Going for 1st Invisalign appointment -- Advice?

Discussions about treatment with invisible braces that use clear aligners, such as Invisalign, OrthoClear, the Red White and Blue system, etc.

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arabella
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Apr 11, 2005 4:49 pm

Going for 1st Invisalign appointment -- Advice?

#1 Post by arabella »

So I have my first Invisalign appointment in 2 days and I AM NERVOUS! I've read some of the horror stories on here and it is scaring me to pieces! :shock:

I did the braces thing for 2 years about 10 years ago as a kid. Since then, a few of my front teeth shifted forward slightly and ever so gradually, and now I have a small gap in between my 2 front teeth. I went back to my orthodontist, and he said it was my bottom teeth repeatedly "hitting" on the back of my front teeth that did it. He recommended Invisalign for 6 months and possibly shaving a bit off the back of my front teeth to prevent the problem from reoccuring. Sounded ok to me.

Well now I'm scared something will go wrong. I'm getting married in 10 months too, so I'm paranoid something will go wrong that can't be fixed in time for the wedding.

Anyone have anything to share to ease my fears? What should I expect in the initial stages?

Thanks!

rooroo
Posts: 338
Joined: Mon Nov 22, 2004 3:49 pm
Location: Columbia, MD and Rockville, MD

#2 Post by rooroo »

Your problem sounds fairly simple. Most of us that have had Invisalign troubles had a long treatment that involved fixing the bite. Yours sounds like shifting teeth forward or backwards and closing some spaces, which is stuff Invisalign does well. I don't think you should have any fears that your treatment won't go well. My treatment actually went very well, and the results were quite a dramatic improvement, but Invisalign just didn't fix my bite. With some refining trays I may have had better results but my orthodontist wanted me to do braces, so I went with his recommmendation. I'd say if your ortho is recommending Invisalign, you should trust his judgement.

Now on to advice for the first day. If you can, take off work that day and the day after. This gives you two full days to get used to speaking with them in and to get over some of the soreness, and to generally get used to taking care of them without the worries of people noticing that you're talking funny.

No matter how much you notice the aligners, other people will not. So don't have any fears about that. It's only when you have a decent sized gap in the front of the upper arch that people might notice.

Take some pain medicine before and after your appointment, and eat before you go to your appointment so you wont have to take the aligners out for several hours.

Taking the aligners out and putting them back in is the most painful part, but this pain only lasts a few days after you have inserted a new set of aligners. Try to only take them out 3 times a day, and clean your teeth and the aligners after every meal. My ortho said to try to wear them 22 hours a day. This is absolutely the hardest part of Invisalign, and the most important. It's very easy to forget to put them back in.

Don't drink anything other than water with them in. Everything else is hot and will warp the aligners, heavily colored and will stain them, and full of sugar and can cause cavities. Of course most of us end up bending this rule a little.

They might put the speedbumps on your teeth. Don't worry about these, they are completely invisable. You should be able to find out more about speedbumps by reading through some of these threads.

Thats all I can think of now. Good luck! Let us know how it goes!
Image
2 year Invisalign patient graduated to ceramics to finish up treatment

invisagirl
Posts: 215
Joined: Fri Jun 24, 2005 3:27 pm
Location: Colorado

#3 Post by invisagirl »

Don't be nervous it will be o.k! Invisalign does a great job of taking care of gaps, its just not the best if the teeth need to be moved up or down in the gum. Most people who run into issues do so after they've been with Invisalign for 1+ years.
Image

2.6 years (30 months) with Invisalign plus 19 months 2 weeks with metal braces to achieve the perfect smile.

SumatraBouffant
Posts: 12
Joined: Thu Mar 17, 2005 7:21 pm

#4 Post by SumatraBouffant »

Not to beat this into the ground, but my bite was JUST FINE until I had 9 months of invisaline and then I had to get archwires to correct the mess the invisalines created.....just so you know.

mslinda70
Posts: 20
Joined: Mon Jul 25, 2005 6:28 pm

Re: Going for 1st Invisalign appointment -- Advice?

#5 Post by mslinda70 »

I go for my invisalign appt tommorrow and im also nervous i want to get them so bad, im planning to get married next year and i want my teeth to be straight before i do, i went to this other dentist before and instead of him trying to save my teeth he just pulled them, so on one said i dont have teeth in the back so im hoping with the invisaligns this wont matter as much, i really want them soooo bad, i have been dieing for a pretty smile, good luck at your appt.
arabella wrote:So I have my first Invisalign appointment in 2 days and I AM NERVOUS! I've read some of the horror stories on here and it is scaring me to pieces! :shock:

I did the braces thing for 2 years about 10 years ago as a kid. Since then, a few of my front teeth shifted forward slightly and ever so gradually, and now I have a small gap in between my 2 front teeth. I went back to my orthodontist, and he said it was my bottom teeth repeatedly "hitting" on the back of my front teeth that did it. He recommended Invisalign for 6 months and possibly shaving a bit off the back of my front teeth to prevent the problem from reoccuring. Sounded ok to me.

Well now I'm scared something will go wrong. I'm getting married in 10 months too, so I'm paranoid something will go wrong that can't be fixed in time for the wedding.

Anyone have anything to share to ease my fears? What should I expect in the initial stages?

Thanks!

mslinda70
Posts: 20
Joined: Mon Jul 25, 2005 6:28 pm

Re: Going for 1st Invisalign appointment -- Advice?

#6 Post by mslinda70 »

I go for my invisalign appt tommorrow and im also nervous i want to get them so bad, im planning to get married next year and i want my teeth to be straight before i do, i went to this other dentist before and instead of him trying to save my teeth he just pulled them, so on one said i dont have teeth in the back so im hoping with the invisaligns this wont matter as much, i really want them soooo bad, i have been dieing for a pretty smile, good luck at your appt.
arabella wrote:So I have my first Invisalign appointment in 2 days and I AM NERVOUS! I've read some of the horror stories on here and it is scaring me to pieces! :shock:

I did the braces thing for 2 years about 10 years ago as a kid. Since then, a few of my front teeth shifted forward slightly and ever so gradually, and now I have a small gap in between my 2 front teeth. I went back to my orthodontist, and he said it was my bottom teeth repeatedly "hitting" on the back of my front teeth that did it. He recommended Invisalign for 6 months and possibly shaving a bit off the back of my front teeth to prevent the problem from reoccuring. Sounded ok to me.

Well now I'm scared something will go wrong. I'm getting married in 10 months too, so I'm paranoid something will go wrong that can't be fixed in time for the wedding.

Anyone have anything to share to ease my fears? What should I expect in the initial stages?

Thanks!

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