Inman aligners

[michen333]

Hi Guys,
Really glad to have found this forum. I got my inman aligner today. I'm concerned about where the bar should be sitting. When I asked him he said "at the top" but when i push it up towards my gums, it hurts more and snaps back down when i bite my teeth together. So it's resting "naturally" in the centre of my front teeth- is this normal? I'm wondering if when he said "at the top" he just mean not at the bottom on the edge of my teeth. Probably stressing for no reason but if anyone has any experience of this I'd really appreciate it!

[jvr2]

You definitely don't need to have the bar up near your gums, I think that is actually too high. Wherever the bar naturally lies is probably best as long as its not at the very end of your teeth. I tend to push it up just a little from the bottom of my teeth so that it lies not totally mid line but close. Also I think the bar will lie different ways depending on how snug you have the Aligner in your mouth meaning make sure your back teeth are all the way in the brackets, I tend to bite down slightly to make sure the Aligner is in all the way around all my teeth.

Good luck on your journey!

[michen333]

Thank you for your help! I think I'm just being paranoid. Day 3 and the pain has eased off- thank god. hope your getting on alright.

[Sassy]

Today I am on 15 weeks and 5 days. Originally quoted 12 weeks but coldsores etc put treatment time back.

Went to dentist last week expecting to get my clear retainers and my whitening trays. I did not get them, but instead my dentist tightened up all the springs on my IA. I am really happy with how my teeth are first thing in the morning when Ive had the IA in constantly throughout the night. The do however begin to move when I take it out to eat/drink during the day and are never as straight again until the next morning.

I am at dentist tomorrow and hoping that she is happy and that I get my bonded wire, clear retainers and whitening treatment, fingers crossed!!!

Has anyone else found that people have not mentioned changes in their teeth? The past couple of weeks I have seen about 8 people who I have not seen since the start of my treatment and not one of them noticed my teeth (Family and friends)! I dont know whether they just did not want to comment as no one ever mentioned my teeth when they were crooked but its just a bit weird as I thought surely someone would of mentioned it. Infact even my close family, husband, parents, grandparents never even comment on how much they have changed unless I specifically say, do you think my teeth have moved? Can you tell they are different? Im back to uni next week so i'll see whether anyone there notices. Im hoping once I get them whitened, they are more noticable to people lol! It would be nice for a couple of positive comments about them after me paying out all this money and going through the treatment but i suppose as long as im happy with them, thats all that counts. And I do have much more confidence now especially in smiling for photographs and not having to get the right angle so my teeth look ok.

Hope everyone else getting on ok xxx

[Mater33]

Hi michen333

Don't know if it helps but the top of my plastic IA bar is just below my gum line. Ive been wearing my IA for nearly 10 weeks and on my next appt next week he said he is going to adjust it to be more towards the centre of my teeth. My teeth stuck out quite a bit at the start and i guess it needed to go more towards the top. everybody is diff though. Id definately let it stay where it naturally rests, as you kind of know when you put click it into your back teeth.
If you google images of the IA you will see pictures of the bar at all different levels against the teeth so dont worry.

Not sure if this has helped but heyho..take care Mater 33 x

[vickypayne86]

Hello I am new to this, hello everyone:) I wonder if anyone could perhaps help. My problem is my inman aligner and the horrible smell after i take it out. I have very great oral hygeine brush 3 times daily ordinarily and with wearing inman i brush/rinse TEETH&ALIGNER after snacks/coffee ect. however i have only had this one week, and tonight it had an awful smell to it. I use denture tabs to clean it at night time for 15-30mins and thoroughly rinse it then use my small brush to clean even more, its making me paranoid, please some one help. gollygawsh x

[jvr2]

I've not had any issues with smells with my aligner and I don't clean it nearly as much as you do. I've never actually brought the thing up to my nose to take a whif though lol..but I'm sure I'd smell it when taking it out if there was something to smell. That's weird though, I don't recall if anyone else in this thread ever spoke about horrible smells. Maybe someone else has experienced this and can offer ideas and solutions.

