Inman aligners

[Lea]

RE: CLEAR PLASTIC ALIGNERS after the treatment:

Hello again,
I've not been on for a while and it's really surprised me to see how many people more recently have only had theirs 6 or so weeks and seeing results so quickly and are nearing the end of their treatment! I embarked on this exactly A YEAR AGO!!! I was told I was a 'classic case' and yet I'm still not finished?!!
Well, I AM actually finished with the Inman aligner and I am onto the clear plastic retainers. I got these month ago. I've had to pay for 3 sets, one every 2 weeks, to close up front gap and rotate a stubborn tooth. As it has taken me a year to get to this point, the extra cost hasn't been such a concern.
The clear plastics hurt like hell for a couple of days and then the moving started and they were fine - no problems at all talking in them.
More shaving has been done each visit- and I have to say for the first time I DO actually have real concerns as to why this has been done... It seems to have created such a gap by the rotated tooth that I cannot see where the closure is going to come from. The one in the middle of my front two teeth has closed up nicely (I have photos of this back several pages if you want to see before and after shots!) but now they've created ANOTHER GAP next to the rotated tooth simply by shaving and this is supposed to be my last clear plastic aligner. I've had in on now for three days and it is not closing up at all (with the last 2 plastics I saw the rotations and the gap in the middle closing up within 48 hours - I was really pleased). If anything it seems to be getting worse. I go back in 10 days and I'll be so disappointed if they say I have to have yet another £150 clear plastic one to then close this gap... I can understand why one person above mentioned a refund ...

Also - I misplaced the previous clear plastic retainer for 24 hours and my teeth soon slipped back - so that is making me seriously consider the wire behind my teeth as the final option (again, another £150) instead of just relying on these overnight...

Has anyone else got final stage stories to share please?

[earthgirl]

Wow Lea, I didn't realise you could be charged extra for the plastic aligners. I'm 14 weeks in with the IA and I have one tooth that won't rotate, despite filing every 2 weeks. So I'm waiting to see if my dentist will suggest the plastic aligners. Please keep us posted with your progress.

[smileshy]

Hi All!

I have been reading this forum for a while now and have decided to post! I have hated my teeth since I can remember and I have finally decided to book an appointment to have a consultation for the Inman Aligner, but it isn't until mid September and I have a few concerns.

My top front four teeth are my main concern. They need pushing back, one of the front two teeth is slightly rotated and so are the teeth either side of the front two (one is a little rotated and one is very rotated), but I have absoultely no gaps between my teeth at all and wonder if they will be able to shave them down enough for them to move into the desired position.

Lea - I really feel for you and am a bit put off by the fact you've had yours for a year, after all the main reason for me wanting the Inman is the supposed short treatment time as I'm sure it was for you! Has your dentist offered any other explanantion? I can't believe you have had to pay for the clears aswell (surely the dentist should be covering this cost). I hope this aligner works for you and closes the gap.

Has anyone else had similar problems and if so did you have to pay for the clear aligners aswell? How much are they on top of the Inman? Sorry for all the questions but I can just about afford the Inman and really do not have the funds for any extra aligners!

Thanks in advance! :)

[Hatemyteeth]

Smileshy, I have (had) severe overcrowding in my top teeth and there's a built in palate expander in the device which I had to turn every week for a while. There's been minimal shaving of those teeth so far and I can now see teeny tiny gaps between my teeth

I can't help with the other questions but I too would wonder why the clear aligners are costing extra.

[Lea]

Thanks for your replies guys I was warned in the beginning of my treatment that the final plastic aligners would be £150 on top of the price for the inman aligner, and I was also warned that I might need an extra one a couple of months back. I feel the price I paid in the beginning was very reasonable, I think it just wasn't included in the first up front cost and helped me to spread out the payment a bit... But I must admit I was a bit gutted to have to pay out for a 3rd clear plastic one...

I am also partly to blame for the length of time mine has taken - Only wearing my inman for 16 hours a day in the beginning and I only really ever got up to 18 hours - so that is probably why mine has taken longer. I should have been wearing it for 20 hours a day. And I would recommend you try to get as many appointments with your dentist as often as possible - I used to have one every 3 weeks but ideally I think you need to go every 2 weeks otherwise you are just slowing the whole process down. So if something isn't moving they can do something about it sooner rather than later. I live an hour away and would have to take time off work to get there before they closed - I just couldn't do that every 2 weeks. I also had it in my head that I was happier for my teeth to have the chance to 'settle' before moving them drastically in a short space of time - not that they've ever felt loose or wobbly - but just the way I felt!

Anyway, I will let you know how I get on...

[smileshy]

Thank you both for replying. :)

Hatemyteeth, this is going to sound like a really silly question, but does the expander actually push the teeth further forward to create room? If so I'm afraid it may make my teeth look even worse as they are already too far forward as it is and I would like them to sit further back.

Lea, thanks for your advice on how long to wear them and appointments. I will bring this all up with the dentist at the consultation but it helps to get advice from people who are on the Inman journey! :)

[Hatemyteeth]

Thank you both for replying.

