Metal Mouth Message Board

Thanks for your responses. I actually had my six month retainer check up today and asked my ortho this same question. His response was basically in line with all of the posters that answered my question- i.e. the best approach is to wear them every night. I currently put them in after dinner for 10-...

I completed Invisalign in February of this year and have been wearing my retainers nightly for 10-12 hours for the past 6 months. They still feel snug when I put them in each night, so I'm sure I will have to wear them nightly for at least one year. I have read several posts about moving to 3-4 nigh...

Hi Buster, one trick I learned on one of these boards that always worked for me: Take a small piece of paper towel, place it over one of your back molars. Place your thumb and index finger on each side of the aligner. Pull the aligner off the back tooth and continue to work your way around to the ot...

Phantom Muse, in answer to your question about going straight to night time: I would say in the first 4 weeks or so, I did feel slight shifting during the 12 hours they were out. At times, I did put them in about 4 hours in the daytime for some extra stability. I am now in the 7th week of retainers,...

I guess that makes a lot of sense. I had braces from age 11-14. I remember wearing a fixed wire across my front teeth for a short time. Other than that, they didn't prescribe permanent retainers in those days. My teeth stayed in perfect alignment until my late 30's. Even then, the movement was minim...

I'm not sure if my open bite is posterior, basically the only teeth I was able to bite down on were the very last molars on each side. After contouring, I can close the last 3 molars. Luckily I have long front teeth so the bite appears closed from the front. I wore my aligners 21 hours +/day religio...

I am unfortunately living proof that this blog entry is 100% correct (i.e. that there are unqualified providers out there offerring this service) and I have to live with the severity of that mistake for the rest of my life. After orthodontic work as a child, I had two arches of nicely aligned teeth,...

I have been through 2 separate Invisalign treatments. In that time, I had several teeth moved successfully upward, but some of my teeth were not successfully intruded up into the gums. Originally, one of my front teeth was longer than the other. That tooth did not move upwards after 18 trays. I had ...

If your attachments are on your front teeth they will be visible (unless as one other poster noted, your teeth do not show much when you smile). I unfortunately have all the front teeth covered in attachments and I show a lot of teeth when my smile (I have fairly large front teeth). That basically m...

If you haven't already, I would suggest submitting a written complaint to the dental association. I'm not sure how things work in the UK; but if they continue to ignore you, perhaps there is a possibility of recouping the fee through a small claims court process?

Hi there, I am on aligner 18. None of my aligners fit perfectly when I first put them on. I use the chewies about 5-10 minutes per day, and find that they seem to fit properly around the third day of each tray.

Hi Sandycakes, I doubt the attachments themselves are causing wrinkles. I started Invisalign at age 41. I have been in treatment for 20 months, with 18 attachments for the past 8 months. I can honestly say I haven't developed any wrinkles around my mouth in that time. I would guess that the action o...

Hi there, the move to 10 days per aligner is not uncommon. I have come across multiple threads in which posters indicate they have been instructed to wear aligners for 10 days as opposed to 14. I kept hoping my ortho would propose the shorter wear time at some point during my treatment, but I've had...

Hi, I have to agree with your statement that not working 9-5 during Invisalign makes the experience easier. I have often felt that getting through treatment would be so much easier if it wasn't for the Monday to Friday, 9 to 5 at the office. I find I can't maintain the same level of hygiene I do at ...

Hi there, The longest I ever have them out at one time is 2 hours (if I'm at a restaurant or a special event). I always start to feel guilty after about 90 minutes! It seems a number of people on the Board keep them out longer, but I'm just so afraid of negatively affecting my treatment. I must admi...