POSTED UNDER Invisalign REVIEWS
Invisalign Progress - Flushing, NY
ORIGINAL POST
I'm 24 and have always been self-conscious about...
MagchanNovember 10, 2013
WORTH IT$5,500
I'm 24 and have always been self-conscious about my baring my teeth. I have never had braces as a child, and hearing from my family dentist that I would need to extract at least four teeth in order to get braces had effectively scared me away from them. Two years ago (after getting out of college), I finally took the chance and went to see a dentist certified in using braces like Invisalign as treatment for correcting teeth. I had gone in wanting ceramic braces, but after getting pictures and molds done, I was seen to be a good candidate for Invisalign despite my severe overcrowding and overbite. The best part was that I did not have to pull any of my teeth out! (Just barely made the cut for that, by the way). I did have to get a ton of IPR done, mainly toward the front of my mouth. I had 32 aligners for both the top and the bottom, 14 attachments, and elastics at one point.
Fast forward to my 28th tray a year and a month later, the aligners were starting to not fit securely onto my teeth the way they used to. It was clear that my teeth were starting to stray from the computer's predictions (something I noticed around my 24th tray, and believe that it was because I started becoming forgetful about keeping them on for at least 21 hrs/day). By the 28th tray, he decided to go in for refinements mid-treatment. My first set of refinements were 21 aligners. I got more IPR done with the same amount of attachments as before, but no more elastics. At the end, he noticed that the teeth right beside my top front tooth was having trouble rotating along with some other imperfections, so he suggested a second set of refinements.
I am now on my 8th tray out of my 14 trays for the second set of refinements. I have been using Invisaligns for a little more than two years now, and my teeth are not yet perfect or "finished," but looking at how they were when I began this process, I can safely say that it has been absolutely worth it. I only hope that after this set of refinements are over, I will be where I want to as far as "perfection" goes. It has been a long journey and I am ready to get this process finished! I will continue to update, and only wish I had started my review when I first began my journey.
Fast forward to my 28th tray a year and a month later, the aligners were starting to not fit securely onto my teeth the way they used to. It was clear that my teeth were starting to stray from the computer's predictions (something I noticed around my 24th tray, and believe that it was because I started becoming forgetful about keeping them on for at least 21 hrs/day). By the 28th tray, he decided to go in for refinements mid-treatment. My first set of refinements were 21 aligners. I got more IPR done with the same amount of attachments as before, but no more elastics. At the end, he noticed that the teeth right beside my top front tooth was having trouble rotating along with some other imperfections, so he suggested a second set of refinements.
I am now on my 8th tray out of my 14 trays for the second set of refinements. I have been using Invisaligns for a little more than two years now, and my teeth are not yet perfect or "finished," but looking at how they were when I began this process, I can safely say that it has been absolutely worth it. I only hope that after this set of refinements are over, I will be where I want to as far as "perfection" goes. It has been a long journey and I am ready to get this process finished! I will continue to update, and only wish I had started my review when I first began my journey.
Replies (7)
November 14, 2013
Your teeth look great, very impressive results! I read that 85% of wisdom teeth have to be removed, so I do think you have to expect extractions at some point.
November 14, 2013
My teeth looks better in photos than it does in person because I'm still undergoing my refinements. My lateral incisors have been the biggest issue, and though they have rotated a lot since then, they are still not perfectly aligned yet. My dentist has mentioned that if this second set of refinements don't get them into place, he will try something else but did not indicate what exactly, and said that we'll wait and see what happens first. It's always a relief when your dentist is determined to get you the results you want instead of just shooing you off after the main treatment is done.
UPDATED FROM Magchan
2 years post
Done!
MagchanMarch 19, 2014
After two and a half years of having buttons attached to all of my front teeth, I am finally clear of them since last weekend. My retainers are going to be shipped in another two weeks, and I will have to continue wearing them for 14 hours a day for the next few years before I can begin dialing down on the hours.
It is a small price to pay for trying to attain "perfect" teeth. Even though my -incredibly stubborn- upper left and right lateral teeth remain skewed towards the center, it is a marked improvement from where I began. The only solution would be to remove teeth in order to create room for more rotation, but I weighed the pros/cons of doing that and felt the end result would not be worth all the extra time and effort that will go into this option.
Overall, I am very satisfied with the results from Invisalign--I actually feel comfortable laughing with my teeth exposed or showing a toothy smile now. I have started using Crest's professional effects whitestrips to give my new smile more oomph as well.
It is a small price to pay for trying to attain "perfect" teeth. Even though my -incredibly stubborn- upper left and right lateral teeth remain skewed towards the center, it is a marked improvement from where I began. The only solution would be to remove teeth in order to create room for more rotation, but I weighed the pros/cons of doing that and felt the end result would not be worth all the extra time and effort that will go into this option.
Overall, I am very satisfied with the results from Invisalign--I actually feel comfortable laughing with my teeth exposed or showing a toothy smile now. I have started using Crest's professional effects whitestrips to give my new smile more oomph as well.
Replies (9)
March 19, 2014
So beautiful! Thank you for updating us :)
March 24, 2014
You're welcome! Thank you for being such an active member in this community, and for being the first person to comment when I first submitted my post!
March 24, 2014
LOL! I'm the community manager and I crazy love it here, that's why I'm so active. I also click 'yes' on the "Was this review helpful?" thing for all my active community members every time they update, cause my community members are the best! And we're underdogs on this site--most people don't even know there are dental topics on here! I'm so grateful to all of you guys for taking the time to help others by updating your reviews, even after years. :D
March 23, 2014
Wow your teeth look AMAZING !!! I'm on the 2nd set of my 33 trays and really hope that mine change the way yours have . Thanks for your review .
March 24, 2014
You're welcome! My teeth are still not perfect in person, to be honest, but it has improved so much from where I began that I'm not too bothered by it. I hope you can attain the level of perfection that you want from Invisalign--it's been a lengthy process considering I had 32 trays originally, 21 trays for refinement, and then a further 14 trays for my second refinement!
March 24, 2014
Wow I also admire your dedication too . I know sometimes pictures can be very deceiving but honestly yours really do look great!
March 23, 2014
Seriously, this is the best Invisalign before and after I've seen!
March 24, 2014
Thank you for the compliment! My before picture was pretty horrific, I have to admit, but I have seen some beautiful sets of teeth from other Invisalign users on here, so I am proud to be among them.
You look gorgeous! I can't believe your doctor did all that with Invisalign. I am really impressed. Do you know if he's a "Platinum Provider". Just curious. But he's done an amazing job with your teeth. I can't even see the imperfections--at least not in the picture. Your smile looks like a model's. Anyway, thanks for starting a review and I look forward to following your progress!
Still, that's very highly rated. I figured because he just did an amazing job, and he seems to really care about his result (the fact that he's gone to a second set of refinements with you). And that he did it without extractions. So important. I went through Invisalign as well, and am now facing surgical removal of all four wisdom teeth, all impacted, only two of which have even managed to break the skin and one of those only high and on the side of my jaw. I'm terrified. :( And also, it's so expensive! And the swelling! Gah. I hope you don't have to have your wisdom teeth removed!
I totally agree. I honestly don't know if it's affecting it negatively, because I wear my retainers for at least ten hours a day, I'm hoping that everything is undone. But my concern is that these retainers will stretch out and allow bad things to happen. I know that my teeth move during the day, though, because the retainer is uncomfortable every night. I'm religious about my retainers, and you will be, too, after all of this. Some of the younger patients have trouble with their retainers, but adults who understand the value of money and time wear their retainers ;).