Hatemyteeth, this is going to sound like a really silly question, but does the expander actually push the teeth further forward to create room? If so I'm afraid it may make my teeth look even worse as they are already too far forward as it is and I would like them to sit further back.

For me it's just spread my teeth out a little bit. They're not further forward (at least as far as I can tell!)

[TraceT]

I apparently get 2 clear retainers free. Moulds being taken for number 1 on 2nd Sept.

I have just rec'd my before shots through the post today, so will try and post them on here.

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set= ... b44&type=1

[smileshy]

Thanks Hatemyteeth, it helps to know they aren't sticking out! I guess I'll just have to wait and see what the dentist says.

[style1983]

Those asking about rotated teeth and the inman...I've been wearing it over 3 months now. My teeth are in the right position, but the rotations have not improved at all. Aligned teeth do not look as rotated so it does help. I mentioned this to my orthodontist and he said it does not always do well with rotations, and could take well over a year. It's a good device and I've seen an improvement, but it just can't produce the necessary forces to fix a rotation. A sideways pressure (traditional braces) would be required to address a rotation well, which it cannot do. The entire "short treatment" time is not there when you have any sort of rotation, but it does move teeth forward/backward quickly and efficiently.

[Lea]

Those asking about rotated teeth and the inman...I've been wearing it over 3 months now. My teeth are in the right position, but the rotations have not improved at all. Aligned teeth do not look as rotated so it does help. I mentioned this to my orthodontist and he said it does not always do well with rotations, and could take well over a year. It's a good device and I've seen an improvement, but it just can't produce the necessary forces to fix a rotation. A sideways pressure (traditional braces) would be required to address a rotation well, which it cannot do. The entire "short treatment" time is not there when you have any sort of rotation, but it does move teeth forward/backward quickly and efficiently.

This certainly makes sense to me with my case then - My two top front middle teeth have been pushed forward so the rotated teeth either side don't look as obvious now.

Also, I have raised my concerns with dentist over the gap that has been created this past week with the 3rd and supposedly last plastic clear 'final' retainer and been advised not to wear it until they take new impressions in a few days time, so I feel a lot happier today

[kayjay]

I have been using the Inman Alighner for 4 weeks. To date very impresssed with the results. It is recommended that you use it for 21 hours a day to get the quickest result but as previous people have mentioned you do get a bit of a lisp which means that as I work on the phone during the day it is not practical to wear it for work. I am therefore averaging around 15 hours a day and my dentist said that this may add around 4 extra weeks to the treatment to get the final result. I am fine with this.
It takes a few days to get used to the aligner in your mouth and seems a bit tricky at first but stick with it because you soon get used to it.
I have an excellent dentist , Peter Doorey at Bryn Street Dental Clinic in Ashton-in-Makerfield, Near Wigan and i am 100% confident that the final result will more than meet my expectations. Wish this system was invented many years ago .

Will keep you updated on how my teeth progress.

[smileshy]

Hi Kayjay, you must be so pleased to be seeing results already. Do you have any rotated teeth that need fixing too and if so have you seen any movement with them yet?

[Crooked Tooth]

Hi everybody!

As many of you I've been reading for a while and now that I've finally just started my IA treatment, I thought of sharing my impressions about it.

Today is my 4th day with the IA to try and get my front upper teeth aligned, especially my left lateral tooth between canine and central teeth which has been slowly sticking out over the years! I'm aiming to have it on for 18/20 hours a day and so far so good..

At the moment I have no significant pain in my gums nor teeth. Had a bit of trouble to sleep on my first night due to the excitement of it rather than any pain or discomfort but I have managed to sleep through all night since then so I'm starting to get used to it.

The biggest inconvenience so far, apart from the "terrible lisp"!!!! has been not to be able to bite properly when I remove the IA and eat. This is because my dentist had to glue 2 little anchors to my front teeth (one at the front of my prominent tooth and the other one at the back of my left central tooth) so the IA wouldn't go out of place. One of this anchors doesn't let my lower front teeth to go any further than a slight bite and so my back teeth don't meet, so at the moment I'm trying to avoid hard solids that I can't chew. Although I have to admit that in only 4 days this has already improved and it's becoming easier to eat.. I already have the feeling that my teeth are starting to loose up but obviously it's too early to see any changes.

I've been told I would need around 16 weeks to get my teeth aligned and also that I need to do the upper teeth before starting with the lower teeth, which in my case are the ones that really need to be aligned.. Has anybody had both aligners at the same time? I'm seriously considering this option as I don't want to wait for my upper teeth to get aligned so I can start with the lower ones.

Sorry about the extensive message and please do let me know if you know how long skipping a day sets you back for the overall treatment, as I have a day out soon and wouldn't like to delay my treatment significantly because I didn't have it on.

Thanks and lots of encouragement for all!!

[Hatemyteeth]

Hi Crooked,

I wore both aligners together for a while even though I was advised not to initially. I started with the bottom one and got the upper one when I had about 7 weeks left with the lower. The upper is definitely worse to wear but I had no problem wearing both together seeing as I have to take the upper one out to talk anyway. I wish now that I got both of them at the same time as then I'd be finished altogether.