I wore braces when I was 13 but never wore my retainers so my gap opened back up. I got tired of people staring at my gap and Dr. Grussmark was offering a discount to those who worked in the same building, so I decided to take the plunge. Even though my gap is not completely closed I am extremely happy with the results and get complimented on my smile all the time. He filed my four front teeth and widened my smile so that you see more teeth when I smile. The process was tough because of the maintenance of having to brush and floss after every single meal, but it was well worth it. He placed a small wire that ran across the back of my two front teeth in order to prevent my gap from re-opening, but it fell off twice and I haven't gone back to replace it. I have to wear my retainer every night, otherwise my gap starts to open. Sometimes I wear it every other night and I've even skipped two nights in a row, but I would never go longer than that. Every time that happens the retainer feels extra tight so I know my teeth moved. Updated on 13 Nov 2015:
I been in his office for a evalaluattion for Invisalign, I had an appointment, and when was my time he was talking to me and 5 more patients at the same time, the consultation supposed to be 30 min was 1.30, after that, his assistant gave me a price, and I said, I will call back, few days later, she call me, and she said the doctor will give me a discount for Invisalign, that I agree to start the treatment, the price agreed was $4500 for all treatmentwith all visits include. Then I schedule a time to go to the office and start the treatment. At the office, his assistant come to me to sing a contract, then the doctor come and he said he will not do the treatment for $4500 and the price I have to pay is $6200, this was almost $2000 more then the price hi gave to me before. I'm very desappointed , I was ready to start my treatment,and I really need it. Just becareful with this doctor, at his office, he said all the time he is the best Invisalign doctor and I will not find another doctor like him. Be aware from people like that. He don't care about you, only care about your money.
I never had braces when I was a child. I needed them, but somehow I convinced my mom that i didn't. My lower teeth are pretty crowded and one of my upper teeth (next to the front tooth) has turned at least 45 degrees. My fiancee calls it a vampire tooth. It doesn't look bad from the front, but when there is a picture taken of me from the side, it does look like a vampire tooth. I am getting married in March. I waited till the last moment to do this for a number of reasons. Now, my treatment that is 29 trays will be only half way done by the time of my wedding. But watching clincheck video gives me home. My "vampire tooth" will turn back to where it belongs almost completely and my bottom teeth will be pretty straight as well. I am supposed to wear each tray for only a week because of the device I purchased through my orthodontist Dr Grussmark called Acceledent. It is a machine that you use daily that helps your teeth move. I haven't used it yet, so I will post about it later. So I am on my day one today and it feels good. I don't know if they start you with a loose tray to easy you into a process, but I have 0 discomfort, no problem with speech, no dry mouth or soreness, ect.... but let's wait till tomorrow morning! I like how the trays are literally invisible. I went to the mall after my dentist and nobody seemed to notice. People I spoke on the phone to, didn't notice either. I have 3 holiday parties in a row coming up starting tomorrow. I am so tempted not to wear the trays... I am seeing my dentist next week to put on attachments. I will have a bunch, but not on the front teeth (thank god). They look like little bubbles underneath the trays. Yuck! Updated on 9 Dec 2015: I couldn't load any picture yesterday. So here they are. Today was a struggle with these because my lipstick got all over the top tray and I didn't know, so I walked like a monster with bright pink teeth and NO ONE said anything. So emberassing! Tonight is a holiday party. I will try to be good. But can't wait to take these suckers out. Updated on 10 Dec 2015: Getting used to them. But feel relieved every time I take them out. Updated on 25 Dec 2015: I got my attachments 2 weeks ago. I needed about 12 of them. None in front teeth. First they were really bulky and sharp. I could't eat any hard foods that required a lot of chewing because I was cutting my cheeks with them. They got smaller and smoother in the last 2 weeks. Now I almost don't notice them. The only uncomfortable thing is that it feels like I have something stuck to my teeth when I eat. It makes it hard to eat out because I am worried I have food in between my teeth. But good news, they will take attachments off in 5 weeks and I will continue with just normal trays. Updated on 24 Apr 2016: So, here is another update. I had my wedding in March. I was half way done with significant improvement. They took my attachments off for 2 weeks for my wedding and honeymoon. I got them back on April 1st. I am on tray 21 now. My bottom teeth look almost perfect. The "vampire" tooth on the top is being stubborn but getting in place slowly. I can't wait to take the attachments off. This time they are super yellow. I have 8 more trays to go. With acceledente, I am supposed to change then every 7 days, but I change them every 5-6 days because I want to be done with them by the beginning of June for my honeymoon #2. Updated on 29 Aug 2016: Amazing progress so far. I finished my original trays and came back to down or I needed 26 more trays and more attachments then the first time around. But it is working. So I am happy.
