POSTED UNDER Invisalign Reviews
My Invisalign Experience - Dublin, CA
UPDATED FROM moonchild13
3 months post
Aligner 8
moonchild13February 25, 2014
$6,450
I am almost at half point of my treatment (initial set of 18 aligners). This set is working on my snaggle tooth in front so I am experiencing pain again, and my jaw pops in and out when I eat. Things are going generally well, my dentist warned me not to change my aligners too fast and wait the 2 full weeks in between sets (guess who wanted to go faster!) my teeth are discolored again, trying to wait as long as I can before giving them another emergency whitening treatment. Flossing is just so easy now I am thrilled. The past 2 days were annoying, I ripped them out a couple of times and just left them on the counter for a while in frustration. I would definitely not recommend this for teens or kids, compliance is a challenge. I also still have a lisp, but the aligners are becoming less and less bulky as the treatment moves forward.
UPDATED FROM moonchild13
1 month post
Pic of aligner 4
moonchild13December 28, 2013
I didn't think there would be much of a difference with before but you can see it somewhat. Note also the tooth discoloration.
Replies (1)
December 28, 2013
Already a difference on aligner 4! I can't see the tooth discoloration in the picture, but I'm not at all surprised. I got it throughout my treatment, and my ortho polished it off with pumice occasionally. But after my treatment, my dentist polished most of the rest off, and a whitening treatment took care of the rest.
UPDATED FROM moonchild13
1 month post
Aligner 4
moonchild13December 28, 2013
I'm now halfway through aligner 4, about 9 weeks in. 14 more aligners to go. I haven't had a problem with snapping the aligners in and out, once you get the hang of it it's easy.
Observations:
At this point there aren't any major physiological changes; my front teeth are being brought forward and I now notice there is less difference between them and my snaggletooth, very cool. Also my teeth are much much easier to floss; they are definitely moving.
My mouth isn't salivating as much anymore; it's still kind of gross to see spit bubbles in my aligners so I do tend to suck on them. Other people in general do not really notice my aligners but they do notice I have a slight lisp. I remove them for in-person meetings and phone conferences where I have to present. All the teeth brushing resulting from removal of the aligners irritates my gums; I now have a super-soft toothbrush and I use Sensodyne toothpaste. The aligners really smell bad after you've been wearing them for awhile and I get nervous that I have super bad breath from them... I found some denture cleaner crystals that are essentially peroxide and on the box it says they are safe for retainers and plastic orthodontics (in which case they advise to use lukewarm water not hot) I use those about every second day for a few minutes and my aligners are much fresher than just brushing them with toothpaste.
Also, if you fail to brush your teeth before putting your aligners back in your teeth will become discolored very quickly. I learned that the hard way after drinking coffee and just snapping them back in :-( ended up doing a quick one shot whitening treatment with a 35% syringe (I didn't want to do whitening as long as the resin attachments are there, trying to prevent residual staining but I really had no choice) and now I use a stain-lifting toothpaste so things are better.
All in all so far I am not sure this is so much better than traditional braces? When you snap them out you have to deal with the pain of the resin attachments scraping inside your cheeks, and when they are in, you have the pain of the aligner edges scraping in your mouth. Other than that I don't really have much pain to speak of and I have mostly gotten over the social embarrassment... it's just annoying to have them in your mouth all the time.
Observations:
At this point there aren't any major physiological changes; my front teeth are being brought forward and I now notice there is less difference between them and my snaggletooth, very cool. Also my teeth are much much easier to floss; they are definitely moving.
My mouth isn't salivating as much anymore; it's still kind of gross to see spit bubbles in my aligners so I do tend to suck on them. Other people in general do not really notice my aligners but they do notice I have a slight lisp. I remove them for in-person meetings and phone conferences where I have to present. All the teeth brushing resulting from removal of the aligners irritates my gums; I now have a super-soft toothbrush and I use Sensodyne toothpaste. The aligners really smell bad after you've been wearing them for awhile and I get nervous that I have super bad breath from them... I found some denture cleaner crystals that are essentially peroxide and on the box it says they are safe for retainers and plastic orthodontics (in which case they advise to use lukewarm water not hot) I use those about every second day for a few minutes and my aligners are much fresher than just brushing them with toothpaste.
Also, if you fail to brush your teeth before putting your aligners back in your teeth will become discolored very quickly. I learned that the hard way after drinking coffee and just snapping them back in :-( ended up doing a quick one shot whitening treatment with a 35% syringe (I didn't want to do whitening as long as the resin attachments are there, trying to prevent residual staining but I really had no choice) and now I use a stain-lifting toothpaste so things are better.
All in all so far I am not sure this is so much better than traditional braces? When you snap them out you have to deal with the pain of the resin attachments scraping inside your cheeks, and when they are in, you have the pain of the aligner edges scraping in your mouth. Other than that I don't really have much pain to speak of and I have mostly gotten over the social embarrassment... it's just annoying to have them in your mouth all the time.
Replies (2)