Just picked up the aligners today -- Invisalign so far

[invisadude]

I picked up my aligners today. It took about 6 weeks for them to come after I had my impressions made. I have about 20 aligners each for top and bottom.

6 of the bumps were put on. One on one of my front teeth and the one next to it, and one on all 4 of the center bottom teeth. The orthodontist showed me my animated treatment plan, before and after revisions were made (originally Invisalign had only specified one or two of the bumps). Other revisions resulted in removal of a triangular gap between my front teeth since they're not perfectly rectangular, which will need to be sanded to help get rid of that. I would have been happy either way, but I'm glad the revisions were made. He also overcompensated on one of the teeth, moving it past the point of alignment with the assumption that in the end it will need an extra push to get where it needs to be - the aligners arent necessarily where the teeth will ultimately stay. Some sanding was done when the bumps were put on, but only between my bottom teeth. A perforated metal strip with diamond particles was used. You can feel the tiny flakes of tooth falling into your mouth.

No teeth other than the 6 top and 6 bottom in the front move at all. The molars are already a textbook fit, possibly helped by the braces I had when I was 11 before I got more permanent teeth in the front that messed everything up.

I have definited been concerned by the posts on this forum about Invisalign not working, and having to get braces anyway. But, I think it is very likely that the people with great experiences simply had no reason to seek out this board and share a positive experience. If it works for me, I will make it known. People are far more likely to share a negative experience (there's all kinds of websites devoted to poor service from companies like UPS, or Best Buy, yet theres no website for people who got exactly what they wanted). It's also encouraging that I was told I have a relatively minor case (although it never seemed that way to me) but this could just be because none of the molars need to move, and I imagine these are the difficult ones.

My bite actually feels more comfortable with the aligners in place. I have always felt that my mouth closes too far, resulting in most of the bottom teeth being hidden behind the front and a shortened face. This could just be genetics, or possibly due to wearing down of the molars from grinding over the years. I am guessing with Invisalign moving some of the bottom teeth forward it will change this somewhat. Maybe the aligners can also act as a night guard to help stop grinding...hopefully they can withstand it.

I'll post later as things progress, but from the animation it's really going to be about 3 months before the changes add up to something visible.