Sheny

Wish I Could Go Back in Time and Refuse Invisalign

I hope that your case turns out well. I have been through Invisalign twice.......once with a premier and then again with an elite provider, both orthodontists. I had complete faith in the product both times until I was told I was done and there were obvious issues like spaces and black triangles, which were never discussed. I have friends whose teeth were too crooked for invisalign and they went with traditional braces. Their teeth turned out so much better than mine and in less time! I have been dealing with invisalign, refinements and retainers for over two years and I only had four crowded lower incisors. Now my whole mouth looks terrible.

I agree with your Express warning! My orthodontist put me on Express and charged me $4,000! My results were not great, and I am being retreated for $5200 with Invisalign Full with a much more experienced orthodontist. I actually had a meeting with one of the top Invisalign orthodontists in the US and he says he NEVER uses Express anymore because it often fails to give great results. He said the only time it makes sense is if the patient is looking for minor corrections in alignment before having restorative work. I wish I had known all this before I went with the first orthodontist so I could have fled his office when he recommended Express.

I was put on Invisalign Express, which only allows ten trays to get to the final position, plus one set of refinements that can be ordered at an extra expense. If you were given 30 trays, you must have been on Invisalign Full, which allows mid-course correction ad up to three refinements as part of the fee. I was put on Express because I was an "easy" case. Mine did not turn out well and I have done so much research on Invisalign after the fact. I have met with several orthodontists who looked at my before photos and said I should never have been given the Express treatment. I think the bottom line with Invisalign is that you must go to someone who really knows what they are doing with it. I am now getting quotes from other orthodontists and dentists with more experience with Invisalign to decide who to go to fix my Invisalign disaster. But they have all assured me that my current smile (which looks worse that before Invisalign Express) can be improved with appropriate Invisalign treatment. The scary thing with Invisalign is that dentists can take a few courses and offer it. The orthodontist I initially went to is only a preferred provider, which is almost the lowest certification you can get to hang out the Invisalign seal of approval. Go with a Premier or Elite Invisalign provider or find an ortho that many friends have told you is great. You won't end up in the same position I am in and that so many others are in. This has been a serious learning experience for me!

I came on this site looking for guidance on my problem, which is similar to what you have experienced. I have had Restylane twice injected under my eyes. The first time, I loved the result. The second time (roughly four months ago), I had a LOT of swelling and bruising, and now I have a mass of white bumps/ridges on the skin under my eyes where the Restylane was placed. I don't know if it is stretched skin from the swelling or some skin reaction. It wasn't there before I started having Restylane. I won't get injected again. Yes, I didn't like the hollows I had before, but I really don't like the texture my skin has taken now and I spent a good sum of money to cause this.