So far not so good :(

[mcawful]

Well, basically sod you mcawful.

Calm down, Othello.

Just a helpful hint to the original poster. No need for World War 3.

[djrobsd]

Wow! I didn't think my thread was going to turn into a little catfight, but hopefully by now you guys have all calmed down as much as my head has.

I'm sorry I didn't post sooner, but this has been a rough week at work... I went to the doctor on Monday, and he calmly and collectively said "Congratulations, you made it through the worst part." And he said "After tonight, it will start to feel much better".

He was right. Sheesh.... I wonder if he hypnotized me or something? Anyway, this week is much better, and tonight when I go to sleep I move on to try #2 of 29. I sure hope it feels better, I looked at the difference in the gap of my front teeth between tray 1 and 2 and you can totally see the difference so hopefully it doesn't hurt too much.

In terms of pain, the only teeth I've noticed tender sore feelings on are the 2 front teeth. It makes it difficult to eat since you always pull the food off from those teeth first, but again this has gotten easier now.

In terms of water, since you can't drink coffee or other beverages, I do drink a lot more water now that I'm on invisalign, so to the person who said I might be dehydrated, that theory is probably not correct.

So, we'll see how the next set does. Many doctors are very conservative when it comes to pain meds. I guess there are so many drug seeking people in society now days, and also the danger of addiction, that a lot of dentists probably don't want to be the "one" who got their patient hooked on vicodin or percoset.

On the other hand, if he had given me something it would have made this first 2 weeks much easier to deal with, and I wouldn't have had such a miserable time. I'm hoping and praying it only gets easier from here.

On a side note, i don't bite my nails any more!! YAY! I've been trying my entire life to stop biting my nails, and this cured me! I can't bite them, even with the trays out.

And I feel like I'm loosing weight because I don't want to snack all the time at work any more... Not to mention even when I do eat, I feel like my metabolism has sped up quite a bit with invisalign.

Is it possible that the pain that I was in was actually causing my body to burn more calories too?

[djrobsd]

Well, I tried to put tray #2 in. Tomorrow at noon will be exactly 2 weeks since the first tray went in. It doesn't fit yet!

The first tray fits like a glove now, it slides right in and easilly comes out (except for the fact that I trimmed my nails yesterday and have no nail to grab onto it and yank it out!)..........

But tray #2 just isn't happening. This being said after a few glasses of wine, so I'm pretty numbed up, but the second tray is way too tight, i got the right side of it in, and it was just yanking at my teeth, so I didn't even bother with the left side. I guess I'll try again tomorrow night.

How tight is it supposed to be when you switch trays? Is it supposed to be difficult or easy?

By the way, I noticed that some posters show which upper one they are on, and which lower one. If the lower one fits, should I move on, or wait until both of them fit? I think it would get too confusing if I have #1 on my top teeth, and #2 on the bottom, but who knows.

[djrobsd]

I remain surprised that Tylenol wasn't enough for you - braces pain really shouldn't be so severe as to require anything stronger. I assume you take it at full strength?
Hope things continue to improve for you.

I always take 2 of the 500mg tylenols, so 1000mg. If I'm in real pain, I pop 3 and it makes it a little easier.

The pain is not like a "my teeth are killing me" sort of pain, it's a lingerijng mild headache and fatigue! The tylenol can sometimes get rid of the headache, but it never changes the fact that I just want to go to sleep and take a long nap.

Fortunately, I've been tylenol free for the past 4 days and it's been ok. So, we'll see how I feel once I finally get the next tray in.. No love for tray #2 tonight.

[Lilypad]

Yes, I would check to make sure there is a number 2 on the actual tray itself, not just the bag. Someone on here had the wrong tray in the right bag, yikes. My trays varied, some were the OMG tight causing an instant headache and some weren't. Some of them were so tight I had to actually snap them on.......OUCH.

[mcawful]

Glad to hear things aren't so horrible anymore.

My first trays were the only ones I had pain with. I do switch trays once a week rather than every two weeks, so my experience is a little different. I do have the "tightness" everyone describes with each new aligner, especially once I got the attachments. Not sure if this was mentioned yet, but could your attachments be the issue (if you have any yet)?

[djrobsd]

My attachments were put on before the first tray. I hated it, they fell off a couple times before she got them to stay! Anyway, one of them has already fallen off again, and when I saw my dentist last Monday he told me that "it's ok"... He said "those attachments are over-rated" and kind of laughed like I didn't really need them.

He told me the rule of thumb is that if the trays stay in tightly and there is no major gap between the bottom of your tooth and the tray, then the attachments should not be an issue, but who knows.

