Metal Mouth Message Board

I was supposed to get my aligners today but received a message on my answering machine last night that the aligners had not arrived. They said that they will call when they come in so that another appointment can be set up. I just called the office and asked if I could get an estimate of how much longer it will take and they said 3.5 weeks! UGH! I was so ready to start this week. Waiting for the last 4 weeks have been torture enough!

I would have preferred if they had they just said 7.5 weeks in the beginning...

Hi Jeni,

I am waiting too, since the middle of November They told me something about the beginning fo February 2007. It was Ok for me, because of the extractions I had and the ortho was on christmas holidays....

My husband called my ortho last Friday and they couldn´t tell us how long it will take until I will get my aligners. I am angry about this I will call them next week... again. That is not the service I have expected to get. I am so disappointed...

Hi Nanny,

Sorry to hear about your wait. Your wait doesn't make mine seem nearly as bad. Have they given you any indication of what is taking so long?

I was told that it can be blamed on the OrthoClear litigation. But, I would have thought that my ortho's office would have had enough experience over the past few months since the settlement was reached with Invisalign to know that it is unreasonable to set up an appointment to get the aligners in four weeks! I know that there are other Invisalign patients that go to the same office that I do. I even got to see the storeroom where they keep the aligners for their patients.

The office also said that since the doctor had to make some adjustments, that is also another reason that it is taking longer than expected. But, from what I have been reading on the message boards, orthodontists typically make adjustments to the plan. So, time for this should have been built into the original estimate.

Hi Jeni,

they didn´t give me any indication why this takes so long. My husband spoke to them, so I was not able to ask.... What I am really pissed off is:

First Appointment:
In September he told me something about that we can really start this year (2006), when we will have the next appointment as soon as possible.

Second appointment:
In October, only one or two weeks later, we made the molds and everything else to start the treatment. After everything was done here he told me something about the beginning of Februar 2007, after I have signed the agreement and everything like the mold has been already finished!

OK, I had an extraction in November and after that we had to wait, too. But for me it seems that this will take much longer and I hate that they don´t call me to give me an update. I have already payed the aligners, shouldn´t it be normal that they give me an short update if this will take much longer?

I hope they will call me next week but I don´t believe that and I am so disappointed.

hmmm...interesting stories. i had my molds done just before x-mas. and, i'll be in aligners this thurs. my ortho received the aligners awhile ago and that's even with a number of adjustments he had to make. i would have them in already, but i needed to have spacers beforehand.

maybe some cases are just more difficult to process than others? it would be interesting to know exactly what is causing your delays.

Good news Today the aligners arrived!!! Too bad that I wasn´t at home when they called me, therefore I wasn´t able to get an appointment yet.

I am so happy that they finally came in, Nanny. I wish you the best of luck! Please keep us posted on how your treatment is coming along!

PIMPmyTEETH, I am sure that you have to be right that some cases are more complicated than others and that could account for more lab time. What frustrates/confuses me so much is that I didn't have anything overly complicated - no extractions, wisdom teeth taken out over a year ago, no cavities, midline isn't off, normal overjet, my back teeth are all perfectly in line, and my bite is pretty well near perfect. It is just my front teeth that are crowded. Probably the most complex part is that I have a chipped tooth. I would think that there are a lot more complicated cases out there.

Anyone else out there have molds taken in early January? If so, have the trays come in yet?

My molds were taken on 1/5/07 and they gave me a time frame of 6 weeks - I should be getting them tomorrow!

Hi everyone.

I am waiting 5 weeks now to get more aligners for a "refinement" or whatever they call it. I already finished 14 bottom/17 top aligners, but my back teeth don't come together well because the front 2 teeth on the bottom (central incisors on bottom) bump into my top 2 central incisors. This is really stupid and I don't know why my ortho didn't spot this problem in the originial Clincheck.

So here I am waiting 5 weeks for the aligners to correct this problem. The plan is to pull the bottom teeth in 1.5 milimeters.

Now I find that the wait for the aligners is another 4-5 weeks. Meanwhile I have the same stupid speedbumps on some side teeth, and am just wearing the last set of aligners as a retainer of sorts. So I am making zero progress and will have wasted a good three months waiting to go forward.

Yes, I know this is all due to the Orthoclear settlement. But I paid for these aligners last year, over $5000, so it is quite annoying. I really wanted to be done by now.

So how long is it really taking everyone? I am beginning to doubt what my ortho says.

Thanks,
Tracy

Yay! I just got a call that my aligners came in! So, it took exactly 6 weeks. The doctor is out of town today, so I can't get an appointment. But, that is okay. I am taking an exam on Monday to become a Certified Public Accountant and do not wish to be in pain at the time or have the discomfort ruin my chances of performing my best. Plus, the deadline to finish my current audit at work is next Thursday. I do not need anything right now that will slow my progress to finish that (extra pain, new inconveniences, poor ability to speak to people to obtain last-minute information, etc.). So, I scheduled for next Friday, March 2nd after my teeth cleaning appointment.

