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POSTED UNDER Invisalign REVIEWS

My Quick Invisalign Experience (Psst, It Does Not Hurt) - New York

ORIGINAL POST

I decided to wait until tray 10 to share my...

sneakyboop
WORTH IT$6,600
I decided to wait until tray 10 to share my experience with Invisalign so far. The reason I am sharing this is to encourage those who want to start treatment but are too afraid to because of the scary stories found online about this procedure. I will try to keep this short. ?

I am 42 years old and have never had a cavity in my life. I’ve always wanted to straighten my teeth but was too afraid of the pain involved and being that I’ve never had extensive dental work done, I was afraid I would not be able to tolerate the pain of orthodontic work. When I noticed my upper teeth starting to wear down my two bottom incisors, I decided to finally seek orthodontic treatment to fix the problem. I consulted with 4 different orthodontists on several treatment options and decided to go with Invisalign. I started my treatment at the end of August 2014. The initial visit involved the itero scan and x-rays, both quick and painless. After 2 weeks I was able to see the clincheck design and another 3 weeks later I had my first set of trays.

The orthodontist placed 6 attachments and when I first put the trays on, it will feel like I put on a set of Halloween vampire teeth. My mouth felt weird and it was very difficult to pronounce words. I felt like I couldn’t close my mouth completely. There was a feeling of pressure, but luckily for me, no pain. My doctor showed me how to take them off and went through a few minutes of pronunciation exercises. I felt a sense of dread and regret thinking I will not be able to go through a whole year of this feeling, but the doctor assured me I will feel better after a few days. I was expecting to feel the real pain the next day as my doctor warned me I would, but again, luckily for me, there was no pain. NONE! It is now January 2015 and I must say that I have not experience any pain at all. Occasional discomfort or tenderness yes, pain no.

My teeth are moving according to the plan. I wear my aligners an average of 22-23 hours a day. I am not a snacker so it is very easy for me to keep them on that long. The most I was concerned with is getting cavities as I have read some reviews of people getting cavities with treatment. I am happy to report that I just had my regular dental cleaning and I am still cavity free! My teeth are strong and I have no tooth sensitivity. Please don’t be afraid or discouraged to try Invisalign, everyone’s experience is different. My advice is to get a qualified orthodontist, preferably a top 1% and/or elite provider that will work with you and address your concerns throughout your treatment. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

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Replies (8)

January 2, 2015
Thanks for sharing your experience. I am 62 years old and started Invisalign treatment at about the same time as you. I am now on aligner set #6. Your description of the pain issue is similar to my experience. I have not had any real pain, only a feeling of pressure during the first day or two of moving to a new set of aligners.
January 2, 2015
Hi David, Thanks for your comment. In the beginning I was worried that perhaps the aligners were not working because I had no pain as others describe, but am no longer worried. I can definitely see they are moving! I am glad to know of another person with a similar experience and am very grateful to be one of the lucky few with no pain :)
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January 2, 2015
Hi and welcome! Thanks for putting your review up, its great to get some many different perspectives and experiences. Tell us more about your treatment plan - how many aligners in your treatment? Are you using acceledent? Excellent news about no cavities - I don't have any either and prefer to keep it that way!
January 2, 2015
Hi Jmoe, My treatment consists of 25 aligners for the top teeth and 34 for the bottom teeth. In addition to my crowded, crooked teeth, I have a crossbite so hopefully this treatment will help with that as well. I am not using acceledent, however, in my last checkup my orthodontist mentioned that if I continue my wear of 22-23 hours per day we can discuss changing the trays every 12 days instead of 14 but only if I continue to be strict with my routine. I’ve had IPR done on one incisor and I will have the rest of the planned IPR done on all my front teeth by trays 15. It was scary at first because I didn’t know what to expect and I was afraid he would cut my gums but he didn’t and it wasn’t bad at all. He used the IPR strips for this. Started with a very thin strip and worked his way up to a thicker one, each time showing me the strip before proceeding. The process was quick and painless also.
January 3, 2015
What is IPR?
January 3, 2015
IPR is Interproximal reduction. It is a procedure that files off a bit of your tooth enamel to make space for your teeth to move.
January 3, 2015
Yikes, that is indeed scary!
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January 3, 2015

It's not that bad for most people.  The amount they file off is very, very little.  Fractions of a millimeter.  I've read a few horror stories, but for the vast majority of people, they can't even tell it's been done except that suddenly there's a little more space for the teeth to move :).