New! A few questions: staining, broken attachments

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#16 Post by **Bellalalala** » Sun Sep 06, 2009 4:23 pm

Wireless,

I couldn't have stated it better myself.
I would not be nearly as willing to mess around with my treatment protocol if my teeth weren't examined on a weekly basis.

In the end, I encourage people to listen to their orthos when there is a question about what is safe during treatment.
This thread is simply a document of my personal experience.

In no way shape or form do I believe myself to be an expert capable of making orthodontic treatment recommendations.

#17 Post by **Wireless** » Tue Sep 08, 2009 6:44 am

You have brought up a really good point - treatment protocol should be determined by dental professionals and not lawyers. From the experiences posted here, it looks like everyone (myself included) is doing some experimentation to get around Invisalign's 22 hr a day water only recommendations. It would make a lot more sense to have reasonable protocol that allows some flexibility.

At first, it appeared Invisalign was aimed at simpler cases with treament time less than a year. For shorter times, I think most patients are willing to deal with all of the restrictions. However, more involved cases with longer treatment times require patients to maintain restricted lifestyles.

I started out with 21 trays (11 months) that didn't sound too bad - then it went to 31 (17 months with refitting time) and I'm not guaranteed that I won't require refinements - so I could end up with 2 years treatment time. This is very long time to deal with all the restrictions and an active lifestyle that involves travel and bicycling. I think Invisalign tries to paint a much too rosey picture of the impact of treatment on routine activities.

I had regular braces as an adult and don't remember having the hassles I have now with meals and beverages. While Invisalign definitely has better aesthetics, In my case I'm not sure its worth all of the headaches!

#18 Post by **Bellalalala** » Sun Sep 13, 2009 2:57 pm

So, I started tray 2 yesterday.

I was very eager to see just how stained my tray 1 would look compared to tray 2.
Well, after two solid weeks of a lot of lukewarm coffee, a lot of red wine, and eating everything including curry with my tray in, I saw very little staining.

Yes, compared to my pristine new tray, it looks a little cloudy and slightly tinted, but nothing significant at all.

My dentist saw no issues with my teeth after 2 weeks of playing against the rules, but I have been pretty diligent about cleaning them after eating, and I haven't eaten anything remotely hard or hot.

I must say though, I am so happy that I only have trays on my top teeth. I really find them annoying compared to metal brackets.

I do like the benefit of them being completely unnoticeable (even the dentists at school don't notice them in casual conversation!), and I like being able to floss easily.

However, overall I find my metal brackets a lot less painful, and I don't even notice that they're there anymore; whereas, I'm acutely aware of my tray being in my mouth at all times.

Sun Sep 13, 2009 3:56 pm

In regards to eating with the trays in your mouth:

I am being treated by a very experienced Invisalign orthodontist. This orthodontist actually recommends eating meals with the trays in (with the caveat that the aligners be cleaned and teeth brushed immediately after eating) because chewing helps seat the aligners perfectly onto your teeth. I was told that it would be ideal for me to eat with them in because in my case my molars need to be intruded and this would help the aligners push my teeth up.

That being said, he realizes that not everyone will be comfortable with this concept and he provides "chewie sticks" for those who won't eat meals with the aligners in. I personally do not like the idea of eating with them so I use the chewies. However, for those who are eating with aligners, you should be fine as long as you are cleaning immediately afterward.

#20 Post by **smilesunset** » Sun Sep 13, 2009 5:27 pm

Bellalalala wrote: I must say though, I am so happy that I only have trays on my top teeth. I really find them annoying compared to metal brackets.

I do like the benefit of them being completely unnoticeable (even the dentists at school don't notice them in casual conversation!), and I like being able to floss easily.

However, overall I find my metal brackets a lot less painful, and I don't even notice that they're there anymore; whereas, I'm acutely aware of my tray being in my mouth at all times.

Funny, I am exactly the opposite! Seven months into treatment, I have gotten completely used to the Invisalign and barely notice it's there, but the ceramics on the bottom constantly drive me nuts. I find myself distractedly rubbing my bottom lip along the rough edges all the time! But I agree about the pain. The only time I feel pain on the bottom is immediately after an adjustment (or when I had a nasty metal spring for a while) but with the Invisalign it's mild pain for at least a day every 10 days for me.