I will have 17 uppers and 19 lowers. At that rate, I will be done by the end of 2007. How exciting to think about! I expected a lot more trays due to my crowding and to be completed June 2008 with a treatment time of 15 months. 15 months of treatment time would work out to 30 or so for uppers and lowers each. May he have been allowing extra time for refinements?

How correct have the estimates from everyone's dentist/ortho been to the time until treatment is completed when compared to the number of Invisalign trays?

That's great Jeni about getting your aligners in 6 weeks! I don't blame you for waiting 'til you are past the CPA exam and extra work you might have. Good luck with that! It helped me to kind of "lie low" socially and at work for the first 2-3 weeks with Invisalign. As you get used to it, it isn't as big a deal, except for the first day or two with new aligners.

With my case refinement, they didn't have to do more impressions. The ortho said we could just have Invisalign work from the last aligners because they fit perfectly. It's just that my bottom front teeth bowed outwards (toward my lip) too much, so they bump into my top front teeth if I am not careful! This was not the case before starting Invisalign. My teeth were crowded, but the back teeth could certainly come together!

I was just in a bad mood yesterday thinking about wasting 3 months waiting for the next set of aligners to come in. I thought I would be done by now. I have a college reunion in early June, and hoped I would have my movie star smile by then. Wish me luck.

I got my aligners today!!! I had two orthos, an assistant, and the whole office all to myself the whole time, even. I sure felt special!

From seeing the ClinCheck, I also now know what the real reason was that it took so long. The ClinCheck wasn't accepted until 10 days after my original appointment to get the aligners was supposed to be. I could see where they went back and forth to get it right at least 5 times. I even saw where the ortho wanted some movements and they said that they would have to increase the number of trays to get this to happen. It is fine with me seeing as how 17U/19L was a lot less than the 30+ that I was expecting. The ortho and the company going back and forth is okay but I wish that I could see the final result before officially "approved." I wouldn't have been in agony the past 6 weeks wondering which teeth will have attachments and how many I will have . It was all a big surprise until the attachments were installed today. I asked to see the last aligners and I am so stoked that my teeth are supposed to be that straight at the end!

I am also really excited because none of my molars are moving and only a few other teeth in the back are moving. This means that my front teeth (the ones where I can actually see results) will start their movements immediately. I got the IPR on one of my front teeth today and there is more to come. I also got 3 attachments today (one on top and 2 on bottom) and none were on the most obvious of the front teeth. Whew!

I asked to see the ClinCheck and also asked for my own copy. Neither ortho was sure if they could do that (and one is the most experienced in the area and both are really technological-types) but called and found out how and seemed to be pleased that they learned how to do this. The emailed various views to me so that I can show them off to my family and watch any time that I want to!

So far, no big problems but my jaw is getting a little sore since I am not biting down like normal. I think that taking the Aleve before going was a smart move. Because these aligners are not hurting. And luckily, the minor lisp I had was short-lived. I got a lot of practice talking when my furnace repairman got here 10 minutes after I got home from the ortho. We woke up this morning with NO HEAT!!! Fixed now, though!!

I'm also waiting for my aligners. They said it should take 4 weeks, I don't know how long it will actually take. I trust my orthodontist, but after reading people's experiences on this board, I'm not holding my breath. Anyway, I can't wait to get my aligners on as well.

I'm happy for you Jeni!

It will be just over 8 weeks to get additional aligners for a "refinement." I already completed 14 lower/17 upper aligners in late January.

But my two front incisors on the lower arch bump into the top two incisors (this wasn't the case before starting with Invisalign. So I have to chew carefully, as my back teeth can't come together all the way. The bumping started about 6 weeks before I was "done.") So to correct this, I will get 6 more aligners (6 lower/6 upper).

They didn't need to do more impressions, but there was a new clincheck. Because the aligners fit well, they could just work from their original records. But still, I don't know how the orthodontist and Invisalign didn't know that this would happen! I am annoyed, but what can I do?

I will also now need some interproxial reduction to allow the lower front teeth to move back in. I didn't have this done before.

On the plus side, I am happy there are only 12 more weeks once these next aligners come in. And I will get some additional expansion on both the upper and lower arch.

But the wait has been long, no doubt due to how busy they are at Align Technologies with so many additional patients.

I don't think I will need any additional buttons put on my teeth! I sure hope not! I am mostly sorry to lose these past weeks, wearing my last aligners to keep my teeth from moving anywhere.

Oh well, it has been a nice little vacation from headaches and such. After wearing the same aligner on the bottom for almost 3 months, it hardly feels like any pressure at all.

Good luck to everyone in their quest for the perfect smile!

-Tracy