I was so excited when my ortho's office called yesterday asking if I could come in at 12 today. I had had my impressions taken a little over 3 1/2 weeks ago so I wasn't sure if it was to see the clinicheck or if my aligners had come in.
Well, it turns out, my aligners had come in. And I went in and about 15 minutes later I left with aligners in my mouth and disappointment. Nothing's wrong with the aligners, they're great, except that for a while I was wondering if the top aligners were the wrong ones because they were way tighter than the bottoms and my two front teeth are extremely sore when I take them out and put them in (especially putting them back on) but I'm sure that's to be expected.
Anyway, my point is that I'm very disappointed that I'm paying a lot of money for this treatment process ($5400) and I feel like the ortho office isn't earning the money I'm dishing out. One of the ortho-assistants came and got me and had me sit in a chair, my aligners were already opened and laying out on a tray. She was like here are your aligners, you'll be changing them out every two weeks. Go ahead and put them on. I was like, wow, I thought we'd be going over the clinicheck and the process, what to expect, how to care for them...you know, things they should tell you without you having to ask. So, remembering what I read about some people experiencing sore throats after putting their first aligners in, I asked, "have they been washed? Do you mind if I rinse them out first before I put them in?" I swear she looked at me like i had 12 heads. Then tried to tell me how they come in there own individually sealed bags. (So! They still should be at least rinsed before someone inserts them into their mouth. )
I went and rinsed them out and then I went to proceed putting them in. I started with the bottom first, I wasn't given a mirror to look in so I couldn't see what I was doing, but after about 10seconds of struggling, it was on, or at least I think it was, I didn't hear a "snap" or anything to let me know they were only all the way. Then I picked up the top and I struggled for a while before the assistant finally handed me a mirror. (It was shockingly a lot tighter than the bottom). At that moment the Orthodontist was walking by to go see a patient and the tech asked him to stop and check my aligners. After literally 5 seconds of looking into my mouth, he said they were fine. (Okay...when do I get to see the clinicheck? What am I supposed to expect from my treatment?)
The tech/assistant whatever, then told me about the two different containers and that my next appointment would be in 4 weeks. She was then getting ready to hand me my little invisilign baggie and send me on my merry way. (Wait-a-darn-minute! Is anyone going to explain my treatment to me?...apparently not, so I had to start asking questions)
"Do I have to any attachments put on?" Oh, yeah, she responds, she then pulls up my clinicheck on the computer, and says 5 on the bottom, 5 on the top (wow, that's a lot. My teeth aren't bad. I have a little gap inbetween my 2 front teeth that no one seems to notice, so they say. To me it stands out like a big neon sign) "Okay." (I notice two of them are on the teeth right next to my upper front teeth. Oh boy, I don't like that. So I ask) "Is it possible to have those two put on the back of my teeth?" No, she says, but I notice on the clinicheck that two of my bottom molars have attachments on the inside. (Okay, if those are on the back of my teeth, why can't those other two be put on the back of my teeth. But i give up.)
She then looks at me expectantly, likes she's ready for me to get up and leave. "Can I see the finished outcome on the clinicheck?" oh, yeah, okay, she says. (ARE YOU SERIOUS!?!? Why am I having to ask to see this? Don't you want your patients to be informed?) So I see it, it looks nice. I can't wait! But, as you guessed I'm the one that has to ask her how many trays I have to wear. 16, she says. (Not bad...I like that).
I then ask her about caring and wearing where, she leaves out quite a bit of vital information, which I wouldn't have known about if it wasn't for this site.
How frustrating. I sure hope that my future appointments aren't as rushed or as less informative as this one. I want to feel like a valued patient. $5400 might seem like pocket change to them, but it's 10 fortunes to me. Not at all what I expected from a "Premier Provider", especially, after my consultation was soooo detailed.
Otherwise I like them..so far, I'm only 12 hours in. Eating dinner was fun, putting them back in after, was not so much. However, I laugh because wearing the aligners makes my gap look like it's closed, which it's not. Pretty cool illusion though!
