POSTED UNDER Invisalign REVIEWS
Never Too Late for a Great Smile: My Invisalign Experience – Pensacola, FL
ORIGINAL POST
Hello everyone! I guess like many others I...
MsT850April 4, 2014
WORTH IT$5,500
Hello everyone! I guess like many others I stumbled across this site while researching Invisalign reviews. I know this site helped me make my decision so I thought I would pay it forward, so here goes. I'm in my early 30's and decided that I spend money on plenty of frivolous things yearly and decided this year I will spend my money on getting a great smile. As noticed in my pics, my main concern was spaces. Now the thing about me is I am choosing not to close my front gap all of the way. It is hereditary for me. All of the ladies on both sides of my family have a gap and its a part of me. My mom passed a few years ago and I look exactly like my dad. My smile is my daily reminder of my mom so closing my gap was never a goal for me. I am looking forward to it being smaller though. I actually started my invisalign journey in February. I went to a few consultations and made a decision on a doctor that I was comfortable with, made me excited about my journey for a great smile and had the best financing options for me. Today is my 1st day with Invialign. I actually received my attachments and IPR on my 1st visit. I guess it was good to get all of that out of the way from the start. I have 15 attachments (8 on bottom and 7 on top). I have a total of 19 trays on the bottom and 17 on top. A total of 9 1/2 months initially. So that's not bad at all. So after reading many reviews I was ready for anything that came my way. I happen to wear acrylic nails and I was really worried about how this would affect me taking my trays in and out. I found that my nails didn't cause any issues. I just made sure I pulled the trays out from the back as many reviewers have suggested to be the easiest way. So far really no unbearable pain at all. I haven't have to take any pain medication at all. Only thing is excess saliva because of course there's a foreign object in your mouth so of course more saliva is needed. Therefore, I shall call today day 1, tray 1 of In"spit"align. I know cheesy r ha!
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UPDATED FROM MsT850
3 days post
Clinchecks
MsT850April 6, 2014
I tried to upload my clincheck video to no avail. What other way can I upload the video besides using youtube? If someone knows how to do this, please feel free to comment/message me with the instructions. Anyway, here's a few screenshots I took from the video. Personally I take clinchecks as an approximation, not as a set in stone representation of how my teeth will look in the end. Of course end results depend heavily on me and well lets face it no one can predict the future right.
The top pic is the beginning of treatment and the middle pic is somewhat the half way point of my treatment.
The last pic is the end of treatment. There are a few small triangle spaces between my lower front teeth as I mentioned in an earlier comment. I also chose to leave a space next to my upper front teeth to have crowns added to my narrow upper laterals. I never knew that my upper laterals were considered narrow until I started my consultations for braces. I have elected to have crowns added to make them more proportionate to my front teeth after I'm done with treatment. That's why I love that Dr. Ben made sure to consult with my general dentist to ensure enough space is left for him add the crowns after ortho treatment is complete. This let me know that Dr. Ben wants me to be happy with my smile long after he is out of the picture. I have no doubt with both of them working together that I will be extremely satisfied!
The top pic is the beginning of treatment and the middle pic is somewhat the half way point of my treatment.
The last pic is the end of treatment. There are a few small triangle spaces between my lower front teeth as I mentioned in an earlier comment. I also chose to leave a space next to my upper front teeth to have crowns added to my narrow upper laterals. I never knew that my upper laterals were considered narrow until I started my consultations for braces. I have elected to have crowns added to make them more proportionate to my front teeth after I'm done with treatment. That's why I love that Dr. Ben made sure to consult with my general dentist to ensure enough space is left for him add the crowns after ortho treatment is complete. This let me know that Dr. Ben wants me to be happy with my smile long after he is out of the picture. I have no doubt with both of them working together that I will be extremely satisfied!
Replies (2)
April 6, 2014
We are not currently hosting community members' videos on RealSelf. So they have to be uploaded to a video-sharing site first (though not necessarily YouTube). I think it's a storage issue at this point. Here is a link to the Help document on how to do video. I used it to upload video to my own review and it worked great, but I did use YouTube.
UPDATED FROM MsT850
24 days post
Tray two =)
MsT850April 28, 2014
Hello everyone! I am now going into week two of tray 2. I chose to change trays at night and had no issues. I had the initial pressure on my teeth, but no pain yet. I haven't had to take any pain medication so far yay!
So now let's talk about things I've learned so far lol!
-Lipstick is hard to get off of the aligners. Especially lipstains!!!! Ugh! Went to a wedding and I took my aligners out to eat during the reception and got lipstain all over them. No problem I thought. I figured when I brushed them to put them back in it would come off. To my surprise IT WOULD NOT COME OFF AT ALL!! I went into full blown panic mode. I had to keep them out until I got home so I could soak them and scrub them really good.
