My Invisalign: Straightening and Closing Open Bite

I have always been self-conscious about my smile. Growing up, I had braces, rubber bands, the whole 9 yards. Once I got them off my teeth were perfect. Fast forward into my college years, I thought I could gradually stop wearing my retainer at night and everything would be fine. Boy was I wrong! A few years ago I noticed my teeth were shifting back similar to how they looked before I got braces. I have one tooth that sits behind my front teeth, my bottom need are crooked, and I have a bad open bite. I learned my lesson the hard way: never stop wearing your retainer. So, I decided I wanted to do something about it. I started off with Smile Direct Club, which is actually a great service since they ship everything to your house and at a fairly low cost. I would have continued using Smile Direct Club, but when I got my treatment plan back the plan would actually make my open bite worse than it already is - so I didn’t continue with that.

A few months ago I met with my dentist, told him about how I tried Smile Direct Club and he recommended Invisalign. He said he would be able to fix my open bite with Invisalign. So I got my impressions done and went back to my dentist a few weeks later to review my treatment plan: 7 months and changing aligners every 2 weeks. 7 months?! I was so impressed. Although it’s a little more costly than I was hoping for...we’ll just add it to the post grad budget…

WEEK 1

I picked up my first set of aligners last week. They put all of these “buttons” on my teeth, which are attachments that help your teeth move. I didn’t expect to have so many attachments - it felt like there was one on every tooth. Not going to lie, the attachments are very uncomfortable at first and take some getting used to. But on the plus side, I think they are barely noticeable without the aligners in. My family and friends said they didn’t even see my attachments until I pointed it out.

The aligners on the other hand are a little bit more noticeable since it has space for the attachments. I’m a little self conscious when I have the aligners in, wondering how noticeable they are to other people, but I just keep thinking about the end result! The first few days with the aligners were painful. My teeth were so sore (which means it’s working!) but taking the aligners out were painful. I’ve read reviews saying that if you have your nails done it will chip them, but my nails have been a big help in taking them out and have not chipped.

It’s a tad annoying taking the aligners out to eat & drink and constantly brushing and flossing, but it becomes routine. They recommend wearing them for 22 hours a day, which I find is easiest to follow during the work week. At work, I used to sip on iced coffee throughout the morning so it’s been tough living without that :( But I find that I’m snacking less throughout the day just because I don’t want to take my aligners out. I’ve cheated a little and left my aligners at home for the night if I’m going out for dinner or drinks just to avoid the hassle, but I always put them on as soon as I get home.

A week into it, and almost all of my attachments have fallen off between taking my aligners on and off and brushing my teeth. I called my dentist and he said it’s normal for this to happen, especially during the first week. He told me my attachments will be more important towards the end of my treatment. I’m hoping to get scheduled in soon to get them back on seeing as I started with so many and probably have about 3 that are still on.

It’ll be a long 7 months for me, but I can’t wait to see the progress!

I'm on my 3rd week of Invisalign, with my 2nd set of trays. I still have only 3 attachments left on - I've called my dentist three times now trying to get in to get them back on and no luck yet. So that's been annoying. But otherwise my teeth haven't been too sore - not nearly as sore as my first set. I haven't seen too much of a change yet but it looks like my open bite is making some progress!

I was able to get in to see my dentist to get my attachments put back on after they all fell off within the first week. He put new attachments on but I don't think he put as many on as he did the first time. These ones stayed on a little longer, but now most of them have fallen off AGAIN. Ugh. Does anyone else have this problem or is it just me?? On the rare occasion my attachments are on, my teeth are very sore which means it's working. When most of my attachments are off and it's time to switch aligners, my teeth aren't as sore as they should be and it's easy to get them on/off. My dentist assures me they can still move without attachments in but I don't see much difference in my teeth yet since my last picture, but I think my open bite is getting smaller. I go back to the dentist in 2 weeks to get my next 4 aligners (changing every 2 weeks) and hopefully my attachments will stay on longer...If it wasn't such a hassle to eat then I'd consider leaving my aligners in all the time so they wouldn't fall out!