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Originally posted by micky:
I got my quote on Invisalign last month. It's $6700 for both my upper and bottom teeth. The treatment will be 12 months. Is it a normal price? I am wondering how much you guys spend on it? Wait for your reponse. Thanks.

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Hi
I just go invisiline and i have to wear them for approx 11 months and the cost was
3,600.00

I just got my first set yesterday evening and I must say I have a very difficult time getting them out. When I got home from the ortho, I spent probably 15 minutes in the bathroom, trying every technique possible to pry these things out of my mouth. At least a couple times I was sure I was going to either snap the things in half or bend a fingernail back. My fingernails still hurt today and I've only taken them out twice.

Today is my first day at work with the Invisalign (I'm a 25 year old) and I incredibly self concscience that it will be hard to hide these things! I can't drink coffee, I'll have to take them out before lunch and then find somewhere to brush my teeth after lunch. Also, I have a slight speech impediment that I hope goes away soon! Right now I'm avoiding talking to anyone (haha).

Sorry for all the rambling, just wanted to talk to somebody who understands

BTW, any advice on cleaning? I went out last night and bought a giant box of Efferdent Listerine and it seems to work okay, but any advice is appreciated.

BTW, my ortho says he know has his Invisalign patients go 3 weeks between trays and my treatment plan is targetted at 15 months.

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Originally posted by newbie:

I just got my first set yesterday evening and I must say I have a very difficult time getting them out. When I got home from the ortho, I spent probably 15 minutes in the bathroom, trying every technique possible to pry these things out of my mouth. At least a couple times I was sure I was going to either snap the things in half or bend a fingernail back. My fingernails still hurt today and I've only taken them out twice.

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I've broken a few nails here and there and needless to say, my nails were never up to par during the first couple of months of treatment. Anywho, you may want to try a tartar pick to remove the top aligner. You can try by gently, and I mean gently, pulling down on the aligner from the very back with the tartar pick and doing the same for the other side. Once you feel the aligner somewhat loose, you will pick a side and start working your way around your teeth with your fingers, not the tartar pick, until the aligner pops off. Removing the lower aligners are much easier. You will use both thumbs to thrust the aligner up starting from the back and working your way around the teeth until it pops off. I know it is difficult now but once the teeth start straightening themselves out, it will be much easier. I remember standing in front of the mirrow trying to get those suckers off and wanting to cry thinking "what have I gotten myself into?". Don't worry...it won't always be like this...

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I'll have to take them out before lunch and then find somewhere to brush my teeth after lunch.

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Yeah I hate having to excuse myself to go to the restroom before I eat in order to take them off but there is no other way around it. As for brushing your teeth, I would suggest brushing your teeth in the restroom when you get back to work. I don't know if it will be easy for you to do that but it must be done. If not, your aligners will start developing a yucky deposit and they will look real dirty. That is why I try my best to brush my teeth and the aligners after every meal. If for some reason, you can't brush your teeth at work or anywhere else, I recommend at least carrying some mouthwash in your purse and rinsing your mouth out with it. At least, your breath would be fresh.

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BTW, any advice on cleaning? I went out last night and bought a giant box of Efferdent Listerine and it seems to work okay, but any advice is appreciated.

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You may want to try using an electric rotary toothbrush to brush your aligners. I think it is better than using a regular old toothbrush. Also, I have the habit of putting my aligners in a plastic cup filled with warm water while I eat. It's supposed to keep the aligners from developing the icky stuff and impede them from giving off an odor. I only put them in warm water when I am home. If the aligner develops a deposit, I usually use the tartar pick to remove it after the aligner has been soaked in water. It is easier to remove that way.

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BTW, my ortho says he know has his Invisalign patients go 3 weeks between trays and my treatment plan is targetted at 15 months.

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I definitely brush before putting the trays back in. Even the thought of putting in the trays with unclean mouth is gross. It is pretty annoying having to go to the restroom all the time at work. For some reason, people give you strange looks at the office when you are brushing your teeth in the restroom.

I must say a nice side benefit is that you pretty much always have a clean mouth as a result of the extra hygene. Well, aside from when I wake up in the morning after having them in all night!

The 3 week thing is a little odd too, and I'm hoping it changes after the 1st tray. I'm really excited to see my smile improve, as even the tiny change I noticed after day 1 is encouraging!

I'm thankful I found this board. Some useful information for sure.

I'm not too worried about the discomfort because I have a pretty high pain threshold... What I'm worried about is the discipline required! My wife says I have ADD, which is probably true to some degree. I just know I'll go out with the fellas one night and leave the tray or something bone-headed like that.

