be interesting
My dentist, Dr. Sarah Frye, said that if I found a sharp edge it was perfectly fine to file it down for comfort sake...so all is well!
There has already been movement between the Phase 0 and Phase 1 trays. The gap in my front teeth are showing some signs of closure, but what I've found most is that my molars are moving more and correcting my bite. I'm VERY excited about that.
Changing trays from 0 to 1 was tight but not as bad as when I first put in the Phase 0 trays....maybe I just knew what to expect. I took some Motrin when I put the trays in and that was about it. Sure, you have pain/sensitive in your teeth and find that chewing crunching things are hard to do without some pain, but MY TEETH are moving, so what would I expect. Phase 2 starts June 5....then the next Phase I will get some of the buttons or whatever they call them in Clear Correct land...that will be interesting
My dentist, Dr. Sarah Frye, said that if I found a sharp edge it was perfectly fine to file it down for comfort sake...so all is well!
My Clincheck
Here's the estimated changes I'm expecting in 24 trays (give or take any adjustments). Although the clarity of the copied pictures of the clincheck do not do it justice, I think you get the idea!
Time FLIES!
Here I am on Phase 1C with my Clear Correct. This is my first set with "engagers" (most commonly called buttons in the Invisalign blogs). The first couple of days are always painful; not so bad that I can't stand it. I take a couple of Motrin before I put them in and sleep through the most of it. I do find that biting down to eat is difficult. Most times now I just cut things into bite size pieces.
Ellen, my personal Clear Correct tech at the Dr. Sarah Frye's office is SIMPLY AWESOME! It may have taken me 59 years to get to this point, but I am already seeing some great results. My back molars are already aligning well and all I've had is Phase 0, Phase 1a and 1b (current on 1c). That's 10 weeks so far.
This is DEFINATELY worth it!
Ellen, my personal Clear Correct tech at the Dr. Sarah Frye's office is SIMPLY AWESOME! It may have taken me 59 years to get to this point, but I am already seeing some great results. My back molars are already aligning well and all I've had is Phase 0, Phase 1a and 1b (current on 1c). That's 10 weeks so far.
This is DEFINATELY worth it!
Tray 4A and well on my way
Teeth are moving nicely. Lowers are almost completely aligned. I know I keep saying I'll take more pics, but just never seem to have the time.
If you have any questions, I will be happy to answer them honestly for your.
One thing I do want to do is tell you how much I miss my old dental assistant! She's going on a mission trip and is pursuing a different path for her life. Ellen, if you see this, I miss you and love you much! Thank you for taking such good care of me.
I'm very lucky that I have a great dentist, Dr. Sarah Frye, so Marsha is my new assistant and my first visit without Ellen when great. I look forward to the day when I can go to the retainer! More to come!
If you have any questions, I will be happy to answer them honestly for your.
One thing I do want to do is tell you how much I miss my old dental assistant! She's going on a mission trip and is pursuing a different path for her life. Ellen, if you see this, I miss you and love you much! Thank you for taking such good care of me.
I'm very lucky that I have a great dentist, Dr. Sarah Frye, so Marsha is my new assistant and my first visit without Ellen when great. I look forward to the day when I can go to the retainer! More to come!
Update April 2014 - Almost the 1 Year Mark
I know this isn't the best picture, but I'm sure you can see that the spaces that were very prevalent in the original photos are now all properly aligned in the bottom. I will need some adjustments to the uppers still, but after almost one year, the lowers are aligned, no spaces and chewing food is much easier with the molars all in alignment!
The VERY top of the two front teeth are actually touching!! You may not see the big improvement, but I use to be able to hold the center of a toothpick in that gap...but NO LONGER.
You can also see in this picture the small engagers. I would say that 99% of the people I speak to on a daily basis never know about me having anything in my mouth.
Halfway and feeling GREAT!!! The best thing about Clear Correct is that if there are any corrections needed "mid course", you are wasting all the trays since they make and send only a few at a time. With Invisalign, they make all the trays at once - if your teeth don't move as anticipated, its a major ordeal to make a course correction. With Clear Correct, my back right molars are not wanting to move and anticipated, so we did an upper tray impression and I will have the new tray in a week or two. In the meantime, I am continuing to wear the last tray on the top and my new tray on the lowers.
Does this upset me?? No not really - after all, no computer can actually determine exactly how my teeth are going to respond or defy pressure here or there. I'm still pleased with being able to chew on BOTH sides of my mouth....something I've NEVER done in my life! Just as my blog title says - Clear Correct is MY CLEAR SOLUTION!
The VERY top of the two front teeth are actually touching!! You may not see the big improvement, but I use to be able to hold the center of a toothpick in that gap...but NO LONGER.
You can also see in this picture the small engagers. I would say that 99% of the people I speak to on a daily basis never know about me having anything in my mouth.
Halfway and feeling GREAT!!! The best thing about Clear Correct is that if there are any corrections needed "mid course", you are wasting all the trays since they make and send only a few at a time. With Invisalign, they make all the trays at once - if your teeth don't move as anticipated, its a major ordeal to make a course correction. With Clear Correct, my back right molars are not wanting to move and anticipated, so we did an upper tray impression and I will have the new tray in a week or two. In the meantime, I am continuing to wear the last tray on the top and my new tray on the lowers.
Does this upset me?? No not really - after all, no computer can actually determine exactly how my teeth are going to respond or defy pressure here or there. I'm still pleased with being able to chew on BOTH sides of my mouth....something I've NEVER done in my life! Just as my blog title says - Clear Correct is MY CLEAR SOLUTION!
1. Overall cost is much more affordable 2. You receive a Phase Zero aligner you can use for bleaching plus you know that the initial impressions were good BEFORE they make thirty aligners. 3. Intermittent alinger production by the factory so that if adjustments are needed midway during the process you aren't wasting all the aligners that won't fit. 4. Actual models are made for each phase of aligner. If I lose or break one, the dentist office can recreate immediately instead of waiting for Invisalign to recreate. 5. Product deliver is quicker due to the product being made right here in the good ole USA!
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It would be helpful to see more recent pictures. I found the ClinCheck a little difficult to see. Is there still an overjet projected in your final results or is that an artifact of the graininess?
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