36 Years Old, Invisalign Worked!

As a teen and into my adult years, my teeth have always been severely overcrowded with a terrible cross bite. My jawbone structure and arch was wider on the bottom and my top arch was extremely narrow. At 33 years old I was finally in a position financially to begin a treatment. I researched every option thoroughly and went to several orthodontist consultations. I had an orthodontist take one look in my mouth and said he didn't want me as a patient because the case was too complicated. So I kept looking and found an orthodontist who was an elite Invisalign provider. She had a completely different attitude, I could feel she was passionate about her work. She confirmed it was a severe and difficult case but she was excited for the challenge and felt 100% confident they could straighten everything out. Although she specialized in traditional braces and Invisalign, she felt Invisalign was absolutely the best option in my case. We got started right away. My teeth were photographed, x-rayed and scanned. In about 4 weeks I received my first few aligners. I had a total of 50 aligners in my treatment. I changed them out every two weeks. I was very careful to wear them the full recommended time, 22 hours a day. Taking them out only for meals and drinking only water while wearing them. Getting my teeth straightened was a dream come true and I wasn't going to squander this opportunity or complain about the requirements. Continued...

My Invisalign experience was a really positive one. I'd spent so long with my teeth the way they were that I almost felt they were beyond repair. But actually seeing the process of them straightening out with such ease was kind of mind blowing. Totally worth the cost! I'd do it again in a second. I paid about $8,000 USD. I was on the high end of the pricing spectrum but understandable given the complexity of my case combined with having chosen the top elite Invisalign orthodontist in my area. I can't stress this enough though, if you're considering Invisalign, the orthodontist you choose is everything! Do your research and really trust your instinct at consultations before choosing your provider. Invisalign is the tool but it's your orthodontist who will be using their skills and experience with this tool to achieve the results. I learned how different your treatment can be when my first ortho sold her practice to another ortho and relocated. I was bummed because I paid for an elite Invisalign provider and ended up with a regular provider, the difference between them was like night and day. Luckily the major movement in my mouth was done and I was nearing the end of my treatment but still. Continued...

I was eased into treatment attachment free for my first 4 trays. I could feel slight pressure on my teeth and having plastic trays in your mouth takes a little getting use to but I was so excited to finally begin the treatment. I switched out trays every two weeks. After tray 4, they put the attachments on, small tooth colored bumps that assist in moving certain teeth. I had a total of 5 attachments, all were placed on my side teeth, none on the front. When switching into new trays my teeth would be sore for a day or two whenever I removed them to eat. So it was more comfortable to keep them in as much as possible. Usually by day 3 the soreness would subside. Some trays would cause soreness and others not at all. Overall it was a minor inconvenience considering how much movement was happening. A couple of trays had a sharp edges but it's easy to fix. I used a nail file to smooth any sharp bits. About a year into treatment I was fitted with a rubber band on one side to close a tooth extraction gap. I had to wear it for a few months along with a metal button attachment that it hooked on. 50 trays and 2 years later, I finished the initial treatment and was scanned for refinements, by this time the new orthodontist had taken over the practice. My teeth were looking pretty straight but I still ended up with 28 more trays. I went through 10 of the 28 refinement trays. Then had unexpected dental work which made the trays no longer fit and I had to be rescanned for a second set of refinements. There were 18 trays in this set. I finished the last tray on April 6th of this year.