5 months for refinements :(

[redstar99]

After finishing my first 19 trays, my front teeth are still not quite straight so I am of course going through my first course of refinements.

Now i went to have my new impressions done with my ortho on 26/10/2010 and I am still waiting for the refinement trays to arrive from invisalign. At the time my ortho said they should be received within 6-8 weeks.

I spoke to my ortho just before xmas(17/12) approx 7 weeks after impressions and was told that he had agreed the refinements with invisalign and they were being sent for manufacture.

I just called my ortho for an update to see if the trays had arrived and they informed me that they have checked online and invisalign is saying the trays will be ready on 01/03/2011. That will be 18 weeks after my impressions - almost 5 months(I appreciate we have had xmas in between).

Does anyone know if waiting for 5 months is common? I find this utterly unacceptable, i have paid £4000 for this treatment and am somewhat disatisfied right now. Of course the trays i have in at the moment(my last ones) I have been wearing for almost 4 months already and they are very dirty(despite me cleaning them twice a day with brushing and steradent), one of the trays already has a small crack towards the back and im very worried it will break/snap if i have to keep wearing them for another 7 weeks.

I am in the uk btw

[ItsyBitsy]

I can't believe you have to wait so long!!!. I had impressions done 08/12/2010 for my refinements and 05/01/2011 was already wearing them (would've beet even quicker but my ortho had some time off during x-mas/new year. On the packaging it says that they were manufactored 17/12/10).
I was on 17U/21L , and had to wear my upper trays until lowers were done (about 14 weks), so fully understand you about them getting dirty (even if you wash them), and cracking ( mine also cracked about 3 weeks before the end , so had to be very careful not to break them).
Dont even know what to advise....
Be strong and good luck

P.S. I'm also in the UK (London)

[redstar99]

Thanks for the response, its interesting to know you are in the UK and it took less than a month for you to be wearing them. Like i said, my initial trays were received within 6 weeks so i cannot believe what is happening now.

I can't get my head around if its my ortho that has delayed matters or if its invisalign.

I only spoke to the secretary today(ortho wasnt there today), but think i might call the ortho on Monday and insist he bangs some heads at invisalign

Ive been wearing these last 2 trays for over 3 months now, they are so grotty now, hate to think what they would be like in another 6 weeks

Out of interest, how many refinement trays have you got?

[ItsyBitsy]

Well, my ortho was certain and told me that i definitely won't have to wait longer than two weeks.. it might be that your ortho didn't send your moulds straight away and that delayed everything, but on the other hand it could be Invisalign
I've got 6U/10L refinement trays, and hopefully won't need any more oh, and i had 9 attachments before including on the front tooth, and now got only 1, on the canine.... !!!!! its sooo good without them

[redstar99]

Well, my ortho was certain and told me that i definitely won't have to wait longer than two weeks.. it might be that your ortho didn't send your moulds straight away and that delayed everything, but on the other hand it could be Invisalign
I've got 6U/10L refinement trays, and hopefully won't need any more oh, and i had 9 attachments before including on the front tooth, and now got only 1, on the canine.... !!!!! its sooo good without them

Thanks for the info, good luck with your refinements, you will be finished in no time I hope when mine finally arrive its only around the 10 trays mark as well. I actually dont mind the attachments so much, especially if it helps the tooth move.

[ItsyBitsy]

And good luck to you too.. Keep us posted...

[DrJasonKTam]

The biggest barrier to aligners being manufactured and shipped is usually the amount of time it takes for the doctor to get all the materials in, including revisions. Once it has been approved, the process is quite quick. Manufacturing and shipping should not take more than 10 days. Therefore, it generally isn't Invisalign's fault with any delays.

With some serious pushing, I've had impressions taken and aligners into our office within 2 weeks... and I sent the impressions in just prior to the Christmas holidays. New cases tend to take a bit longer... on the order of 4-5 weeks. Refinement and mid-course correction should be about 3-4 weeks. Again, this is dependent upon timely revisions of your ClinCheck by your doctor. Some do this once a week, some a few times a week, and others a few times a day.

It is possible that the 1/3/11 actually means January 3rd, 2011, as that is how the date is read in America. Let's hope this is the case!

[andrea26]

I would be quite annoyed aswell. I am in the UK and I received my refinements 2 weeks after getting my impressions done.