Splurging on Invisalign, like finally!

The Day I Put On My Retainers ... And Could Not Remove Them

in early July, I collected my Vivera retainers from my ortho. during the appointment, the hygienist suggested to try putting them on and taking them off. after 26 trays where I expertly put them on and removed them (with attachments on teeth!), i was like, it can't be too hard right?

wrong!

the retainers were very, very tight on my teeth. as if superglued. in the first place, it took more effort and strength to fit them on my teeth. and when it came to removing them... omg. I couldn't. at first I thought it was because I had just trimmed my nails, so I couldn't get a good grip. but then my hygienist struggled a little to help me too. and then she gave me a tool to help me remove my trays, but still it was hard to use. so she suggested for me to stick to tray 26 as retainers until my nails grew out and I couldn't get a better grip on them.

it was about 1-2 days later that I decided to tray put on the Vivera retainers at night. that meant I wore them for about 10-12h before breakfast next morning. and thankfully, I managed to do it! so perhaps my teeth needed more time to fit better with the trays.

I'm not a long fingernails kinda person but I kept my thumb nails cos I didn't want to not be able to remove my trays for mealtime (the horror!). but 1-2 days ago I couldn't stand the sight of my long nails so I trimmed them... and could still remove the trays. phew. I guess it takes a bit of practice and conditioning.

I still take longer to remove the retainers compared to my Invisalign trays + attachments. I also had to file them because they were grazing my tongue badly, and this time I had to file harder because of the thicker material.

hours wise, my clinic's recommendation is to wear them for at least 8h. I wear them in the day on weekdays, cos I figured there's only so much I can be munching at my desk anyway. but on weekends, I wear them at night only :D after hours of not having them on, the pressure can be killin' but then again we invisaligners live for the pressure cos it means our teeth are moving into where it's supposed to, right?

also, while I used to cheat a lot by drinking non-plain water with my Invisalign trays on, I'm much more compliant with the retainers. I guess cos I know my Vivera is a long term thing and I don't want to wear them out too quickly, or I'll have to get new ones made (bye bye $600!). I got 3 pairs by the way, and am already dreading having to break into the other two pairs once this pair is badly worn out.

other than that, wearing Vivera retainers makes me think, "finally, this is what those Invisalign posters are talking about." you know, like when they have models with straight teeth wearing clear, bubble-less retainers and we all thought we were going to look like that during the treatment only to realise we had to have attachments on our teeth. ha.

here's to clocking in enough retainer-hours for the rest of my life, so that I don't waste the last 10-11 months of my treatment! will probably continue to wear them in the day until Sep (about 2 months of "full time" wear) before wearing them at night time only :)

hello! I knew my apmt yesterday was to have my attachments removed, but I didn't know it was for the end of my treatment!!! I thought I might get refinements and was praying for less than 10 trays -- even planning to abandon them if I felt it was too long -- but my ortho did not feel that I needed any. so I'm done guys. DONE!

here's what happened at the apmt:

1. review and just a teeny bit of filing by ortho

when my ortho said I was done with my treatment, I asked him about my right front tooth being 1mm longer than the other. he said he had planned it that way so that he could file the horizontal surfaces of my front teeth, both top and bottom. uh oh, I say. I can't get them filed. it's technically not allowed in my religion. my ortho started to get a little fidgety ... I think he couldn't stand the thought of letting his patient live with the chipped edges on her teeth. fine, I relent. just a teeeeny bit of shaving off the bottom of the top front teeth. so he did. I can't tell the difference actually, but maybe that's a good thing? D:

he also explained that trays 27+ and 28+ are just over correction trays which he normally throws. he let me keep mine, though. he said I could wear them if I like pain. cos they'll be very tight.

he also recommended me to wear retainers full time for 1 month before switching to night wear (minimum 8 hours a day). whuuud! I read here that it's 6 months of full time retainer wear. I'm relieved though, because we have a festive season coming up involving lots of house visits and feasting. I won't have to brush my teeth in new relatives' (my husband's) homes. I think I'll still try to wear it full time till end of the year. it's been 9-10 months of wearing them full time in the office and I've coped pretty well. so maybe I could do that on weekdays then relax a little on weekends. I hope I'll always remain motivated to keep wearing my retainers.