And I've been using smokeless tobacco (dip) for 10 years, which I'll be giving up in.... 14 hours (it was part of the deal to convince my wife that we should spend $5,000 on these things). But without the dip, coffee will be an absolute MUST. And lots of it. And I'm not brushing my teeth after every cup of coffee, I gotta be realistic here. So am I going to have nasty brown trays? Hope not. Maybe I'll just rinse with water after each cup of coffee.

I removed the trays while sitting in the dentist's chair, and it took me a good minute or two to get the top one out, but I don't think it's going to be as bad as some of the 15 to 45-minute horror stories I've heard here.

I have 29 trays for the upper, only 8 for the lower. So I was a little off when I said 9 months -- it will be more like 13.5 months for me to get these crooked chompers straightened out.

They recommend you wear the trays 20 to 22 hours per day. I would estimate the average person probably is around 21 to 22 hours a day. Let's say 21.5.

So what if I wore my trays 23 hours per day and changed out the trays every 13 days instead of two weeks? The way I figure it, if I wear the trays 23 hours per day, I'm wearing them 19.5 hours more than the average person over that 13-day period. So I would really only be sacrificing 4.5 hours by trimming it back a day for each set of trays. In the end, it will cut my treatment by 29 days, almost a whole month.

There are probably some people that wear their trays only 20 hours per day. Well that is 280 hours over the course of two weeks. If I'm wearing my trays for 23 hours per day, I will hit 280 hours in a little over 12 days (12 days, 4 hours). So if I'm being disciplined enough to wear them longer each day, why not benefit from it by cutting down my overall treatment time?

I an addition to my problems with these knobs or "buttons", I can't comfortably close my mouth all the way with the trays in--will that get better or is this going to be a constant thing?

I live in DC and will be wearing the trays for 11 months...the cost was $4,000 which includes everything. Some of the prices in these posts seem pretty high!

Love these posts, they are answering lots of questions.....

As far as pain goes, I have almost no discomfort at all while they're in, but when I'm trying to remove the upper tray, there's an excrutiating pain in my front teeth like they're going to snap in half (the teeth, not the retainer), and it doesnt help that it takes me about 3 minutes to remove them. The bottoms on the other hand I don't have a problem with pain or removing at all though. Like someone had said earlier, after removing these for the first time I was worried about what I had gotten myself into. So I'm glad to hear that it becomes less painful and easier to remove in the future.

Today is only my second day, and it's getting easier I think. Well, I'm getting the tray out faster, I'll say that -- but I'm not sure if it's actually EASIER or if I'm just being more impatient and therefore more forceful....

I know the first few times I had to take a break about a minute into it, tray hanging halfway attached to my front teeth, me slobbering all in the sink... It's at that moment you think, "What the hell am I doing?"

I'm on day 3 now, and I'm experiencing far less discomfort. I've also figured out a method removing the trays that makes the upper almost as easy as the lower tray when removing them. Basically, I'm using almost all 10 fingers, but after I've popped the tray loose in the back, I pull forward and then use my index finger to help the front clear the "button" on my front tooth. Comes right out -- ends up it was that one little button on my front tooth making it so difficult.

And back to my theory of shortening the wear time. It's been pretty unanimous that everyone feels pressure, maybe some slight pain, during the first couple days of a new tray. As Maria pointed out -- because the teeth are shifting, adjusting to the new tray. But why do we wear the trays for another 12 days before switching? I mean, are the teeth actually shifting for the first 3 or 4 days, and then we keep the trays in just to hold that position for the next 10 or 11 days before we switch again? Is the purpose just to give us a break in the discomfort, or is there an actual scientific reason?

I'm going to talk to my dentist before altering the initial plan, of course, but I wouldn't think it would hurt too bad to switch trays every 13 days as long as you maintain 23 hours of wear time daily.

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Originally posted by Invisi-boy, UK:
Hi, This is my account of the invisalign braces.
I'm a 24 year-old male in England. Cost £3500. 1 Year plan.

I'd like to let this forum know how pleased I ‘ve been on the invisalign program, as well as offering some advice from my experience.

I'm now on my 24th of 25 aligners. Invisalign is amazing. I can't recommend it enough to anyone who wishes they had straighter teeth. I paid in full, privately with my orthodontist - it's the best thing I've ever bought! I'd do it all again in a flash.

Intially, I was worried about getting the appliance in and out - but you soon figure out which side to twist and pull to remove it. You are definitely the best person to do this, even at the dentist. The last 5 aligners simply go on and off with complete ease.

