My Invisalign Experience So Far :D - Tampa, FL

I am 19 years old and had braces when I was in middle school/high school. I unfortunately did not wear my retainer, and of course all my teeth shifted. I have spacing on my upper teeth, and crowding on my lower teeth plus an over bite. I went in today to pick up my aligners. I have 28 for both upper and lower. This appointment I received 2 aligner sets to wear for 3 weeks, then on the 6th week I go back to get attachments, IPR, and more sets (they are going to give me 5-6 sets next time. So far this first set is not really tight, so no pain, just a little uncomfortable so it will take getting use to. I am VERY excited to start my journey :). I will update every time anything new happens, or if I have any issues! If you have any questions feel free to ask!

05/07/13 Today it has been 1 week of wearing my first set of aligners. I have gotten pretty used to it, and have been wearing them as directed perfectly. I did have 2 areas on my aligners that were poking me really badly, but after putting ortho wax on the 2 areas I haven't had any issues (even though it is kind of annoying to keep using wax, but oh well..I don't feel like going to the ortho to have them shave it down). I have two more weeks to go because my first 2 sets of aligners I was directed to wear them 3 weeks rather than the usual 2 weeks. After these 2 sets I will be wearing the rest of them for only 2 weeks.

Something I did want to touch on is cleaning aligners. I have read a lot about people saying their aligners get an odor so I wanted to share how I care for mine, because mine still have no odor and are still clear. Every morning while I eat breakfast, and every night while I eat dinner I take my aligners out, rinse them in water, then let them soak in Efferdent denture cleaner. After they soak I rinse them off with water again then pop them back in my mouth. For meals throughout the day, before I eat I go to the bathroom to take my aligners out, and I rinse them under water BEFORE putting them in my case, then after I eat I brush, floss, mouthwash, then I rinse my aligners again under running water, then pop them back in.

I never brush my aligners, I never need to. & I do believe from countless reviews and videos..etc.. that brushing them can cause microscopic scrapes in the aligner and can harbor bacteria which can produce an odor. The important step in my cleaning process is never taking them out and setting them in my case without rinsing off the saliva. If you just let your saliva sit on your aligners while you eat, an odor will definitely probably develop. Also soaking the aligners twice a day, once in the morning, and once at night is what really keeps them fresh and kills bacteria.

Anyway, I have been sticking to that cleaning regimen religiously and have had no issues, so If you are having problems, maybe give that a try. I will update in another week :). If you have any questions feel free to ask!

05/20/13 Tonight I just put on my 2nd set of aligners! I am definitely thrilled to have a nice new aligner set in my mouth! When putting the new set in, there was definitely a lot of pressure but I would not call it pain at all. However, when I take them off in the morning I will update you guys on how it feels! I have a feeling I will be in pain later. I popped to ibuprofen just in case. I am so excited that my progress is starting to get on a roll! By the way, something I'd like to note, I am still cleaning my aligners the same way, but do sometimes brush my aligners with a toothbrush (WITHOUT toothpaste). I wasn't doing that before, but I noticed a buildup of residue eventually. So brushing them with the toothbrush with water helped with that and I have had no odor (along with soaking them every morning and night in denture cleanser, and rinsing them under water when taking them out to eat throughout the day). I will update you guys about how I adjust to the pressure of this set, and post a pic of my teeth 1 week into wearing the aligners :). On June 3rd I will be going to the ortho for my attachments, IPR, and 5-6 sets of new aligners.