No Brackets I went with Invisaligns

[45wantsnicesmile]

Darn Groupon, at the end of December they had a deal for $49, get a Free Invisalign Consultation, Molds and $1000 off. So the 1st week of January I went in for the consult and figured they would tell me it would take about 6 months and not cost that much. I was wrong. I went in to have the ortho look at a couple of poorly rotated teeth, then found out that my bite is off, I have a deep bite and that it could all be fixed in 18 months for $5,685. I went back and discussed the plan and the financing a week later. I found out that I would need to have a tooth pulled and would also need to wear rubber bands with my Invisaligns. So I went and got the tooth pulled, no backing out now. 10 days later I went in for the molds.

I expected to get the aligners in 4 weeks, it actually took 5 weeks. No pain with the 1st set at all. The 2nd set has the little bumps on them for the attachments, 8 upper and 5 lower. No attachments yet, but I will be getting them 2 weeks from today. I put in the 2nd set tonight, no problems or pain. I have 34 sets of aligners, the upper 34 will all be moving things around and only the first 23 lowers will be moving things around, but the additional lowers will basically serve as retainers, until the top is done. All in all its going to be about 18 months.

Nobody has noticed them, even people that I've told can't see them. They really are invisable.

[Sandpiper]

Lucky you, I wish I was able to have Invisalign. I am in the conventional ones, and now about halfway through my treatment. I have largely forgotten about them, but every now and then I feel quite self conscious (this weekend I have been at a family party, being introduced to a lot of new people). Can't wait until it is all over!!! Good luck on your journey

[45wantsnicesmile]

The 13 attachments were placed with set #3. No pain, it just made the aligners more difficult to remove. I found that if you put in the trays after your done eating for the day, they get easier to remove by morning. I start set # 6 this Wednesday and only the people that I have told about them know about them. I see my brother every week and I don't think he knew until I took them out to eat lunch and he had to clean his sink, so that I could brush my teeth & put them back in.

At the end of May, I will see the orthodontist for more sets and will be getting rubber bands at that time. I'm interested in seeing how thats going to work.

[45wantsnicesmile]

I started set #8 today. No big deal. These are a breeze. The orthodontist decided to wait until my July appointment to start with rubber bands.

[Snowglobe32]

Elastics with Invisalign? Wow- I didn't know that was possible.

[45wantsnicesmile]

I've been wearing Invisaligns for just over 4 months now. I started set 10 of aligners on Tuesday. They have not been very uncomfortable or visible. The worst part is brushing your teeth in public restrooms, but this would be the same with regular braces too.

I have an orthodontist appointment in 2 weeks and will be getting elastics at that time. I can't wait to see how this is going to work. I'll update you all then.

[pinkgecko]

I want invisaligns! However, I don't think that they would give the best results for my overbite

[45wantsnicesmile]

Got elastics and chewies at today's appointment. They attached metal hooks on my lower molars on both sides and cut the bottom trays to slip over the metal hooks. The upper trays, they made a little hook on the plastic tray on each side near the eye teeth. Wearing the elastics will correct my over bite. I only have to wear them at night or when I'm at home. They don't feel too weird at all and the hooks are not cutting into anything either.

Here is how it works. I put in the bottom tray first. Then I hook the rubberband onto the upper tray before I put it on. Then connect the rubberband to the hook on the bottom molar.

The chewies need to be chewed on for a couple of hours a day to get rid of spaces in the aligners. I thought rubberbands were going to feel more uncomfortable, but its really not too bad at all.

[45wantsnicesmile]

Started set # 13 today. I have to say this hasn't been too bad, but I can't wait to be done with it, only about a year left.

[45wantsnicesmile]

Went to the orthodontist today to pick up more trays. I'll be starting set #23 of 34 today. The bottoms are done so the extra sets for the bottoms are basically serving as retainters. The bad news is one of the front uppers hasn't been moving as its supposed to. The orthodontist had the assistant put another button on it near the gum line. I need to attach a tiny and I mean tiny elastic from the back of the tray, grab onto the elastic and hook it onto the new button. I would call the degree of difficulty a 10 on the 1 to 10 scale. I can't see the rubber band from any angle and its very difficult to grab onto and hook on the new button. I sense more weight loss in my future or until I can the hang of this.

[45wantsnicesmile]

Went to the orthodontist today to pick up sets 31-34 of 34. I have 1 tooth thats not tracking well and a space that still needs closing and 8 weeks isn't going to be enough to close that space and move that poorly rotated tooth. I was given sets 31 & 32 and told to come back in 4 weeks for new impressions. I will be getting refinements, not sure how many sets. I asked the otho to estimate how many more sets I will be getting he guessed approximately 10 sets.

When I go in for the new impressions they will take the hooks off my back teeth, so no more rubberbands until the refinements. The bummer is, I won't be done in June. It looks like my 18 month estimate will be right.

[45wantsnicesmile]

So I went in for my new impressions. They first removed my hooks. Then proceeded to do the impressions. The bottom ones needed to be twice and the top was done 3 times before they got good ones. I was supposed to go to the orthodontist on Monday to get my refinements and put the hooks back on, but the new sets aren't going to be there on time. So by the end of the month I should learn how many sets of trays I'll be getting.

[45wantsnicesmile]

I had an orthodontist appointment on Tuesday to get my refinements. I received sets 1-6 of 23 upper & 19 lower. Each set needs to be worn for 10 days. I was expecting maybe another 3 months of treatment and this is going to be more like 6-7 months. So I'm looking closer to 2 full years vs. the 18th months I was originally quoted.

I got 2 additional attachments put on and there are some crimps that are on the Invisaligns as well. I will say these are on pretty tight. They don't hurt, but are much more of a challenge to remove.

[Eve43]

Good luck I have 3 'overcorrection' sets. They were actually part of the original plan, so I'm still on time. I was really starting to be concerned over my bite alignment, but these trays seem to be rectifying that issue by moving 2 molars which were out of alignment. I hope it continues. If not, we're finishing with braces for a month or so. I'll keep you posted

[45wantsnicesmile]

Thanks Eve. Please let me know how it goes. I might end up with wired braces for a while too. Best of luck.