Metal Mouth Message Board

I don't want to encourage bad habits and I'm sure everybody is different but so far:

I was supposed to get 9 attachments and the ortho only put on 5. One popped off the first week and the ortho said don't worry about it.

I totally skipped a tray (about 6 weeks ago) by accident. Yeah the next trays were tight for a day but I haven't had a problem since.

On the next series I started 5 days early cuz my ortho was going on vacay.

I lost my bottom trays about 3 days in once so I put in the previous tray. Then I put the next set in 3 days early.

I take my trays out for at least 2 hours in the morning for coffee. Then lunch. Quick snacks and dinner. If I'm going out I'll take them out for the whole evening (once, twice a week).

Sometimes I drink wine with them on, if it's really inconvenient to take them out I'll even drink coffee.

You'd think that if I was having problems that I could tell when I put in new trays. But they always go on. I just leave them on over night and the next day it's back to normal. So I don't know...

I'm on tray 11. U and L. If I have any problems I'll revise this thread and let you guys know.

...... and you have teeth coming out of your ears?


Just kidding, but i bet your ortho cries every morning you have an appointment.

WOW!! Do let us know how it goes. I was told if I had them out too long it would extend my treatment by several weeks or months.

Linda

We've had one person here (sorry, I forget who) who was on a 10 day cycle for aligners

Yep, that was me... Wow, Meryaten, you have the memory of an elephant! (Is that an English idiom as well?)

I absolutely agree! And though my treatment turned out to be really smooth and just like they described it in those brochured (and promise in the commercials...), I have friends who had a completely different experience - lots of pain, big problems removing aligners etc.
And that's weird since normally I'm the wimp when it comes to pain, discomfort and stuff like that.

Consider yourself lucky, Chris! And keep smiling - that's what I'm doing all the time...

I'm on a 7 day cycle and so far everything is peachy. Yes, peachy.

Ha my ortho actually told me to wear each aligner for 7 days So far so good.

You're lucky, tizzy.
When I started to get the feel for how fast my teeth were moving and when they were settling, I asked my ortho if I could wear them for less than 14 days. He agreed that my teeth seemed to respond well/move fast, but he is inexperienced with invisalign and didn't want to take any risks. So I'm still on a 14 day cycle.

BUT.. the upside of that is that I feel I can do the same thing as Chris here, not excactly wearing each tray for 22 hours a day. I am good the first few days, but the last week is a totally different story... I'll take them out for a whole evening of drinking, or for like half the day if I'm going out to eat, drink coffee, then to the movies etc. I'll also wear one aligner longer, or start with the next one a few days earlier, if that fits better with my schedule (I like to "break in" the new aligner on days when I don't have much planned and can do the full 22 hours, no sweat).

Of course, this is not something I recommend to everyone and I am not educated in this and should probably listen to my ortho. It might bite me in the ass some day. But for now my treatment is going excactly as planned, and it has been a much better experience too after I got more relaxed. Now I can have "naked teeth" for dates and parties for example, which is great.

I'll find this thread again and write a "don't be an idiot like I was"-post if anything goes wrong! Am now on 9/25 uppers.

Wow. I was a little expecting to get chastised. I've been bad but I've been lucky so far. I'll keep my fingers crossed. If all goes well then at my next appointment (after 2 more trays) I may ask my ortho if I can accelerate.

haha, your mad. after all the money spent you should try to do it as good as you can. however its up to you and if your not having any problems then its a relief to us lot who may come across similar problems. good read any way thanks

Now, this is the kind of post I like!!

It's great to hear that you can cut corners and it still work well. At least it makes me feel that if I mess up every now and then it is nothing to get too stressed about!

I drink red wine and gatorade with my aligners on all the time. I just swish water once in a while. They don't stain at all. I sometimes dont even brush my teeth after lunch. My ortho says don't let the braces control your life.

Alex2411 wrote:haha, your mad. after all the money spent you should try to do it as good as you can. however its up to you and if your not having any problems then its a relief to us lot who may come across similar problems. good read any way thanks

Haha, that's what my man said.
When I first met him, I took off my aligners for dates - we were always eating or drinking anyway. Then the dates turned into long nights and days spent together, with no trays in, and I finally had to "confess" that I was doing this (yeah, I think it's a bit embarrassing, certainly not very sexy). He was just shocked that I'd paid so much for this treatment and didn't do it properly. So I'm better now, he always asks if I have put my trays in!

I was REAL bad btw, I think I almost went two whole days without the trays in on more than one occation. They felt a little tight afterwards, but no problems. Still, I can't imagine that it's healthy for the teeth to be shifting all the time? I really don't know. But I won't be that reckless again, it's just plain stupid.

I think I have to skip a tray too, I'm supposed to change to 14 on tuesday but just noticed that it's completely wrecked and bent for some reason. Hopefully tray 15 fits, I'm gonna try that and call my ortho to hear what he has to say. He'll probably say the same, right? I don't wanna wait ages for a new tray no 14

anastasia wrote:

Alex2411 wrote:haha, your mad. after all the money spent you should try to do it as good as you can. however its up to you and if your not having any problems then its a relief to us lot who may come across similar problems. good read any way thanks

Haha, that's what my man said.
When I first met him, I took off my aligners for dates - we were always eating or drinking anyway. Then the dates turned into long nights and days spent together, with no trays in, and I finally had to "confess" that I was doing this (yeah, I think it's a bit embarrassing, certainly not very sexy). He was just shocked that I'd paid so much for this treatment and didn't do it properly. So I'm better now, he always asks if I have put my trays in!

I was REAL bad btw, I think I almost went two whole days without the trays in on more than one occation. They felt a little tight afterwards, but no problems. Still, I can't imagine that it's healthy for the teeth to be shifting all the time? I really don't know. But I won't be that reckless again, it's just plain stupid.

I think I have to skip a tray too, I'm supposed to change to 14 on tuesday but just noticed that it's completely wrecked and bent for some reason. Hopefully tray 15 fits, I'm gonna try that and call my ortho to hear what he has to say. He'll probably say the same, right? I don't wanna wait ages for a new tray no 14

omg anastasia you sound just like me!! I went on a few dates with a guy on my first & second aligners. I was embarassed (well stupid really) and left them out for about 5/6 hours until I got home!
On another ocassion (4th aligner) I went away for 2 nights and actually left them behind! After that I paniced that i'd done some serious damage so from aligner 5 onwards I have been so good!!! I still worry sometimes that i did some long term damage

Well, I've been on a 10 day cycle for 5-6 trays now. Just slipped on 18 of 23. Trays go on w/o out complaint. They are tight for a day.

Interestingly my ortho left off a few attachments. I noticed an incisor was not coming down. I asked the ortho and he let on that he plans on a few wires in the adjustment phase. I have a molar that seems to be way off, You'd think by 18 of 23 most of the teeth would be fairly close to final position.