Metal Mouth Message Board

My treatment has been wrought with a series of errors and I feel lost for direction. It began with a recommendation that I was suitable for Invisalign and reassurance that the required time for this treatment would be the same as for brackets, and the quality of the result exactly the same. Having since looked at the information for Invisalign on the internet I believe this to be inaccurate. I needed 8 extractions done - 4 second premolars and 4 wisdom teeth (lower 2 impacted). I had 9 attachments (buttons). It took the assistant about 4 attempts to get each attachment to stick because she kept flicking them off when she was removing the surrounding flash. There was no dental dam used to protect the gums from the etching acid and curing UV light - I wonder is this normal? I closed my eyes because she forgot to give me safety goggles. Getting the aligners on and off was excruciating for the first few days and I felt like I was ripping my teeth out each time. I was annoyed that no-one had told me that you have to remove them and then brush your teeth if you want to snack - which was a problem for me as I am underweight, looks gross and can be inconvenient if you are out.

TIP: The best time to change aligners is after the evening meal because they will be easier to remove after several continous hours of wear. I have found that taking 2 tablets of Ibuprofen half an hour before changing into a new set of aligners is beneficial and stops me having a migraine the following day.

I was about 3 months into my treatment when I noticed my upper molars were tipping into the extraction space of the second premolars and the lower molars were sinking. I was reassured that this was normal and to continue with the treatment. It was another three months before my orthodontist agreed that there was a problem and took new moulds for an in-course correction. 8 of the 9 attachments fell off while I was wearing the retainer waiting for the new aligners, and each time I had to go in for them to be redone. On one of the occasions I think the assistant etched for too long because the tooth (luckily a molar) has taken on a bright yellow food stain. The assistant says they'll polish them up at the end but she seemed to have doubts whether it would work. About 6 weeks later the new aligners came in but only the upper aligners. The lower aligners were missing and my orthodontist said he would have to follow it up. I called him twice in the next 6 weeks and prompted him to follow it up again. A couple of days after the second call they rang saying thakyou for the reminder and were terribly apologetic asking me to come in and have another set of moulds as Invisalign had accidently destroyed the first ones. Another 4 weeks later I received the new bottom aligners.

Meanwhile, I received a bill 4 months late for the wrong amount, and I had to call them up again to fix it. Three weeks after finally receiving the bottom aligners, I called the office to rebook what I thought was a routine appointment. The receptionist says the ortho will be doing some stripping. I asked what that was and for some more information and she tells me they remove 3mm of enamel. I flatly refused and she goes to get a more senior assistant. The senior assistant says it is 0.3mm in two places. I am not keen but she talks me into making an appointment to discuss it with the ortho. When I go in I tell him I have been reading about it on the internet and think it would be a bad idea because my teeth are brittle and pitted from fluorosis. He tells me that they are just discoloured! Then he tells me he has already stripped my teeth once. I ask him when he did that and how much enamel he removed, and he refuses to tell me. I get in the car and spend an hour and a half crying. I want to make a complaint of assault to the police but I don't know when he did it. I didn't end up making the complaint because I want my treatment finished.

A few weeks later one of the lower aligners breaks in half as I'm removing it. The next upper one (two weeks later) had some sort of manufacturing defect. I fumbled with it and trimmed part of it but was in more pain with it than the next one in the series, so I wore that instead (for 4 weeks). I have had all sorts of problems because my Ortho seems to be on holiday for several weeks at a time. It's now several months later. I get upset each time I have to go there. I don't trust him. My molars are really badly tipped now I find I can't grind food on my molars because they are no longer aligned. I am getting trouble with my TMJ, which I never had before starting treatment. He says it is not occlusal and is because I have been studying too hard! My jaw clicks when I eat, talk or yawn and I have been getting a lot of migraines that may or may not be related.

It is clear to me now that these new aligners are not fitting properly either. I had the feeling he didn't assess me properly again today (he didn't even bother looking at the top aligners). He wants me to wear the next bottom ones (which I told him didn't fit, I offered to show him but he wasn't interested) and come back in two weeks so he can see how much worse they are. I was so upset I nearly walked in front of a car as I was leaving the office, then I cried all the way home. I feel this Invisalign is a load of rubbish, and was wrong from the beginning. I've been begging him to put brackets on for the last 4 months. I can't afford to start over again with another orthodontist, but I have lost all faith in this one.

I feel that Invisalign has been the worst mistake of my life and I would urge anyone with all but the smallest problems to consider a different form of treatment.

Boy, it sure sounds like you've been having a lot of trouble. I'm sorry to hear about all the difficulties you've had, but fortunately, most people don't have this kind of trouble with invisalign.

At your next appointment I would sit down with your orthodontist and go over your concerns, maybe even make a list of them and tell him that you've thought about going to see another orthodontist because you don't feel like your concerns are being addressed.

Good luck getting your situation under control!

dill wrote: I feel that Invisalign has been the worst mistake of my life and I would urge anyone with all but the smallest problems to consider a different form of treatment.

Invisalign is not the mistake. Your Ortho is. I'm getting close to the 2nd week of my 3rd set of trays and everything thing is great. I have 12 attachments and I really don't find it hard taking them out. I'm already seeing a visual difference.

I really don't know what to say about your Ortho. Seems like he doesn't care. Unless you were unconscious, you would know if he shaved some enamel off. I had some shaving done last week between about 8 teeth and the spacing is almost closed already.