2. removal of attachments

I was then sent to a hygienist to get the attachments removed. I thought she might cut them away or something, but turns out she grinded them off. I'm guessing the attachments turned into powder cos at no point did she pause to collect the remainder of the attachments. she did my top arch then bottom. after each arch, she asked me to run my tongue along my teeth to let her know if any of the surfaces were still rough. then she polished my teeth. they're attachment-less and smooth now!

3. cleaning

she cleaned my teeth like a dentist would. urgh, wasn't prepared for all that tingly sensations... plus I was later billed for it. they didn't tell me I would have to pay for unsolicited cleaning! but anyway I paid up without making a fuss.

4. taking moulds for retainers

she did a recap of retainer options. the hawley, fixed wires, local lab clear retainers and vivera retainers. I ruled out hawley and fixed wires. local lab retainers are similar to vivera, just that they are, as the name suggests, made in singapore. which means I would be receiving them in a week. however they were $450 for a pair vs $600 for three pairs of Vivera (albeit with a 2-3 week wait) so I went for the latter. in the meantime, tray 26 acts as my retainer.

while the gooey mould was in my mouth, they let me watch Just for Laughs on YouTube to help pass time. how thoughtful. we had to redo the bottom arch though because the back part got cut off. urgh! so glad the moulds are over and done with. the aftertaste of the goo stayed in my mouth till dinner time.

conclusion

ending earlier than expected is a real plus point for me :) :) we have travel plans for next Mar and that has been my benchmark to finish my treatment, so I wouldn't have to live the sad life of a travelling invisaligner.

my smile is not perfect, partly due to the shape of my teeth, but I'm okay with it. I believe my ortho prefers not to strive for ultimate Hollywood celebrity type of smile so that his patients' smile still look real. I've been smiling at myself a lot in the mirror cos it's so nice to not have attachments anymore .

I paid thru my nose for this treatment but end of the day, I say it's still worth it. I achieved in 9 months what I've always wanted for 12 years. had I not done this before my wedding, I might start hating my wedding photos because of my crooked teeth.

just in case I don't check in here anymore, here's wishing all of you a great treatment ahead!!! I have benefitted a lot from this community, and I hope my reviews were useful for others too. espesh for those non-realself users, sitting on the fence, browsing through as many different reviews as you can. I was once one of you too. good luck!

things that worked for me on my recent 2 week trip:

1. picking an aisle seat in the plane, 3-4 rows from the toilets. I must have been the toilets' most frequent visitor
2. bringing my own cup from home to soak my aligners in. could've used the drinking glasses in hotel toilets or a cup from the airbnb apartment kitchen, but my own cup felt familiar :)
3. improvising and buying Polident to soak my aligners in. early on in my treatment, I read that it was not recommended to soak aligners in denture cleaners so I never did. then I realised I had no access to dish washing soap so I bought the tablets instead. they worked great, espesh since I didn't always brush my teeth after eating and before putting the aligners back on
4. waiting 20-30 mins before putting my aligners back on, for those (many) times I didn't brush my teeth immediately after eating. I felt like the break allowed my saliva to naturally clean my mouth a little -- not sure if this is factual though!

what I wish I did
5. bring an extra chewie

the other travel thing I remembered to do was to split my two new aligners. I kept one in my hand carry and the other in my checked in luggage, in case one gets lost. this was advised by the nurse when I first started treatment. I also brought a nail file so I could file the edges before I started wearing them, just like back home.

I also didn't up using wisps that much. I'm still glad I got a pack though, it sure adds some relief in case I can't find any toilets.

overall, travelling with invisalign was an inconvenience but not to the point of ruining my trip. also, I'm the sort who's not too too strict on my wear time so I probably cut too many corners :p I would suggest to bring/use as many of the accessories you use at home (e.g. cup to soak aligners in, same nail file, same travel kit toothbrush) so you don't feel like travelling with invisalign is a new thing, but an extension of what we normally do at home.