Inman aligners

[smiletime]

Hi Tipps

Thanks for the advice.

What country are you in, that your dentist said that?

I am in Ireland.

[Hatemyteeth]

I had another visit today and I'm really pleased. I had more filing done and another composite put on. Whatever way it's sitting now my speech is practically perfect

My upper one should be in next week or the week after and I can't wait. I never thought I'd enjoy going to the dentist so much

[danasher0912]

Hi All

I've just had my IA fitted and have a question on how long people generally wear their brace? I don't think i can bring myself to wear it to work as I can hardly speak and I have to keep sucking in the excess saliva I am producing - no one will take me seriously at work! Has anyone had any results by just wearing the brace for 16 hours a day??

I would be really interested to hear people's experiences......any help / advice would be greatly received.

Thanks in anticipation.

[Hatemyteeth]

Hi All

I've just had my IA fitted and have a question on how long people generally wear their brace? I don't think i can bring myself to wear it to work as I can hardly speak and I have to keep sucking in the excess saliva I am producing - no one will take me seriously at work! Has anyone had any results by just wearing the brace for 16 hours a day??

I would be really interested to hear people's experiences......any help / advice would be greatly received.

Thanks in anticipation.

Your speech should improve after a week or so and the excess saliva won't last too long. I was really afraid to wear it at work first but thankfully I don't have to deal with people face to face much and now when I have meetings I just pop it out so very few people know that I have it.

In the beginning I was in agony for up to an hour every time I took it out or put it in but that passed in a few days. I wear mine for about 20 hours per day (sometimes 21, sometimes 19) but I know that my teeth are really really crooked and crowded so I'm determined to get this sorted out as soon as possible.

[theflooze]

Hi danasher 0912. I'm trying to wear my brace for at least 18 hours a day - more if I can. The only drawback to wearing it less is that it will take longer to achieve the end result. I think improvement in speech depends on whether you've got the extra retainer/expander fitted to your IA. This makes it a lot bulkier and speech a lot more difficult! I've been wearing my IA with extra retainer for three weeks now and my speech has only improved slightly, and I think that's more down to not being so self conscious about it. Some people poked fun to start with (and my boyfriend keeps telling me that I sound like Janet Street Porter, which is a bit worrying!), but they soon got used to my new style of talking! Try not to worry about it too much - just keep focussed on the end result! Good luck!

[pyueao]

I had mine fitted yesterday. I'm getting married in 14 weeks and have been promised results in 10-12 weeks for upper teeth straightening.

My question is: my dentist said i need to keep the aligner in 24/7, even whilst eating, and only take it out after eating to clean.
I've just looked on the inman website and it says to keep it in for a MAXIMUM of 20 hours a day, and NOT whilst eating. Has anyone else been told to keep it in always? Is he just trying to get super-fast results?

I'm a teacher going back to school in two weeks, and taking it out for 4 hours would mean could teach most of my classes without it in!

Any ideas what i should do? I want the treatment finished for the wedding!

[Dominie]

pyueao - do NOT eat with it in!! Your dentist is completely wrong. If you eat with it in you risk breaking the plastic that sits on your teeth, or bending the wires and springs that create the tension necessary to move your teeth. Not to mention it would be completely impossible to chew anything! If you eat whilst wearing it you will almost certainly break it.

Well done for checking on the website! That was a wise move.

Also, I believe the general consensus is that wearing it for 20 hours a day is long enough. To wear it for longer seems to not make much difference. I gather it's also possible to wear it for less than that and see a difference - but of course, the fewer hours per day that you wear it, the longer treatment will take. Perhaps if you wear it for under 20 hours during the week, you should wear it for as long as possible on the weekends.

Hope that helps! Repeat - DO NOT EAT WITH IT IN!! (I'm really concerned that your going to break it and have to pay for a new one!)

[pyueao]

Thank you so much for the advice. I'm going to call up Inman today and check everything. I won't eat with it in - promise (i have to say the seafood salad i had last night was an experience i wouldn't want to repeat - it looked like something from a horror movie when i took it out to clean!!)
I'll also get back to my dentist and ask what on earth he was recommending!

[Tennessee]

I'm going to another dentist today. Hoping this one will fit me for the inman aligner. I so want a straight smile again.

[LilPickle]

I have to say pyueao I would be concerned about whether you dentist knows what he's talking about and has done this before? There is absolutely no way you'd be able to eat with it in and the whole point of the Inman aligner is that you can remove it so why on earth would you try and eat with it still in! That is totally bizzare! You would definitely break it.

I'm so fed up with mine now. Not going back for another week as my dentist is on holiday but my teeth have moved into the gap created so i know they wont move any more which means i've quite lazy about wearing it! I took it out this morning about six hours ago and havent put it back in yet!

[danasher0912]

Thanks for the advice following my earlier post.

I've been wearing it for a couple of days and my speech has improved slightly, however I don't see how it can improve much more as there are some words that are just impossible to say, no matter how much i keep practising!!

I still havent worn it to work though!

I'll update on progress in a few days.

Cheers

[Tennessee]

Yay! I am a candidate and got my impressions today. Hope to have the IA in a couple of weeks. I know it will not be fun to wear but I'm very excited for the end result.

And for those in the US it is costing me $960 per arch. Seems like the only prices posted are in the UK.

[Hatemyteeth]

Yay! I am a candidate and got my impressions today. Hope to have the IA in a couple of weeks. I know it will not be fun to wear but I'm very excited for the end result.

And for those in the US it is costing me $960 per arch. Seems like the only prices posted are in the UK.

That's great value. In Ireland it's €1700 per arch. Still well worth the money though.

[Dominie]

@danasher0912, my speech never sounded completely normal - I learned to say most words, but there are certain sounds that I always lisped on. I sounded sort of like a deaf person, you know? The most difficult were 'ch' and 'ts'. Problematic considering I work in a church! Whenever I said it it sounded like 'tee-urth' and nobody could understand! so embarrassing.

But it will be over SO SOON!!

@Tenessee - great news! Can you post any before photos?? And you really have got a bargain, mine cost twice that!

[Tennessee]

Before pic........after pic in a few months


I received a 20% discount because I don't have dental insurance. Was thankful for the that!