Freaking out! HELP!

[Amberlove21]

ok so I am on aligner 3 and I am freaking out. I take my aligners out to eat and sometimes I forget to put them back in and I think I am only getting them in for 20 hours a day. Also I live in hawaii and on the weekends I have them out a lot more because I cant snorkel with them in and I snorkel every weekend! I am scared that I was out snorkeling today for too long and I didnt leave them in long enough and my teeth are going to fall out! Also, I am going on vacation to another island next month and I will be snorkeling and kayaking everyday in the deep ocean, if I have the aligners in I cannot seal my snorkel and breath in water! Tomorrow I am going back to timing every time I take them out tomorrow (no longer than 10 mins each meal). I am just afraid that this weekend I did perm damage and I am going to lose all my teeth! (they say that on the other invisalign forum so I am very OCD when it comes to my teeth!). Ugh any advice, or do you think I ruined everything?

Thanks,
Amber

[Amberlove21]

Ok I just tallied it up and this week was so bad I only maybe had them in for 19 hours ish during the week! and I messed up this weekend because of snorkeling! OMG I really hope I didn't ruin everything I think that maybe I should stop treatment because of my active lifestyle! I am so depressed I took out a large loan for this and I have been waiting my whole life to fix my teeth and I guess that I wasn't meant for perfect teeth. The first tray I was so strict about the time limits and now I am just lax and im only in three trays! Ugh I just really need advice....

[lilone]

You can stop worrying. Not wearing them enough will do no harm in terms of losing teeth. If the next aligner is too tight to put on, then just wear your current aligner for an extra week. if you consistently don't wear them enough hours over the course of the two weeks with each aligner, then talk to your dentist about moving up to three weeks per aligner so that you get the required time for proper movement. It will take longer to complete treatment but you will be more likely to get the desired result. Again, there is no threat of losing teeth. What you need to worry about is just not giving your teeth enough time in the aligner to move to the new position before switching.

[Amberlove21]

Sorry let me explain where I heard this... on the other invisalign forum I am in a guy posted on there that he only wore his aligners 18 hours a day and finished with no problems and on time. Then everyone posted back about how his teeth were going to fall out because of that. It terrified me to hear that. I guess I panicked!

[KUMonkeyMomma]

I wouldn't worry either - the worst that will happen if you don't wear them long enough per day is that when you switch to your next tray it won't fit or be really tight and you'll have to wear your current aligner an extra week - or very worse case, have new impressions done and do what they call a "course correction" and get new trays that start at the current tooth positions. I wore my trays 3 weeks per tray because they were slow movers even with wearing them 21 or more hours a day. Your teeth definitely won't fall out just from not wearing the aligner enough. I agree with the previous poster about checking with your dentist/ortho about going to 3 weeks per tray if you know you won't wear it as many hours as needed for 2 weeks per tray.

Good luck!

[Amberlove21]

Well my trays are tight the first day then I can move the trays with my tongue no matter how many hours I have them out I think my teeth are moving really fast (which I think is a bad thing because that means ill probably relapse). So I dont think moving to 3 weeks will do anything. Also, today I have been setting my alarms again so I dont forget to put them back in! no more than 10 mins for Bfast, 20 mins for lunch, and 30 mins from dinner and I snack with them in. (I am told to eat all meals with them in per my ortho but its impossible). I have been trying to wean myself into eating with them in. I am out of rubber bands for my TADs so I have to go get some tomorrow so I will bring up my concerns then, thanks for your help and calming words everybody! I am a freak about my teeth maybe I figure out how I will post some pics for you guys! (FYI I am having an open bite corrected with TADs and invisalign and I am only on tray 4 and I cant even stick my tongue through anymore its awesome! I have 27 trays left so I cant imagine what else they can do because they look fantastic right now!

[lilone]

You ortho asked you to eat with them in? I haven't heard of that. If you do that, be sure not to leave them in for very long after eating and before brushing. I don't know if I would be comfortable doing that, personally.

[Amberlove21]

Trust me, I CANT eat with them in. I think it has something to do with them molding to your teeth better but mine do it just fine. So I just give myself really short meals and snorkeling time on the weekends. Although it kinda sucks cuz I am going on vaca for 7 days and I am doing LOTS of snorkeling and eating out so I am going to see about just wearing them to bed and wearing that set for an extra week. I dont know if it will fly and I am unsure what to do but we will see

[Advocate]

I think you can snorkel while wearing Invisalign. Just don't bite down too ferociously on the snorkel mouth-piece.