[michen333]

Dear vickypayne86 I have the same problem- i've not even had it a week! I honestly think its avoidable, im doing all the same things as you. I would say that when i soaked it in the denture tablets for 2 hours it was fine, but the smell came back as soon as I wore it! No idea why. I wouldn't sorry though- no ones getting their nose that close to it.

[michen333]

Mater33
thanks that helps! I think its definitely fine. Thanks again!

[michen333]

PS was going to ask.... Not sure if you guys have seen the tip on plugging the gap between the bridge at the back with orthodontic wax to help with the lisp? I've been doing this and it definitely helps...bit worried it may affect the mechanics of the brace but as the most important part (i think) is still behind the teeth and the wax is behind that I'm asssuming its going to be okay!

[caroline30]

Hiya,
Im from Glasgow and about to pay the £300 deposit for my IA. However I am sceptical about how genuine my orthodontist is, he only took 5 mins to determine I was suitable for this treatment and my teeth are quite overcrowded (previously told by visage clinic I was not suitable for Invisalign clear braces). Has anyone any experience with motdental, or Glasgow Inman practice? It is quite possibly my imagination running wild, but I have nightmares of rouge dentistry (and being left £2100 short with the same old teeth!)
Putting that to one side, I am looking forward to the prospect of lovely straight teeth :)
Thanks

[vickypayne86]

Michen333_thank goodness someone else experiencing the same, i heard it could be coffee thstat possibly doing it! I never noticed the smell puttin it in and out,im terribly weird and smell things like food ect before i pop it in my mouth so i done the same with IA hehe. i got some retainer bright thats working to keep it fresher for longer.

thanks vpayne86

[jem]

Hi Caroline 30

Quote: "Hiya,
Im from Glasgow and about to pay the £300 deposit for my IA. However I am sceptical about how genuine my orthodontist is, he only took 5 mins to determine I was suitable for this treatment and my teeth are quite overcrowded (previously told by visage clinic I was not suitable for Invisalign clear braces). Has anyone any experience with motdental, or Glasgow Inman practice? It is quite possibly my imagination running wild, but I have nightmares of rouge dentistry (and being left £2100 short with the same old teeth!)"


Whilst it will no doubt be possible to achieve some improvement to your teeth with an inman aligner, it is hard to see how it could achieve anything like ideal results if they are so crowded that you are not suitable for invisalign.

A lot of general dentists now seem to be offering inman aligners; mine has recently started and we had a chat about it when I saw him last week. In the right cases they are getting good results- the daughter of some friends of mine now has perfect bottom teeth after 12 weeks with an inman aligner.

I would suggest that you get another opinion from a specialised orthodontist. They will have done 3 years post-graduate training in orthodontics as opposed to a 2 day inman aligner course. If you look online at the General Dental Council register, you will be able to see whether any particular dentist has a full orthodontic qualification.

For what it is worth, my orthodontist prefers to use fixed braces as they give the best control over tooth movement but because of patient demand also does a large volume of invisalign work with good results in carefully selected cases. She does not particularly rate inman aligners for anything other than gross movement of teeth prior to cosmetic fine tuning.

Good luck!

Jem

[Mater33]

Hi Caroline30

Have you been on the Inman Alinger website? they have a section in there where you enter your town and they give you a list of certified Inman Aligner specialists. Link is below:

http://www.inmanaligner.com/find.php

Hopefully your dentist is on there ;0)

[caroline30]

Well yes he is on there :) which is great! thanks for that link Mater33 it was ideal.
Hi Jem, I know I SHOULD be getting fixed braces but I just cannot face having them for 2 years +, and the cost is more than double the IA. Thanks for your advice, I think I will have another consultation and go from there. The invisalign consultation was over 2 years ago so maybe (hopefully) the treatments have advanced since then and I can have straight teeth after all! lol