Metal Mouth Message Board

Hi all - hope everyones well!

I'm having invisialign treatment in the UK at the moment, have 27U/20L and am on set 3, just pleeing for some opinions and advice and a few things!

Firstly - I'm on set three, but technically according to my treatment plan should be on set two - on the 12th day of wear I split my upper aligner straight down the middle of one of the 'teeth' and didn't think it seemed wearable. Having read about here a bit I simply put the new aligner in early - I'm not (much) or a panic-er and this seemed to be the wisest decision. Although all feels fine and normal I am feeling a little guilty as if I should have called my ortho! What do you guys think?!

Secondly - So far, my aligners seem to be loosening up very quickly, after the first two or three days of use where they're tight and tricky to get off (I have 4U/4L attachments) I can simply 'flick them off with one fingernail! Is this normal?!

Thirdly - I have up to set 11 in my possession and obviously the very first thing I did when I got home with them is had a good luck and compared them all! It seems that by set 11, my uppers look almost straight, yet my bottoms don't at all! Considering I have U27/L20 this seems strange! I almost can't even see what the hell 17 more aligners are going to do exactly?!

Lastly (as you sigh with relief) - My main cosmetic issue was the retrusion of my front two incisors, which seem to not move until set 8 -they look to move mm's between set 7 and 8 - and almost are completely in line by set 10. I understand that invisalign works by moving certain teeth with certain trays - but christ isn't that going to hurt and move my teeth very fast?!

I'm just looking for opinions, I realize that my ortho would be the most well placed person to ask before someone points that out but as I say, not much of a panic person, don't think they owe a worried phone call to her - I'm just very inquisitive!

Thanks in advance dear readers of the forum!

I won't be much help; I can only answer one question.

When I switch to new aligners, I can always pop them off with one finger swipe after the first 24 hours. Maybe it is just finding the technique that worked for me. The top I can pop off just by popping the it at the last molar. The bottom I run my fingernail along the edge from back towards the middle and it pops.

it's normal for the trays to get quite loose after couple of days. The momevent normally happens in the first few days but we have to wear each set for 14 days so that the teeth can get use to and stay in the new position I guess. So don't worry about that.

Don't worry about the split aligner anymore, I am sure it's not a big deal you switched to a new set sooner, just make sure that you wear all your sets for the required amount of time.

When I finished all my sets I wasn't completely happy with my upper teeth so I was given 8 sets of refinements both for upper and lower teeth although my lower teeth were absolutely straight. I think they were just tiny corrections that couldn't be seen with naked eye.
Hope this helps.

Don't worry about changing the aligner 2 days early. It won't hurt just the once, but be extra careful from now on not to break any

As for aligners loosening up, I have a ton of attachments on my teeth, and can never pop them off with a single finger nail. However they are noticably easier to remove after the first day or two, so this sounds normal to me.

Did your ortho give you a copy of the clincheck video? If not, ask him/her to. Its really useful for getting a clear idea of what moves where and when.

As for your concerns about 7/8 and how much they will hurt.I've noticed a big difference between different aligners. Some I barely notice I've changed to, some hurt like hell - it sounds like 7/8 might be the worst ones for you, but I wouldn't worry. Just look at some pictures of people who had regular braces and see how dramatic their changes can be in short spaces of time.