The Jury is Still Out..... - Norfolk, VA

I'm an Invisalign newby - about 3 weeks, and on my second set of trays. I'm a male in my early 50's, and have had severe crowding issues all of my life. Never comfortable smiling broadly, and I was now financially able to pursue treatment. Conventional braces never considered due to my age and social implications.

Treatment received from an orthodontist who treated my daughter - I have great faith and confidence in this man, as I obviously checked him out more thoroughly before my daughter's treatment (conventional braces) than I ever would have for my own treatment. I never thought twice about who to go to for treatment.

Here's where I'm at three weeks into treatment - the pain and discomfort I've felt over the first few weeks is much more than anticipated. It isn't the "pressure" from trying to move the teeth - that sensation is minimal and manageable. Rather, it is the mouth sores and ulcers from abrasions from the attachments and the sharp edges of the Invisalign trays themselves.

The attachments they put on my teeth help the trays "grab" your teeth in order to manipulate them into the desired placement. They are very rough textured (I assume to "grab" better), and in some cases, very sharp. Since you have to remove the trays to eat, you must chew your food very, very, carefully, as these attachments will and do tear into the inside of your mouth.

So uncomfortable are the attachments that I actually look forward to re-inserting my trays after I'm finished eating, to help protect the inside of my mouth from the abrasive attachments. That aggravates the other problem - the edges of the trays are sharp, and in some places, jagged. The edges of the trays also wear on the inside of your mouth, and although not as immediately menacing as the attachments, over time cause mouth ulcers.

My issue with my orthodontist (and staff) is that no one, repeat no one, ever advised me that the attachments were necessary - I thought the Invisalign treatment was limited to only the trays. Another issue they failed to warn me about was that you can't drink hot beverages with the trays in place. I'm a big coffee drinker, and that has greatly curtailed my coffee drinking - to the detriment of my co-workers and family.

I suspect that I allowed myself to be lulled into complacency by the already familiar relationship with the Dr. and his staff due to my daughters previous successful treatment. Maybe I should have asked more questions, maybe I should have been more pro-active, to include conducting research on-line (this site would have helped a great deal). I feel that in the interest of full disclosure, I should have been duly counseled as to all of the clinical aspects of treatment with Invisalign, and allowed to make a well informed decision. I was not afforded that opportunity.

Even though I am going through a rough start with my treatment, I still have faith in my orthodontist, and remain hopeful that I did the right thing. The benefit, I hope, will outweigh the negative aspects. Due to my short experience with Invisalign, I can’t yet say whether I feel it was worth it or not.

More to follow……