Ben Fishbein, DDS

I've always wanted straight teeth but growing up my parents could never afford braces. As a working professional I can finally afford them. I have been in braces for about a year and love the results. Straight teeth have made a significant difference in my life. I was always self-conscious about my smile, but now I am more confident then ever!

I've had braces before, and after years of not wearing my retainer, my teeth shifted. More on the lower teeth then the upper teeth. I didn't want to wear braces again, and didn't think I would wear Invisalign trays. I decided to go for another option - Incognito (Behind the teeth) Lingual Braces. The treatment time took less then 6 months and was pretty comfortable. It took me a few days to get used to it, but was very easy once I did. I would recommend and do it again!

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!

Updated on 6 Apr 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!

Updated on 27 Apr 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