I'm new to this forum and new to clear aligners. Today I got my second aligner and am unable to get it to snap over my front teeth attachments so the aligner drops at the front. My bottom aligner went on with a very painful snap but at least it went on! My ortho suggested putting olive oil in the aligner and to just keep trying to get it on but I am wondering if I need to continue wearing my first aligner for longer.
My ortho doesn't use Invisalign per se as he has his own technicians who make the clear aligners (in house) so I hope it is still ok for me to ask this question on this board.
Another question, is it normal for bubbles to constantly sprout forth out of the aligners while I am speaking? This is most embarrassing, it will be more embarrassing as my second tray has been cut down and finishes just above the attachment instead of the gum line so my bubbling will be very evident.
I have 6 attachments on my upper arch (2 of them are on my left central incisor, right lateral incisor, right and left canine and then one on a right premolar) and in order to get the tray over, I have to put the front part of the tray over the front attachments with the tray tilted toward the front part of my teeth and then I can snap it on (not sure if that makes any sense). It's kind of a hassle but it is what it is.
I haven't really noticed any "bubbling" but if my aligners get dry (most notably when I have a fan blowing on me) during week 2 of an aligner when it's a little looser, air comes up through the aligner at the front of my mouth. Like starts at the back of the aligner and passes thorugh my teeth to the front of the aligner. It's WEIRD and makes it hard to talk so I make sure I always have water around in case I need a sip.
Thanks for the reply mlblair502. My clear aligners were made by my ortho's lab technician and they extend quite a few mm below my two front teeth. This gap below the teeth is always full of bubbles which eventually flow over the top of the aligner as I speak. I have spoken to my orthodontist about this issue twice, explaining how difficult it is to speak not to mention how embarrassing it is to always have these bubbles in the bottom of the aligner. I asked him why the bottom of the top aligner didn't conform correctly to the mold of my teeth, he said the aligner would not be like that once it was seated properly. That was not true. I got my next aligner and it was exactly the same, when I asked about it again he said all my aligners would be like that. When I complained that I didn't want to have constantly bubbling trays he told me to "deal with it". I asked him how many aligners I need, he said 5. These aligners cost me over $6500 so I expected to receive aligners which conform accurately to my teeth. With each aligner costing me over $1000, one would think they'd at least make sure the aligners are an accurate mold for that price.
My son has invisalign clear aligners and you can't even tell he has them. He experiences no bubbling, no speech impediment at all and is so happy with them. He has to have 30 aligners and he got charged the same price I did. He definitely got the best deal.
Have you tried to use chewies to help seat the aligner properly? (Kind of like a chew toy for a teething baby lol) I just put in my 3rd tray last night and had to use the chewy to get it to conform correctly. Used it again today after lunch.... this set of aligners is TIGHT! You can buy the chewies from dentakit. That is where I got mine as my dentist didn't even mention them.
I would be VERY po'd if my dentist told me to "just deal with it" after I paid my $6500 and alerted him to a problem!!
They should remold and produce the aligners properly if they don't fit they way they are supposed to!!
How long do you wear each aligner being only 5 in your treatment? What brand are they?
Yes I use the chewies to seat them correctly. I use a timer that I set for 20 mins each time I have to eat so my aligners are out for only the 1 hour as recommended which means all of my talking is done with the aligners in. I was told I had to do the work with the aligners that it was all in my hands, so I'm complying with the contract I signed, but I feel this ortho has wiped his hands of helping with this issue because I only have 5 aligners. I have to wear each aligner for three weeks. He said he'll be shaving some of my teeth at aligner 4 I think he said, so the aligner fits, but the aligners aren't correct so I am hesitant to allow him to shave any of my teeth at this point. I am not sure if I will require more trays after the initial 5 he has shown me, so there may be more on the horizon that I am unaware of. Just hope he isn't going to charge me any more money. As for what brand of aligner, he said his own technicians make them, they don't use any computer software, working solely from the mold they take of your teeth. In retrospect I should have asked how much experience they have with clear aligners, he's had brilliant success with braces, but I think he may be inexperienced in the area of clear aligners. Invisalign is making a good hedgeway into the dental arena and I feel he may want to have a product that he can sell to those (like myself) who go to his practice requesting invisalign. I requested invisalign but he told me they do their own clear aligners. Naively I thought they would be on par with invisalign.
Thanks for discussing this with me, as you can tell, I am not at all happy with his responses, especially since I have brought up the issues with him since day one of receiving my first aligner. When I had the mold taken the dental nurse said she may have to re-do the mold as she didn't think it was right. (I actually felt the mold "drop" down in my mouth and I thought that mold isn't going to be correct.) She was so busy (the place was full of children as they were all trying to get in while they were on school holidays) she ended up saying no it should be fine. So she knew the mold wouldn't be correct just like I did.
When I got my first aligner I went back in to see her after two days and she looked at them and said No they aren't right, I'll speak to the orthodontist about this, then he comes in 5 mins later telling me they are fine and the issues are just something I have to deal with.
When ever anyone asks me about my aligners I say don't do what I did, go straight to Invisalign. My son did and he's very happy with the product and the service.
When I complained that I didn't want to have constantly bubbling trays he told me to "deal with it". I asked him how many aligners I need, he said 5. These aligners cost me over $6500 so I expected to receive aligners which conform accurately to my teeth. With each aligner costing me over $1000, one would think they'd at least make sure the aligners are an accurate mold for that price.