Refinements, *sigh* lots of pics!!

[Bellalalala]

So, it looks like I need refinements.

I have invisalign on the top and metal on the bottom.
My top teeth have always been essentially straight, but when I decided to finally straighten my very crooked bottom teeth, I figured I'd get the top perfected at the same time.

So, other that some pretty minor refining, the only significant movement I needed was my lateral incisor and my canine rotated together.

I never in a million years expected my super-crowded bottom teeth to be finished before my nearly perfect uppers!!!

However, here I am on my last aligner, unlucky number 13, and I need refinements because rotating canines is apparently like trying to move mountains!!!

Now for the pics! Forgive the massive staining around the invisalign attachments, I tend to drink coffee while on the computer

At the beginning, my top teeth aren't bad, not *perfect* but still good

bottoms, not so pretty


I didn't take any pics of the upper sides until halfway through, see the canine incisor issue?


Now today, better, but not much consider how many aligners that was


other side is picture perfect though...but it didn't need much adjustment in the first place


Front


So, I have another 2 months or so left on my lowers, and with the wait for refinements, I will be in invisalign quite a bit longer than that.
Some people would be happy to get the brackets of first, but I really like my metal mouth.

Oh well, I'm still thrilled that I'm finally going to have beautiful teeth, so I can't really complain!

Besides, 13 aligners is nothing compared to the rest of you one here, so a little longer is just fair, right? LOL

[Phantom Muse]

I think your teeth look great! Did you choose Invisalign for the uppers because you thought they would be done sooner than the lowers? Is it possible to have metal put on the uppers now so you can be finished sooner? I know some people with Invisalign finish a tricky move with a few weeks to a few months in metal.

I have a similar issue with my teeth (that only involves two incisors on top and then crooked lower front teeth), and I dread the thought of spending a great deal of time in refinements! I am impatient!

[Bellalalala]

lol,
no, I can't have metal on the top due to my two front teeth being porcelain, to which brackets can't be attached.
The one on the right in the photo is a crown and the other is a matching veneer.

Metal would probably have been better for trying to move a canine since the pressure could be controlled. However, as long as invisalign gets the job done in the end, I'm not too concerned.

Braces is fundamentally a journey of patience.

[Phantom Muse]

WOW! Your crown and veneer look GREAT! I NEVER would have known...

I am only dealing with 7L and 12U, and I really am dealing well with it all, but there are times when I would like to just be DONE!

My ortho predicted 9-14 months when he first saw me, but my trays come in at 3.5 and 6 months. I KNOW I have to be prepared for refinements, but I try my best to remain in a dream state as much as possible...

[Bellalalala]

Thanks!!

Yeah, I'm in dental school and none of the dentists have been able to notice that my two front teeth are fake, even after I tell them.

I've been told by many that they are by far the best porcelains they've ever seen.

Again, I have to credit my amazing dentist. I couldn't afford very good porcelains when I got them done, but the crown ended up damaged during the process anyway, so it had to be replaced.

By that point, my dentist had developed quite a soft spot for me and felt bad about what I was going through (the root canal ended up really complicated and needing a completely separate surgery to finally fix).

He ended up sending me to a an amazingly talented denturist friend, who never does work like this, and called in a personal favor to have my porcelains done. They're not painted, instead they're beautifully translucent and toned all the way through.

It's especially impressive since I had them done nearly a decade ago before this kind of technology was apparently very common.

The difference from my first set is astronomical!

Considering as a kid I grew up with deep brown stains across my bucked front teeth due to a defect, it's really wonderful to have beautiful front teeth.

Now I just want a bit of gum scalloping to even out the gumline so they will look perfectly even.

[TinySmiley]

you need refinments? I think your teeth look lovely anyway!

[Bellalalala]

you need refinments? I think your teeth look lovely anyway!

Thank you!

Yeah, I got invisalign primarily to correct those two teeth in the first place, so to leave them as is would be pretty silly. Also, they look less awkward in photos, but in person you can really see that everything else is perfectly straight except those two teeth.

Thank you for the compliment though!
I remember when I started, I was in awe of people on here who posted progress pics, so it's really exciting to get to post them myself.

I really wish I had taken more before photos though.

[goodteethby2013]

Its great to see your progress pics - thanks for posting! I have invisalign on top and brackets on bottom too due to very crooked bottom teeth and what I thought were pretty ok top teeth (I have a top central incisor crown too!) But now that I have started and really look at people's teeth, I realize that my top teeth need a little more work than I thought. I have 20 aligners for the top, but my ortho quoted me 27 months of treatment total. I'm hoping he was over-projecting and that it will be shorter duration. How long have you been in treatment? Do you have to wait for the brackets to come off your lowers before you do refinements for your upper arch?
Post more pics when you're done please!

[Bellalalala]

So, I finally got my refinements.

I was out of town for awhile, so I couldn't go pick them up. In the meantime, I wore my last retainer, which never fit quite right, so it was pretty uncomfortable for almost 2 months.

I now have one of the new attachments on my stubborn canine, and it does seem to fit the alinger much more securely than my old attachment. It's in a different spot too, and I can feel the pressure on that tooth.

I have 9 refinement trays! 9!
I only had 13 to begin with!!!

Oh well.
I'm just happy to go back to wearing trays that fit properly.

[CindyRB8603]

Did they say why you couldn't have brackets with porcelain crowns?

2 of my front teeth are porcelain crowns... but I have 5 (soon to be 6) porcelain crowns total.. and according to a previous orthodontst I saw, there was no problem with attached brackets to them.. I'm seeing a new orthodontist wednesday, so i'll be interested to hear what he has to say now..

[Bellalalala]

Did they say why you couldn't have brackets with porcelain crowns?

2 of my front teeth are porcelain crowns... but I have 5 (soon to be 6) porcelain crowns total.. and according to a previous orthodontst I saw, there was no problem with attached brackets to them.. I'm seeing a new orthodontist wednesday, so i'll be interested to hear what he has to say now..

It's not that it can't be done, it's just that the brackets tend not to adhere as well, and apparently pop off more easily.