-Invisalign has made me sort of become a binge eater lol! I feel like I have to eat everything I might want while I have them out. Having braces has cut out allllll of my snacking =( Side note because I don't snack anymore I'm losing around 2 pounds a week so far =D
-Around day 3/4 my aligners starts yellowing. I have tried fresh start aligner soak, peroxide soaks and vinegar soaks to no avail. I definitely clean my aligners well, even though it doesn't look like it. Any other cleaning suggestions please let me know.
-I use the stopwatch on my phone daily to keep up with how long my aligners are out everyday. You'd be surprise how long they are out some days. I read to do this on a review somewhere not sure where, but it has helped me keep my "out time" in check so I can get the best results.
-The Invisalign routine gets old really quick. Even though I'm tired of it I couldn't imagine putting my braces back in without brushing &flossing. Just the thought of food marinating on my teeth in my aligners is enough to keep me on track with the routine
I've attached a pic of my teeth before, during tray 1& before tray 2. I haven't noticed much change, but I'll continue to be patient. I also attached a pic of what's in my braces kit
So now let's talk about things I've learned so far lol!
-Lipstick is hard to get off of the aligners. Especially lipstains!!!! Ugh! Went to a wedding and I took my aligners out to eat during the reception and got lipstain all over them. No problem I thought. I figured when I brushed them to put them back in it would come off. To my surprise IT WOULD NOT COME OFF AT ALL!! I went into full blown panic mode. I had to keep them out until I got home so I could soak them and scrub them really good.
-Invisalign has made me sort of become a binge eater lol! I feel like I have to eat everything I might want while I have them out. Having braces has cut out allllll of my snacking =( Side note because I don't snack anymore I'm losing around 2 pounds a week so far =D
-Around day 3/4 my aligners starts yellowing. I have tried fresh start aligner soak, peroxide soaks and vinegar soaks to no avail. I definitely clean my aligners well, even though it doesn't look like it. Any other cleaning suggestions please let me know.
-I use the stopwatch on my phone daily to keep up with how long my aligners are out everyday. You'd be surprise how long they are out some days. I read to do this on a review somewhere not sure where, but it has helped me keep my "out time" in check so I can get the best results.
-The Invisalign routine gets old really quick. Even though I'm tired of it I couldn't imagine putting my braces back in without brushing &flossing. Just the thought of food marinating on my teeth in my aligners is enough to keep me on track with the routine
I've attached a pic of my teeth before, during tray 1& before tray 2. I haven't noticed much change, but I'll continue to be patient. I also attached a pic of what's in my braces kit
Replies (11)
April 28, 2014
Excellent idea about the stopwatch. Most people have no idea how long they are keeping their aligners out. They think they do :D. I was surprised when I tried it.
I never was able to get my trays to not stain at all (nor my teeth). They were easy to clean, but they stained anyway. They were all just slightly yellowed by the end of the two weeks, compared to new.
I never was able to get my trays to not stain at all (nor my teeth). They were easy to clean, but they stained anyway. They were all just slightly yellowed by the end of the two weeks, compared to new.
April 28, 2014
I am always surprised. Same here. The slight yellowing annoys me to no end. Even though I know I clean them well, the yellowing makes me feel like I can clean them better.
May 15, 2014
The routine does get old...especially when traveling or doing other stuff that makes it hard to have perfect teeth hygiene. Have you tried denture cleaner to soak aligners in? I use efferdent (really cheap for 100 packets) and put my aligners in to soak at every eating and sometimes when I shower. It keeps them really nice.
May 16, 2014
I forgot to ask before--what is the longest amount of time you think you let them sit in the efferdent?
May 20, 2014
Hi!! Thank you so much for your suggestion! I just recently switched to denture cleaner with my new tray and it works perfectly =)
November 13, 2014
Hi! I hope things are going great with your treatment! I wish you'd come back and update us--you might be done by now!
February 24, 2015
I use Retainer Brite. My aligners do not get stained, but at the end of 3 weeks, I would call them "cloudy". I drink things other than water with them in all the time, but make sure to take them out shortly after to clean my teeth and aligners. For example, I will get a drink or a iced coffee or milk shake at a drive thru, on my way home from my sister's house, or get a slushie at Costco and drink it on my way home. The slushies are dark red and brown (coffee).
Replies (15)
Congrats on starting this for yourself. I see Primus81 already found you. We have quite a lot of people working on diastemas right now, though you're the first person I'm seeing who has found a doctor willing to not close it completely.
Fuschia is also pretty new and working on The Gap. creativejawn is a few trays ahead of you. And finally, PreOrtho is a RealFriend and working on it, too--she's been going the longest :).
I look forward to following your journey! :D
I've never heard of a frenectomy. I swear, I learn something new every day here on RealSelf! :D
:D