Just Started Treatment! - Phoenix, AZ

5 weeks later, my new trays have come in. I have a total of 33 trays, upper and lower. Significantly more than my original plan, but it is worth it to have a good end result. This will put me at around a year for treatment time. Also, they will be placing rubber bands on my trays to shift my teeth later in treatment.

Even though I had to pay extra, the total amount (from provider one and provider two) it still came to be cheaper than an original price for invisalign. Many say that there is not a difference between receiving care from a dentist versus an ortho, but I beg to differ. Don't get me wrong, the general dentist i was with was great, but mentioned nothing about IPR or using bands to move my teeth and quoted me 8 1/2 months (which was unbelievable considering the condition my teeth were in, you can look at my pics). I went to the ortho and he automatically told me that I would not be finished in 8 1/2 months and would need more time. Mentioned and throughly explained why IPR would be needed. Also, mentioned that bands would be needed to shift my teeth as well. This was in the initial consultation for invisalign. Trays came in and sure enough, I had another 33 trays! Def. not what I wanted to hear, but it is worth perfect teeth in the end; plus, the treatment time would still be shorter than receiving traditional braces. I would recommend going to an ortho versus a general dentist. Of course, it is preference and depends on the severity of your teeth. If your teeth are not as severe as mine, then you may be fine using a general, but if your teeth are severe like mine, it is worth going to an ortho because of their speciality.

So, I ended up moving to San Diego and had to find a new provider. I went to two different consultations (no need to go to that many since I am already in invisalign) to compare prices. I went to an ortho elite provider and a general dentist that was premier provider. I ended up going to the Ortho because I believed that he can provide a better service for roughly the same price ($1975 to take over my existing case including retainers).

The ortho decided to do a mid-course correction. He put spacers (rubber bands) between my teeth and left them in for four days (these hurt worse than switching any of my trays, not the process of inserting the bands but just the teeth moving). Today they removed the spacers and performed IPR (filing between the teeth) and took new impressions. I should receive my new trays within 2-3 weeks. I just put my bottom trays in from the previous provider so that my teeth don't shift back to its original position (I left the bottom out while the spacers were in because the tray wouldn't fit). There was a new level of pain, who knew teeth could move so much in such a little time. Hopefully my new trays come in soon and this process goes well!

Seven weeks in and I have noticed that My mouth sometimes becomes extremely dry. Sometimes so dry I end of coughing and dry heaving. Of course I try to avoid this as much as possible by drinking water as soon as my mouth feels dry. Another solution I noticed that helps is if i put my aligners in when they are drenched in water. Not a pleasant experience, so make sure you have water with you at all times!