Ruined my life?

[Squall]

I realise the title of this thread is a bit extreme...but I really feel I have.

I got Invisalign retainers to correct a crooked front tooth. I was told very little about the treatment (the fact that I had to brush my teeth after every meal was not explained) and I've now got the braces for 10 months, moving to nighttime retainer wear after that.

Trying to go through University with Invisalign is trying to say the least. Having to sneak off to the bathroom and hog the sink in restaurants after eating/drinking alcohol to brush my teeth is embarrassing and means my friends have to wait around until i'm done. Not to mention the fact that people constantly comment on the 'weird plastic thing' on my teeth.

It's making Uni life very hard for me and I'm starting to fail my course and lose friends due to the stress of it all. I just don't feel the treatment is worth all this hassle, especially the daunting idea of having to wear the aligners at night for the rest of my life to prevent my teeth relapsing.

If I had known how hard it would be I would never have got braces, and just lived with the crooked tooth. I wish I could just take off the aligners and have my teeth go back to how they were before (they really weren't that bad), however this won't be the case...the orthodontist has made loads of gaps between my teeth by sanding them down to allow them room to move.

What are my options? If i remove the aligners will my teeth return to their orignal position + all the gaps the orthodontist made, leaving me with a crooked gappy smile? Or will they find a new position? Is there anything else I can do...? I'm considering changing to traditional braces even though they will take longer and be more visible.

I wish I could go back in time and tell myself to just accept my crooked teeth

S

[38Illinois]

Talk with your ortho and tell him/her your concerns! It seems you are placing a lot of your problems on the appliances. Maybe you just have a lot going on and this is just one more thing to deal with. I hope you can sort this out soon. Good luck.

[myhollywoodsmile]

Hi there,

I'm really sorry you feel like this. I have honestly not found my Invisalign to be a problem at all. I know it feels like forever at the moment, but 10 months really isn't that long and as the months go on and it gets easier it wont seem such a problem. Then you'll have the rest of your time at uni with great teeth!

I think if you gave up now you would get your teeth reverting to where they were, but they would now be gappier. Honestly, I don't think that is the right solution.

Brushing is a pain, but honestly I don't find it enough that it could ruin my life. Maybe every now and then flush your mouth with water and clean your teeth half an hour later so people don't have to wait?

Really, I can promise you that as you move onwards through treatment it gets a lot easier. I have been wearing INvisalign for 19 months now and I still have 40+ more trays to go!

[ptblogger]

If you quit now...your teeth with move back to the positions they were in before you started treatment, which will leave you with the gaps from the IPR.

I think your only options at this point are to either finish with the invisaligns, get braces, or look into other "instant" alternatives like veneers and such.

That said....I don't get why you'd be failing courses over it and I can't even imagine a friend being put out by your taking a few minutes to brush. I think you have bigger probs than the inconveniences of invisalign, I hope things get better for you soon.

[sammywantstraightteeth]

I do not think that your teeth would revert to their old positions. Your teeth will always seek stability - however it comes. Now that you have had gaps shaved in, the position of stability that they will find will be different because the forces acting on them will be different. They could turn out better than before, or worse. Its like if you knock a tooth out accidentally, your other teeth around that position will almost certainly move. It should be the same with the gaps.

[Note that I am not a professional, I am just going by what research I have done online about teeth movement].

So far I have managed to avoid brushing my teeth in restaurant bathrooms by rinsing with water and chewing gum for a few minutes after eating. Then I put the aligners back in and brush my teeth as soon as is convenient (I always aim to brush within an hour of finishing eating). It is not ideal but it is a way of dealing with that.

How long have you had invisalign now? The first few days were a nightmare for me, and I really did feel like my whole life was taken over by these things. 6 weeks in and they just feel like a minor inconvenience.

Invisalign is different for everyone, and it is bad that your provider did not give you all the information you needed before you started. If you have had them for less than 4 weeks I recommend you give it another week or two before you make any decisions. With a 'decision deadline' you might find the stress reduces a bit and you are able to carry on with things. If you have had them longer than that and you still feel this way you should talk to your provider again about your options.

[Rosie J]

Hi squall,

I don't have by invisaligns yet so not experienced the brushing in public business but I'm going to do what sammy does and rinse, chew gum until I can brush.
I really do feel for you tho as i know how stressful uni can be. you don't say how old you are or if this is your first time living away from home. That can make stresses seem worse but there are people at uni who you can talk to- that really does help.
i guess you were worried about your teeth in the first place which made you have invisalign, just remember- they will be gorgeous at the end of the treatment. As for retainers, maybe that's something we'll have to get used to. I don't think most people wear them every night tho.
Really hope you feel better soon.

[Ems]

Hi i sort of know how you feel as i feel like i have wasted nearly 2 years with invisalign and to now be told that its not going to work for me as my tooth next to my front teeth is not moving down like it should and its not likely to. My dentist has said that i will probably have to wear a fixed brace which i could have got in the begining and would have been finished by now, i feel like i have wasted a lot of money on invisalign which hasnt worked for me.

If i was you i would go to fixed braces (Invu this is the white one) and it will be over with before you know it.

Ive told my dentist as its not going to work that he should just put that Invu brace on and i would be done within a couple of months.

Good luck and keep us posted