Overcrowding & Missing Tooth - Roseville, CA

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Ever since i was a teenager Ive had over crowding teeth. I became more and more insecure about them the older I became. I got into an incident about 6 years ago where I had gotten hit in the mouth with a blunt object. I had to have one of my front top teeth pulled. So now it was even worse. Over crowded teeth with a missing tooth too. I went years NEVER smiling, extremely insecure about my smile. It was hard for me to be social at work, parties or even public.

About 2 months ago I came across a great dental office in Roseville California. The whole time I was there the entire staff assured me that what needed to be done to my teeth and gums were completely doable. They also made me feel extremely comfortable throughout the entire visit. Because of my overcrowding it made it difficult to properly floss so I began to have gum desease. So if your keeping count that's 1. Over Crowding 2. Missing Tooth 3. Gum Issues.

I knew before an implant my teeth needed to be shifted around and with regular braces, alls i could think about is all that metal in my mouth and one big ole hole in the center where the tooth was missing. After telling the doctor how I felt about braces he suggested INVISALIGN. He said in each tray during the entire process he can place a partial so nobody would know i had anything missing. It all sounded to good to be true. After a month of talking it over with the wife, I went back to the dentist and decided to go with the cosmetic dental work done. The dentist office was so supportive they even reduce the total cost by $3,700.

I had a deep cleaning done. I had laser work done on my gums. Which was amazing, it was like instantly I had new healthy, thick, bright, clean gums in just one sitting. I have a follow up procedure with my gums in a couple months. As far as the invisalign goes here ar some issues so far:

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ISSUE: Teeth and gums hurt.
RESULT: The pain is only for the first couple of days of each new tray. After the initial 2 or 3 days have gone by the pain is no longer there.

ISSUE: The tray cuts into my lip/tongue.
RESULT: Without being properly fitted to your mouths contour, the trays have a tendency to cut into your mouth i.e. cheeks, tongue, or lips. You can either buy a cardboard nail filer and file down the edges yourself until it is no longer an issue. Or you can just go back into your dentist office and they will tend to any issues for you with the INVISALIGN tray. They will also continue to tend to those issues throughout the remainder of the trays.

ISSUE: Trays become stained.
RESULT: Before eating or drinking it is recommended to take out your invisalign tray to avoid bacteria build up, damage to the tray, and staining of the trays. Drinking with a straw helps avoid staining issue if you wish not to remove them during drinking. I also soak my tray in peroxide while i shower. It gives them enough time to remove any stains or bacteria in them. Plus I brush them with an electric tooth brush.

ISSUE: Ears become plugged.
RESULT: With all the moving your teeth are doing your ears may become plugged. My ears have taken turn. The second set was always plugging my left ear. Now my 3rd set is causing my right ear to constantly plug. This aparently is very common. I have yet to really find a way to avoid this so I just do my best to get used to it.

ISSUE: Speech is slurred/lisp
RESULT: When you first start your Invisalign procedure you will notice your speech will now be slightly affected. You may or may not have a lisp, but for those who do, no worries itll subside eventually. The lisp/slurred speech is from your mouth and tongue trying to get used to the invisalign tray. It will, mine took about 3 weeks my speech was about 90% normal.

ISSUE: Losing a set of tray.
RESULT: To help avoid losing your trays you are provided with 2 small cases. The red and blue cases can be used in any manner youd like. I like to keep one in the car and one at home. Its for the best that while eating out in public or at home, or when ever you remove your trays, that you immediately place them into the holder case. The case is labeled underneath with your name and a contact just in case someone else finds your Invisalign. Its much harder to forget a blue or red case on the table then a set of clear almost invisable trays. I like to keep one case in the car for travel and one case at home.

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KUDOS: The trays are nearly invisable
RESULT: Hardly anyone will know that you are have your teeth worked on because if they are kept up, they are virtually invisable.

KUDOS: Issues can be easily tend to
RESULT: If you were to have regular braces and you had an issue your pretty much out of luck until the dentist can squeeze you into the office. With the invisalign, any issues you have you can just remove them, analyze the issue and tend to them. Which leads me to the next

KUDOS: There are NO MAJOR ISSUES. Besides the minor issues in the cons section above.
RESULTS: No rubber bands to worry about. No metal to worry about. Metal braces can become very difficult to keep maintained unlike invisalign. They a re extremely easy to keep clean. No addtional parts that needs to be added. (Some cases of invisalign needs little gripping points added to certain teeth. they are smaller then a tip of a pen usually.

KUDOS: Any other dental work can be done
RESULT: Unlike with metal braces, any other dental work can be done. Without having to go through hours of removal and replacing them back on. Just pop out the invisalign, and in seconds your ready to get your dental work done.

KUDOS: Less embarrasing then a mouth full of metal.
RESULT: Lets all face it, the reason for cosmetic dental work usually help confidence. I hardly doubt a mouthful of metal will aid in that.

KUDOS: Dental visits/check ins are super quick.
RESULTS: Each visit becomes more and more effecient. In and out within an hour.

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CONCLUSION: Again, its only been a month and a half. I am in a better place then if i would of went with the classic braces. With the classic braces i wouldnt of had the opportunity to have a temp tooth put in until later on or even if at all. I will check back in in about a month to let everybody know how its going.

Tooth Missing:
Front Right

Usually your Dentist will give you 2-3 sets of trays and send you on your way, but for me that's not the case. I have to go in every 2 weeks (WHICH IS NOT A BIG DEAL) to get my temp tooth put in. The dentist finds the color that matched the rest of my teeth. When I go in for my visit, they place the temp tooth in the tray and partially cure it. I then have to put on then remove the tray a couple times to make sure the temp tooth will clear my teeth and allow for smooth removal. Once the temp tooth is perfect then the dentist will fully cure the temp tooth.

The entire process takes barely 30 minutes. I don't mind it at all for a number of reasons:
- I get the dentist to check if everything is going as planned and there are no issues.
- I don't have to walk around with this gaping hole in the middle of my smile
- Boost my confidence more and more

The temp tooth has No real affect/feeling to the Invisalgn: There's no added weight, the trays don't move in any particular manner due to the temp tooth. There is nothing NEGATIVE about the temp tooth at all, and I've had it in the entire process.