Although I'm due a new brace every Friday morning, I find putting a new one in on a thursday evening (after dinner) and sleeping with it for 10-12hours before having to remove it helps with getting the teeth into the next position. A quick 10mins breakfast and back in. Within 24hrs they don't even feel tight. I used to take a paracetamol/panadol at night to help ease the pain and get to sleep in the early braces.

On average I was getting 21-23 hours a day with my first 12 braces, but since then I've become lazy and get about 19-21 hours a day. I think you soon figure out how long to have your appliances out for depending on how tight they are when you put them back in.

Since then, I've become quite lazy, and often eat soft foods such as bananas on bike rides with the braces in, along with a soup here and there to keep warm. As long as I clean my teeth asap, I figure it doesn't really do any damage.

I've been using a whitening toothpaste and whitening floss throughout the treatment too, (this isn’t bleach) and I've noticed my teeth are always squeaky clean with three flosses and cleans a day. My orthodontist also recommended a daily rinse of fluoride helps. I can’t recommend enough the importance of a good flossing.

The worst parts… were always in the actual orthodontists chair, such as having with teeth shaved with a diamond tipped rasp! That thing hurt. And getting the actual moulds made up. The only downfall of actually wearing these braces is bad breath! You need to drink water all the time. I’m really, really paranoid about it and tend to keep clear of people in small spaces. I have found sugar-free mints such as Smint really help. But there's nothing better than a quick trip to the toilet and wash your mouth out with water, or even better mouthwash.

And that's about it – I am really, really happy with the treatment. I have a movie, which I'll happily post once it's on webspace somewhere.

I have to say theses things are not to be missed - if you can, have them fitted.
Cheers and good luck!

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Originally posted by ann:
I just got a quote of $6800 with a 'special' deal of $1000 off offered till April 8th. This is in the Bay area California. It's a fortune isn't it?

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Originally posted by newbie:
I live in Eastern PA and mine were $3950 + $550 for Invisalign records.

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FYI paid: $4500 for full treatment.

I am wondering the exact same thing. I get really tempted to switch trays on a weekly basis, because it feels like the 2nd week of wearing a tray is pointless (no shifting). But i'm sure there is a reason that 2 weeks is the industry standard. Besides, i only get 3 trays give to me per denitist visit...so speeding up the process by myself doesn't speed up the treatment time at all. =P Anyways, i'm really curious to hear what your dentist has to say about your theory.

- Paul

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Originally posted by Josh888:
There's no doubt Invisalign is a much better alternative to traditional braces for most people.

I'm on day 3 now, and I'm experiencing far less discomfort. I've also figured out a method removing the trays that makes the upper almost as easy as the lower tray when removing them. Basically, I'm using almost all 10 fingers, but after I've popped the tray loose in the back, I pull forward and then use my index finger to help the front clear the "button" on my front tooth. Comes right out -- ends up it was that one little button on my front tooth making it so difficult.

And back to my theory of shortening the wear time. It's been pretty unanimous that everyone feels pressure, maybe some slight pain, during the first couple days of a new tray. As Maria pointed out -- because the teeth are shifting, adjusting to the new tray. But why do we wear the trays for another 12 days before switching? I mean, are the teeth actually shifting for the first 3 or 4 days, and then we keep the trays in just to hold that position for the next 10 or 11 days before we switch again? Is the purpose just to give us a break in the discomfort, or is there an actual scientific reason?

I'm going to talk to my dentist before altering the initial plan, of course, but I wouldn't think it would hurt too bad to switch trays every 13 days as long as you maintain 23 hours of wear time daily.

Has anyone else tried this?

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Well you have to figure that the "two week" thing has a safety factor built in. I mean, just about every dentist prescribes "two weeks" for each tray, pretty much regardless of the patient (I'm guessing they may go longer than two weeks in specially difficult, rare cases).

Well I'm being very disciplined with wear-time, I take my vitamins daily, I drink tons of milk, and I brush and floss religiously. Therefore, I would think that my recovery time would be shorter than Patient X who wears his tray only 20 hours a day, skips the brushing and flossing more than he should, and hasn't touched a vitamin or glass of milk in years.

In fact, I would think that even the less disciplined person can probably get by with less than two weeks of wear-time. Picture it: (Hypothetical fiction follows) The doctors at Invisalign all have their thinking caps on, they study the facts and determine that almost every person should be able to switch trays every 12.5 days, without risk of injury, bone loss, etc. "But let's make it 14 days just to be safe from Mr. Lawsuit! And 'two weeks' is so nice and simple!"

I am 41yrs old and it was suggested as an alternative to metal braces. I want to know about the downfalls of invisaligns.

Reading these posts has almost convinced me to go this route.