48 Year Old That is Finally Getting Around to Get Some Much Needed Dental Work Performed - Milwaukee, WI

Ok, so first I need to start why it's taken me so long. First I grew up in a family of 7. That said 6 were lucky enough to have great teeth. Guess who the unlucky one was? Yes it would be me.
I really got interested a few years back when my son needed braces and I looked over the lit as they say. I decided that when he was done I'd start to look into it. Of note I was going to start last year but finances were not where I wanted them to be. Anyway he went through the Damon Clear process or your basic braces, clear on top and metal on the bottom.
As an adult and professional I didn't want to go through that so I knew Invisalign would be the only option for me if I were to go through with it.
So here we are today (07/13/2015), I found this site and thought I'd also do a review as my journey starts.
So basically, I chose an elite Invisalign provider in my area, The best I could find with the best reviews possible.
Got a great deal with internet coupons / mailer and military discount as I don't have dental insurance to use. Not sure it would have helped anyway. I explore every option if it will save me some money. I'm sure you would to.
I started in late May and was in office on June the 3rd for my free consultation. All the basics were done. Pictures and x-Rays then the sit down to go over the process. estimate and payment options with any and all questions I could think of answered.
My issues: severe crowding in the lowers and the tops not so bad but still needed work. So after all that I decided to go ahead and finally get the show on the road as they say. Can't be any worse than where I'm already at right?
So I made my next appointment for the digital scan. Was in the office for that in mid July. At that time I came in for the scan and set up my payment (decided to pay in full an get rid of that pain right away) A few more X-Rays were done then the digital scan. That was easy and I got to see how horrible my teeth really were. Yeah, I definitely needed to do this, to bad it took so long to get rolling on it. Wasn't to sure if I was to old or not but turned out not to be a problem.
With all that done next appointment was for Aug 3rd, 2015. to review the treatment. One thing that was discussed was that I may need to have a tooth extracted on my severely crowded lower jaw. Yep, I done want to loose any teeth but the hope is that I get to keep them.
Well today I got the call in regards to my scan and possible treatment before the trays are ordered and the treatment begins. Yes, the recommendation was to remove a tooth, Oh boy now the second guessing and jumping to conclusion really starts to set in.
So here I am and tomorrow I will make the call to get into the office and see what my choices truly are and go from there. So stay tuned and follow along. Should be an interesting journey and to see how this review progresses.
On that note I do want to add that the staff is outstanding to work with. So far nothing but the best in treatment I've received so far.

So, I got a call last week in regards to my digital scans and my doctor wanted to do a mini counsel before the trays were ordered. As you know there was some talk about pulling a tooth or not.
Well today was that day. So before I went in I did a lot of reading here in regards to removal or no removal of teeth to get the desired results. I know that each and every case is unique so I considered that when it came to reading the stories.
Based on that info, the photos I saw as well as my teeth and age I had pretty much made up my mind that I didn't want a tooth pulled.
Well my doctor showed me both versions of the scans and even though we will have to do some shaving, he will start out very conservative. I was happy that he was on board with me that I wanted to keep the tooth at the sacrifice of a little more shaving.
At the age of 48 I have no cavities and take very good care of my teeth no matter how crooked they are. That said, he was okay with my choice.
So now he will send in the files for making the trays. He figured maybe around 30 trays. Time frame was estimated at least 15 months. Time is not a factor to me so it didn't really matter and I told him that as well. The results is the goal and he understood that as well. So as of today, if all goes well, I will start wearing my first set of trays on August 10th. Nervous yet excited. I hope to get the before and after computer generated files emailed to me and then I can share.
I do have some minor setup work on the 5th of August so I may post then what was done prior to the tenth. Thanks for reading and I'll post soon if anything changes.

Well guys, today was the start of the treatment. I thought the shaving would happen today but instead some spacers were placed in between the teeth that some shaving will happen come Monday the 10th.
So how was it? Well I had to laugh at first because they had a hard time getting the spacers in (6 of them). But the Dr. was able to finish the job. They seem to be some type of o-ring from what I can tell. Next few days are going to be tough due to my eating habits. I can't remove them so my bite is actually spongy in a way. No pain at first but I can feel it now. Also of the three spacers placed in my left side, one has already broken and another looks to be failing. I will have to give them a call tomorrow and see what they say. If I need to go back then it will have to be late due to another appointment I have scheduled.
So anyway, as of today still no major update other than prep work for the shaving before trays are in place.
Have a good night/day and hope to post on Monday.

CT