Glad to hear everything is going well for you.

#21 Post by **Bellalalala** » Sun Sep 13, 2009 6:03 pm

I have heard that the ceramics are very very rough and that can drive some people crazy.

After the first week, the metal brackets feel quite smooth.

#22 Post by **Wireless** » Mon Sep 14, 2009 8:24 pm

It sounds like the coffee experiment was a success! I may give it a try on some mornings - I really miss having coffee when I'm on conference calls. I don't drink coffee with my aligners in and they still look cloudy after a couple of weeks like what you are describing. The only exception I can think of is having to wear the same aligners several weeks for a refinement or because of finishing an upper or lower set of trays ahead of the other. At first, I didn't try anything more risky than iced tea or beer. Since I'm now looking at an additional 6 months of treatment I may give warm coffee a try!!

I also agree that metal braces are a lot more comfortable than Invisalign as well as much more convenient. I had metal braces 20 years ago and at first they were very uncomfortable. However, after a couple of weeks I usually didn't notice them and dental wax took care of most discomfort. My Invisalign attachments on most of my premolars are large rectangles and very uncomfortable with my aligners out. They rub sores inside my cheeks if I have a long restaurant meal. I tried dental wax on them one time and found it will not stick. I'm also very aware of my aligners most of the time.

With regular braces , I didn't have the inconvenience of having to find a restroom to remove anything - this is a real problem traveling by air or for outdoor sports with Invisalign. I have a transcontinental flight in a couple of weeks that I am really not looking forward to for this reason. To me, this is a real pain!!

My first choice was going to be ceramic uppers and metal lowers. The only reason I went with Invisalign after my ortho found a damaged tooth root from an earlier treatment and did not want to use wire braces, which in my case would have also costed more due to extra X-rays and possible complications.

#23 Post by **Bellalalala** » Sat Sep 26, 2009 1:36 pm

So, a major dental supply company just gave all of the students in our dental class very expensive oscillating-rotating toothbrushes.

This is by far the best cleaning procedure I have found for my retainer (not to mention my teeth)!
I have an ulra-sonic jewelry cleaner that I've used a lot, but it works much better at removing hardened, caked-on stuff. It is pretty useless against still-soft food particles.
Since I'm eating with my tray, I'm constantly trying to brush out gunk, and the high-powered brush works very very well.

I won't use the product name because I haven't tried any other high end toothbrushes and therefore cannot comment on one company's brush versus another of similar grade, but for reference, this brush is in the $200 price range.

#24 Post by **rolo** » Sat Oct 03, 2009 1:10 pm

Hi

I currently have lingual upper and ceramic lowers, but my ortho hope I will have an "invisalign" type retainer in 6-9 mths! Yay I think, but am going to find it seriously difficult to take in and out for my constant tea drinking habbit, so great to know you can get away with not completely playing by the rules. Also not quite sure what to do with the retainer whilst it's out - I don't really fancy a retainer box sitting out at work. I'm a pharmacist, so my desk is separate to the dispensary where I spend most of my time, and handbag etc in a locker up a couple of flights of stairs.

My cousin mentioned his retainer got scratched by using a electric toothbrush on it (although not sure it was in the same price bracket of that you mentioned). Any chance you could report back with your experiences, when you change to the next tray.

Thanks

#25 Post by **Bellalalala** » Sun Oct 04, 2009 11:59 am

My electric toothbrush has been AMAZING.

My 3rd tray (new trays every 2 weeks: in case you're not familiar with invisalign) is looking perfect. I've had red wine, curry, coffee, etc, and it is still quite clear.

My retainer isn't even getting cloudy, the way that they normally do.
I use my toothbrush on it very thoroughly and I use a special "floss-action" head, which works better than the regular brush head.

It is highly unlikely that a toothbrush can really damage a retainer, but it is very likely that the toothpaste is causing scratching. If it has baking soda, or any other kind of whitening polish grain, then that will scrape up the plastic.

I use basic Crest paste without any added whiteners to clean my retainer.

For long-term cleaning, you can remove hard white build-up with an ultra sonic cleaner, which is a very worthwhile investment!

Good luck.