For the last 2-3 years I have been fairly self-conscience of my smile. I previously had braces when I was 15 years old for close to two years and absolutely hated them. I also did not want to get them in the first place... mostly because I was a brat, but also because I had terrible acne and eye glasses and did not want to add braces to my already awkward look. Oh well, so braces happened and when I finally took them off two years I was so relieved and expected to never see my orthodontist again. Never last about a month into wearing my retainer because my teeth began to shift A LOT. I was forced to go back to the orthodontist and was told I would need permanent retainers if my teeth kept shifting. The thought of having more metal in my mouth frightened me so I never returned again. Well, my teeth continued shifting, I began wearing my retainer less, and that basically leads us to where I am today. My teeth are now more crooked than they were before braces, especially my bottom teeth, so I finally decided (10 years later) it was finally time to fix them again but now as a "responsible" adult (who has to pay for them this time around). After paying all my holiday bills off, I decided to go in for a consultation in early March with a new orthodontist, Dr. Stephen Grussmark. He told me I was eligible for Invisalign (thank god or else these teeth would be crooked forever) and that it would be about 15 months of treatment, which I thought wasn't too bad so I decided to go ahead with it right there and than. My treatment cost was originally $4,500 and my dental insurance covered $1,000. Four weeks later I came into pick up my first tray of Invisalign and all went well until my orthodontist told me my treatment plan would now be 20 months (42 trays). I was not happy and started to regret my decision, but it was too late (especially since I already put my down payment). I was ready to go home and sulk when my ortho said "you haven't asked me the number one question asked by all my patients..... How can I speed this up." He started talking to me about Acceledent and how it could cut my time in half... the only problem was... it would be $1,450 more, which I had to pay upfront. I had never heard of it so he told me to do my research on it and come back in two weeks. After about 4 hours into having my first tray in (dealing with the pain and discomfort), I really started thinking about Acceledent. I did my research over the next two weeks (most of which I did on here!) and was so impressed by all the positive reviews, especially since I could not find anyone whose time with braces was not reduced significantly. I decided $1,400 for 10 months of less pain and mouth gear was the right price for me. I started using my Acceledent two weeks ago and I absolutely love it. I put tray three into my mouth on Friday and only had half a day of pain and discomfort... compared to the 3-4 days of pain and discomfort I felt on my first and second tray without Acceledent. The vibrations are very light and the 20 minutes goes by pretty quickly so I really don't mind the extra step everyday. I have trays 3-8 right now and will be changing them every week so I will let you all know how my progress is going. I will not how well it's working until the end of June when I see my ortho again, but I am pretty confident, especially since I've already noticed the reduction of pain from changing trays. I'll tray to upload pictures later today. Updated on 18 May 2015: Updated on 5 Jun 2015: Just popped tray 6 in this morning, it's a bit snug but definitely not painful thanks to Acceldent. I cannot say enough about how amazing Acceledent is. It has changed my experience with Invisalign dramatically. I don't have any pain (including migraines) like my first 4 week without it and only have minor discomfort for about 12-24 hours. I assume all is going well with the actual movement with my teeth but I won't really know until my next appointment in three weeks.
