Crowding - Omaha, NE

I'm on aligner 5 out of 33 now and I've gotten used to them. I got attachments about a month ago (between aligner 2 and 3) and they aren't that bad either. If you know they're there and you look really closely, you can see them, but otherwise they're invisible. I don't really notice any bad side effects, except they wear down toothbrushes faster. I do have a total of 15 attachments, but still they're not very noticeable. When I first got them and didn't have my aligners in, I had a feeling like food was stuck on my teeth, but that went away pretty quickly. It will be quite amazing to feel my smooth, straight teeth once I'm done with Invisalign!

The process of getting the attachments on my teeth was interesting. At first I thought they come pre-made from the factory and are just stuck to your teeth, but then I found out that it's actually a moldable composite that gets pressed into a special aligner and then stuck to your teeth, where it hardens. It wasn't exactly painless, but not too bad either. The worst part was prepping the teeth, because they repeatedly rinse your teeth with primer liquids, cold water, and then blow on it with cold air (at least in my case). But that lasted only a couple of minutes and it was done. After the attachments were bonded to my teeth, the special aligner was removed and my doctor smoothed down the attachments.

As for the aligners in general, I don't have any problems. The fit is pretty good and I don't have to file/clip them anymore. I don't even have to take any painkillers or anything after I put in a new set of aligners, but I do feel some gradual movement, especially now there is more room between teeth when flossing. Starting at tray 13, one of my premolars will be moved closer inside to be in line with the rest of the teeth and that will be interesting, as I expect some difficulties biting down during that time.

I don't notice any bad smell or anything from my aligners. Here's what I do in terms of cleaning: stick in a cup with an anti-bacterial Efferdent tab every morning, alternate between using my ultrasonic cleaner and cleaning them with a toothbrush at night, during the day I just rinse them off. I brush and floss my teeth every time after I eat, although in some cases I skip it and just swish water around (e.g. when I'm out hiking and eat something).

My teeth are pretty big and crowded and I've been wanting to get orthodontia for a while but now I am finally in a position where I can get done. Invisalign was a clear choice for me, since I'm in my mid-twenties now and don't want to deal with traditional braces. I was very happy when my orthodontist told me that Invisalign should work for me.

I then made an appointment to make a digital image of my mouth, had my wisdom teeth removed and then got my first aligners. My plan consists of 33 upper and lower trays and 15 attachments (that's a lot from what I understand!).

I got my first tray five days ago and I'm about reaching the turning point where it feels weirder without the tray than with it. The first 2-3 days were very annoying, though. I was constantly sucking on the trays and grinding my teeth and it almost felt like my gums were getting irritated, although there were no signs of that when I took the trays out. The very end of one side of the lower tray didn't fit very well initially and was rubbing my tongue raw, but once I filed that off, the tray fits perfectly everywhere now.

My teeth did hurt for about 24 hours after I first started with the tray, but now they've solidified again in their position and don't hurt at all. My speech is still affected a little bit, sometimes I have a slight lisp when making the S sound, but it's getting better.

I got two trays to start, one just plain and one with spaces where the attachments will go. In three weeks, I will get the attachments and more trays.