Every dentist probably has their own thought on these attachments, but he told me they are basically to hold the trays in, and have nothing to do with actually straightening the teeth???

[djrobsd]

Attachments are Invisalign's way of improving how well the system can manage certain types of movement that it would be poor at otherwise.

Think for a sec about fixed braces - because they are attached to the teeth, they can apply forces in all the necessary ways - in/out (making the arch narrower/wider), up/down (intrusion and extrusion - levelling), along the arch, and to rotate. Now, on the other hand, because it does not grip the teeth in the same way, Invisalign won't manage some of these types of movement as well, if at all, without the aid of attachements that allow them to grip onto the teeth in a different way. To pick the most obvious example, intrusion is logically doable, but how would an aligner extrude a tooth, without some way to grip onto it? Rotation is another example where attachments are considered to help movement.

Did that make some sense?

Yeah it makes perfect sense to me, so why would my dentist tell me that I don't need to have them re-attached if they fall off? Is he being lazy?

[John37]

Maybe he's lazy for not wanting to put the attachment back on. It's kind of silly to have a plan that needs them, then say they are not important. Having said that, my dentist didn't put one of mine on to the second premolar because it was twisted, facing the molar slightly, so he didn't have an angle to it. I'm not sure if it's affecting the movement or how important it is.

As far as getting the next tray on, mine are usually very tight but I can get them on. It depends on your teeth. For me, because my lower canines were twisted and crooked the most, I had to push the lower tray over those teeth first. For the uppers, I push the front on first also. I have an attachment on one upper canine and I have to get the tray over that first. I have to chew down on a chewy to get the trays onto the molars completely. As my teeth get straighter, it becomes easier to put the lower trays on initially.

So I'm saying you may have to try putting the upper tray on certain teeth first, like the most crooked teeth. Good luck with it. We're all rooting for you!

[djrobsd]

Well, I do seem to remember him saying "we're not really moving those teeth anyway, so it's not that important"... So who knows. My treatment is purely cosmetic in nature, we're not doing anything with the molars or the back teeth, so who knows.

I got the new trays in! They are very tight, especially on the top, but thank goodness I had a glass of wine first so it won't hurt too much!!!!

Hopefully i can get them out... I trimmed my fingernails on Saturday, and it was difficult enough getting the old ones out... LOL

[John37]

Good! I find that they are easier to take out after you've had them in for 12 hours, but still painfully when you are pulling them off and they are still halfway on. It gradually gets less painful over the first three days, then it's not a problem anymore. I know your first set was more painful, so hopefully these won't be so bad.

Definitely ask about a plastic hook to help remove the trays. It makes it much easier for me to remove the trays during the first few days of a new set.

[djrobsd]

Yay, my second trays were put in last night, and I slept like a baby! Unfortunately, I do notice since getting invisalign, i find it harder to get out of bed in the morning and I'm more groggy until I wake up.

If I get in too much pain today, would you recommend switching back to the previous trays to ease up a little bit? I was thinking about a gradual implementation schedule where you put the new ones in and leave them in until you either get used to them or can't stand them, and then go back to the other ones for an hour or two for some releaf and then put the new ones back in again, but who knows if that is a smart idea.

[Lilypad]

would you recommend switching back to the previous trays?

That doesn't sound like a good idea to me.....your teeth wouldn't know if they were coming or going. That idea never occured to me, I was always wanting to move forward.

[John37]

I guess going back to the last tray is a bad idea. The bone is trying to fill in the space where the tooth used to be, so if you go back a tray it will slow this process down. If anything, if you need a rest you could take them out and not have any trays in, but I find if I have them out for 2-3 hours they are tighter when I put them back in. So I agree, you probably are better off keeping them in as much as possible in the beginning.

I don't know about getting up in the morning. Maybe you are eating differently and it's changed your energy level. I didn't have a problem getting up in the morning...or at least it's not any worse than before Invisalign

[mcawful]

Anyway, one of them has already fallen off again, and when I saw my dentist last Monday he told me that "it's ok"...

WEIRD! An attachment fell off my tooth about a month ago. I called right away, and they told me to just wait until my next appointment (almost two months later - July 8th). I asked three questions:

1. Obviously, will this affect my treatment? They said no, it's never happened with one of their patients, and the attachments are secondary to the work the trays are doing on their own. They can be reattached at almost any stage without incident.

2. On the off-chance something does go wrong while I'm missing that attachment, will it be construed as non-compliance, forcing me to pay for additional treatment or aligners? Answer was no.

3. Shouldn't I talk to the doctor? They said no, Invisalign (I guess they meant Align Tech) actually recommends just waiting until your next appointment regardless of the patient, as it cuts down on office costs.

???