I always say "Your Orthos experience with Invisalign is Key" I found an email I sent to Invisalign back in 2001 requesting more information. I just started my treatment a little over a month ago. 1. it took me that long to get the courage to do it. 2. I wanted to wait for them to get the kink out. My Ortho is an Elite Provider so he's one of the most experienced out there. I personally feel that this is the best decision I've ever made.

Your Ortho doesn't seem to be to experienced with Invisalign. I would demand traditional braces from him. He is destroying your smile. I hope everything gets better for you. Keep your chin up.

You poor thing! I would be crying, too!
It sounds like the problem is your ortho, though, not invisalign. Maybe you could get a consult with a different ortho (without revealing who your current one is) and get and outside opinion on your treatment. Maybe your ortho just has a really bad bedside manner and really bad staff. Or maybe he's a quack.
Good luck to you.

Thanks for the advice. I've booked an appointment with my dentist to talk with him about it and get some options because I never get anywhere with the ortho... BTW I'm now 15 months into treatment...

I think the stripping he was talking about was done manually with a small strip of wire that looked like thick dental floss - hopefully that didn't remove as much enamel as the other procedure he had planned. I remember something of it but I had no idea that was what he was doing at the time.

It feels good to have some support. I should have joined earlier Arch712: I looked up my ortho and he is a "platinum provider". I think it just means he has done a certain number of cases. There's not an awful lot of choice in this part of the world unfortunately.

I feel stupid but I didn't ask for a copy of the Invisalign contract at the beginning. Does anyone know if I am entitled to ask to change to conventional braces? At this point I would happily pay to change over but if I am going to have to start all over again I would prefer to go with a different provider.

Dill, you say you're going to sit down with your dentist rather than an ortho - I think that's a mistake. If I were you, at this point I'd set up a consultation with a different orthodontist and preferably an invisalign premier provider. Your dentist may be great but this is an orthodontia issue. Sorry you're having so much trouble ...

i cannot beleive all the problems you are having...believe me i do not love my invisalign but is is doing its job..im going to be changing to tray 10 on sunday i have 11 lowers and 15 uppers so i am almost done with my treatment..it has not been fun, the last few tays on the bottom have been really hurting each time i have changed them..im ready to be done with the bottoms and only have to wear the tops.(im getting a permenant retainer on the bottom)..my ortho also seemed not so concerned with issues i had, but so far everything has worked out fine..it does sound like invisalign might be having a problem with making your trays and i know its almost impossible to speak to someone at in invisalign but maybe you should give it a try..im so sorry about your problem but i wouldnt want you to change some peoples mind who are thinking about getting invisalign, because your case seems not the norm... i just want people to know that invisalign is not the easiest thing to go through but in the end it will be worth it..good luck with whatever you choose to do hopefully everything will work out for you..keep us posted

I'm sorry to be all doom and gloom but I think from my experience I have learnt a few things that are worth sharing.

1) Don't rush into treatment without checking out your orthodontists level of skill and experience
2) Choose someone you can communicate with readily - especially with Invisalign because if you discover you and your practitioner have different ideas of what is acceptable after you get started it is very hard to make any changes to the treatment plan
3) Be prepared for it to take longer if you run into any difficulties because the molds have to be sent off, you then wait for the aligners to be manufactured, and then you wait for them to be sent from Mexico
4) Attachments are needed to control more difficult tooth movements. There doesn't seem to be a really good way of placing the attachments. Either they don't fill the mold properly - in which case the attachment has sub-optimal grip to the aligner, or they overfill it - and end up with a lot of messy edges. The better the attachments grip the aligners, the harder it is to get the aligners out of your mouth, and the more likely it is that the attachment will fall off. If you have dental flourosis they have to etch the teeth for longer and the attachments fall off a lot. Taking the attachments off is not fun. One of my attachments had to be changed and was removed by first pulling it with a pair of pliers, and then when that didn't work, they ground it off.
5) It gets easier to remove the aligners as your teeth get straighter and as the corners wear off the attachments.
6) You will know best how your teeth are moving because (unlike your ortho), you see them every day.
7) Stripping (also known as interproximal reduction) is a common orthodontic procedure, particularly with Invisalign. You need to discuss with your ortho if you have any concerns about this.
The front teeth definately contact more heavily after wearing the aligners for a few months, which is annoying when you're not wearing them, but at least it reminds you to put them in.
9) It is great to be able to look back at the old aligners and see how your teeth have moved.

I'm not sure if Invisalign can fix TMJ problems.

I think that MissMolly your case was somewhat simpler than mine. My original treatment was 36 aligners. I was on the 15th one before we did the correction, then started again with another 28 aligners. I would suspect that the longer one has to plan ahead, the harder it gets. It must be nice to be so nearly finished. It is definately going to be worth it when I'm done, but it's going to take awhile longer to correct this mess that Invisalign has made.

Final message: Do your research!

dill,

Perhaps taking someone in the ortho's office with you will "make" him listen to you and know that your are serious.

Personally I am terified of dentists and doing something like that could probably help me either make my point or have the other person make my point.

The Ortho needs to know how seriously unhappy you are. Maybe he is really busy and not realizing how bad it has been for you.

I am so sorry your are going through this. I have had bad experiences with dentistry, and was so depressed when a healthy molar was pulled that I had a period of major depression (I was crying all the time). I also had no one to stick up for me. This still bothers me every day.