27 Y/o Finally Getting Invisalign! - San Diego, CA

Hi Everyone. I have been inspired to track and share my journey with Invisalign after reading all of your posts. I have always had a deep bite and am pretty sure I should have had braces when I was a kid, but my Brother was the one who got them because his teeth were worse than mine. I have always been self conscious of my two teeth on the sides of the top front because I thought the flared out...turns out they are in line and all my other teeth angle in a bit.

I have been interested in invisalign ever since I heard about them 5 or more years ago but now I am finally ready to make the financial commitment. I just moved to San Diego in September of 2013, and my dentist back home (Bay Area), whom I have seen since I was 4, said I should see a provider down here with how often things need to be checked.

I was searching on Groupon (my guilty pleasure) but after looking at some of the reviews, I decided I should just look through invisalign and yelp to find the right person for me. I found Invisalign San Diego and Dr. Eshom, DDS who is in La Jolla and is an Elite provider. All of his reviews were great, and he even offered 2500 off through March 25th and a FREE consultation. Well, I thought, might as well go see what they think and what I think about their office.

I had my consultation on Friday March 20th. The office was beautiful and the Staff were very friendly and genuine, and offered me water while I waited a few moments. Soon after, an employee named Kaila (not sure how she spells it) took me to a small conference room and we went through my intake and dental history. She was very pleasant and encouraging, and mentions how much improvement she has seen from invisalign and she highly recommends it. She then walked me around the office, showing me that if I came for cleanings (which are discounted for Invisalign pts) I could have parafin wax on my hands if I wanted. Also, each of the dental chairs had TV screens from the ceiling and they offered a warm neck wrap. So different from my normal office (which I still love), this place is more like a spa. She loaded up an informative video about invisalign and said the Doctor would be in soon.

After a few moments Dr. Eshom came in and asked me if I had any questions or concerns and even shared his own recent experience as he just finished his own invisalign tx. We then decided to take some pictures of my teeth. They put some vaseline on and had me hold the big shoe-horn like mouth spreader and took a bunch of different pictures. The Doctor and his assistant were pro's at this and it was fast and seamless. We then looked at them together and had a final Q&A.

His assistant Amber then came in to discuss if I wanted to go forward and how much it would cost me. They also provide patients with free teeth whitener to use with the trays.
Here is the price breakdown:
First visit with photos, scan etc: 495 (minus 100 for having my DDS send my recent X-rays)
original price: 5840
Promotional price with 2500 off: 3340
Total without promotional price: 6335.00
TOTAL PAID with promotion: 3735!!!
But, they did inform me that I will have to pay btw 400-600 for retainers at the end. So it will be around 4500 in total. Much better than some of the other offices I have looked at, and even my office price quote back home. They offered me a payment/installment plan for the 3735 and I am paying it over about 4 months to make it easier on my finances.

So I bit the bullet and said OK. Can we do the scan today? Amazingly they were able to fit me in to do the teeth scanning right then!! It was painless and I got to watch the TV above me on whatever channel I wanted for the 10-15minutes it took. Awesome. He reviewed it all with me and said I was a level 1.5 complexity and it would take around 10-12months.

Afterwards they told me that they should get the clincheck to me by Monday or Tuesday and as soon as I approve it, they will get the trays ordered and it might be around 2wks but they can't say when we should make our appt to pick them up since it varies. I approved the ClinCheck on Tuesday March24th (it was in my junk mail on Monday..bummer!) ...and now it has been about a week. I CANT wait. Haha, I know I will be stuck with them for quite a while, but I am so excited that I want to have them already!

I plan to post weekly and am currently assuming my start date to be about a week to a week and a half from now...eeek!!

Thanks again to all the other members who have posted their story! Please feel free to comment on tips or advice!

Jess

Today I got a text from my Dentist office that my trays were in!! YAY! When I called they were able to get me in at 3:30 this afternoon. I couldn't wait but I was also nervous. This was the last day i'd be snacking normally and would be free of anything on my teeth....here we go!

They started by explaining everything I had read on here and other blogs i.e.- only water with trays in, brush after eating and before trays etc etc, wear for 22hrs per day...(I'll do my best).

I had to go straight to work from the dentist but thankfully my patients tonight are friends and they knew I was getting them and barely noticed anyway. It felt weird. they gave me cotton things to "chew" on because they don't have the rubber chewies...but they did help some to get the tray feeling more close contact. I have a deep bite and I cannot bite down all the way :/ But I think that is part of the plan. Maybe it will help relax my jaw more... I am suppose to get my attachments for my second tray so they only gave me this first set and made an appt on the Friday of my second week...so I will be 4 days behind but whatever.

So I took them out when I went to dinner with my friend (had a girls night planned and no invisalign was going to get in my way). The first few bites felt weird, like my teeth had already started shifting in the 2 hrs I had worn it... After eating I excused myself and brushed real quick in the bathroom to put them back in. By the end of the evening chatting I felt much more like myself and not lisping as much...but I will have to work at it as I speak a lot at work and do not want to feel self conscious...

So far, its weird. But I am hopeful and for the most part I think I will be able to pull it off that people won't notice. Just have to plan my eating/snacking to allow time for transition, lol. About to have my first night sleeping with them in...hoping for the best.

Thanks for reading and sharing my journey!

Today marks one week since I started by invisalign journey. I have to say the first two days were awful. I have never had braces or anything on my teeth so the teeth aching and headache were very new and overwhelming. It felt weird to have something on my teeth and I didn't like that I couldn't close my mouth all the way. Eating the first few days was quite painful for the first few bites...and snacking was not happening so I was starving at meal times. Oh and my tongue was sore :(, the bottom of it would scrape when I talked.

Once I hit thursday I felt SO much better. No more headaches and in general if I kept my teeth apart I didn't notice the trays.

The past two days I really don't feel much with my trays in. My teeth still feel funny when I start to eat, but I think this is not going to be as terrible as it felt the first two days.

I have to wait until next Friday (soonest appt my Dentist had to my 2week mark) to put on my attachments and give me my second tray...so I'll be wearing this one for two weeks and 4 days. Boo.

Thanks for reading :)