Metal Mouth Message Board

Ok, at the mature age of 51, I have bit the bullet & gotten invisalign. Not getting a lot of support from my kids or my husband but trying to maintain my sense of humor. Even though invisible (except for the god awful attachments that look like I have cottage cheese curds hanging on my teeth), my husband laughs every time he seems me b/c he thinks of that couple in the movie "Best in Show" that have traditional braces. I also have those power ridges which aren't exactly invisible either.

Getting them out has been a challenge & I feel mostly due to the attachments ( I have 9) I wish my 1st set would've not had the attachments b/c it literally feels as though I'm going to pull my teeth out on removal. I would say I have normal teeth pressure soreness but I'm prone to canker sores anyway, and yes I already have some due to the sandpaper coated attachments. I cant believe I had some by the end of the day, but I will persevere through that.

My question is..........I feel like they got cement where there shouldn't be any. Last night, I literally had a very hard time flossing as I felt the cement had dammed the opening; I did get some of it chipped away. But I still feel as though I have some on the bottoms of the molars. THe attachments are obviously on the sides of the teeth, but it feels very rough on the actual chewing surface. Is this a problem? I find it irritating enough that I want to go back & ask them to try to get it off, but on the other hand, if it doesn't cause any real harm, I can maybe wait until my next appt which isn't for 12 weeks. I sense the Ortho office is a little inpatient with me b/c I have so many OCD type questions. Hey when you're 51, I want to be as informed as possible.

BTW, I ended up really lucking out in the finances of invisalign. I do have excellent dental insurance but I did shop around for Orthodontists. I went to 2 elite providers & 1 premier & the Ortho I went with had done both my kids teeth & was $ 2.5 K less than the other two. He threw in a family discount, a professional discount & with my insurance, my out of pocket cost was slightly under $ 1200. Feel lucky there.

Hope to hear from some others. Pati

I got my first invisalign trays in July and I was psyched at how invisible they looked and although there was pressure for the first few days, it went away!

I just got my second trays and they added buttons. I have 13. I was horrified that my new trays basically look like I have warts growing off my teeth. They're not invisible anymore. I wish I had known this before I started.

In addition, I have the same problem--I feel like they cemented past what they were supposed to and anytime I take the trays off I have this grittiness on my teeth. It feels like they also cemented over the space between two teeth because I can't floss it. My buttons are on the top of my teeth so I almost have stalactites coming off the top of my teeth which makes it grind with the teeth above when I chew. It's very upsetting and I am not exactly sure what to do. Do these things eventually file down enough or the cement feeling go away??

I have 13 attachments and have had them for about 4 months. I hardly notice them anymore. They do tend to lose the rough sand paper feeling after a while. Hang in there.

Sounds like your ortho did a lousy job with the attachments. There should not be any rough surfaces or cement between the teeth afterwards. The discomfort and floss problem probably won’t affect the progress of treatment. But you should also make sure that there’s no cement on your teeth around the attachments so the aligners could “grasp” and move your teeth properly. I had 14 attachments in the first round and now 8 in refinement and none of them felt/feel rough. The ortho hygienist who did the work took time to clean up the glues and floss my teeth afterwards to make sure there were no glues left anywhere.

I think it’s always a good idea to be informed about any medical treatments and the doctor’s experience. In the case of Invisalign, most providers have limited experience so it’s prudent to ask a lot of questions. I once hired a certified orthodontist on the strong recommendation of another ortho and didn’t bother with many questions. Turned out that although he had many years of experience with metal braces, he didn’t have much with Invisalign. I realized that only when I reviewed my Clincheck plan and had to cancel the contract!