I've got some pics on my blog. If you'd like any more specific details regarding my whereabouts or the office I'm a patient at, you can leave me a note there with your e-mail address (if you're comfortable with that).

Thanks for the update, Josh!

Regards,
Anne

http://smilingwideopen.blogspot.com/

One particular button came off twice - once 2 hrs after it was 'glued' to my teeth and another time, a month later after trying to remove a new tray. This shd be small problem for most people but I am based in Shanghai while my treatment is Singapore, so this button has cost me quite a bit of money as I needed to change my flights schedule between the two cities to get my button fixed.

Like many others, I dont have much problem after Tray 2 although at the begining, putting and removing the trays caused excruciating pain. Now, it doesn't bother me much, pretty much of daily routine and nobody really notice, except my speech was affected in the first two weeks.

I am quite relax with the whole thing now. Sometimes, I go on without trays for a stretch of 4 to 5 hrs, esp after day 3 of each tray. Also tried smoking with them on twice, no problem too. I drink milk and juices with them on but always rinse after that.

The only issue I have is I haven't noticed significant changes to my teeth after 8 trays! Hope to see more results soon.

Some facts for those who are considering invislign

1. Done in Singapore
2. Cost USD4000
3. Take 3 months to rec trays
4. I get all trays in one go
5. 21 top, 36 bottom
6. I have two top front teeth protruding out and one of the botton K9s very crooke. Tray 22 to 36 is just to get this K9 in place
7. 5 buttons, all at the bottom, were fixed 4 weeks into treatment.
8. On the following visit, some teeths were filed to create a few 1mm gaps to create space for my over crowding teeth.
9. No specific cleaning methods for trays but I floss my teeth regular.

Question: Can those on the programs with more than 20 trays comment on your progress after Tray 10? I am not seeing significant results at Tray 8. Thanks.

http://www.invisalign.com/generalapp/us/en/explore/movies/MfgProcessQT.mp4

It's really quite fascinating to watch. It is a bit scary committing to the treatment/cost before you actually know how long it will take or how many/where the buttons will be needed.

quote:

---

Originally posted by Lien:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by micky:
[b]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.[/Q]

My treatment will be 18-24 months and it's a $5000 flat rate for everything: molding, the trays, the follow-up visits, and retainer.
I'm located in New Orleans, so that might make a difference?[/B]

---

Hi -
I'm on Day 4 of these things and my guy charged me $4000 just for the bottoms!! Wow I think I just got ripped off.

quote:

---

Originally posted by J Strader:
ok, I am at Day 5 and settling in a little better. The sore throat is gone. The tongue feels better, but not completely. Tonight I went to the pharmacy and purchased Anbesol spray and dental wax. Aaahhh..such relief. The wax is helpful in covering the rough spots at the edge of the trays and the Anbesol just numbed everything up, giving me some temporary relief. The only thing about this is that is takes over your life...at least at this point. I am thinking about eating and brushing and flossing and rinsing all the time. But I have lost a pound because snacking...which I did a lot of...does not exist for me now. There is definitely improvement in the discomfort...and still not as bad as I remember traditional braces.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Laurie:
Hello everyone, I've had my 1st tray in for 5 days now and I'm feeling a bit better. The first few days were bad because the trays dug into my gums and made my tongue sore. I used my daughter's wax to soften the sides. She has traditional braces. I do feel like other people about the eating. It's almost a pain just to take them out and eat. I keep thinking how am I going to do this for a year. The weight better come off I was wondering if anyone else is having trouble eating and biting their cheek. Someone suggested that I may be over-compensating when the braces are out.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Josh888:
Hey everyone. Wow, I haven't been here in months, and there are TONS of posts now. My first post was way back on Page 2, when I first got invisalign. Is it normal to feel proud about that?

Let's see... I am on tray 26 of 29 total. Here's a few notes about my invisalign experience:

1) The first 12 to 14 trays were the most uncomfortable. I think because these were shifting the molars. All the rest have been just kinda tight.

2) I started noticing rapid results at about tray # 18 or 19. Within 3 or 4 trays, there was a drastic difference in my front teeth. That was neat.

3) My discipline, or lack thereof, fell to crap about tray # 17. I have days where I'll forget about it after lunch and go hours without it in... I'm probably wearing the trays about 18 hours a day on average.

4) Since tray # 10, I've been switching trays every 12 days. Even with my shoddy daily wear time. I'm evil.

Thats about it. Great results so far, with only one tooth left to be "twisted" straight! I'll post links to photos when the treatment is complete.

Take care!

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by James:
I'm in Washington, D.C. and mine cost $5400. I'm in the 10th week and have had no problems. Sometimes new aligners are tight and difficult to remove, but they ease up after awhile. The tightness means that they are really gripping your teeth, resulting in good movement. Its not a bad thing, just a nuisance.

---

I know in my case a tooth needed to be extracted to ensure midline alignment. I had a tooth extracted many years ago on my right side. Hence, it was necessary to extract the one on the left side to ensure midline alignment.

However, why is there still a need for tooth shaving if molars can be moved backward? One explanation could be that molars are harder to be moved backward. It is much easier to create room by shaving the teeth.

I have seen clinchecks where molars are being moved toward the back of the mouth.

If anyone has had good or bad experience with moving molars towards the back of the mouth, please respond.

Thanks...

quote:

---

Originally posted by Laurie:

---

Boy Laurie you are not kidding! It has totally consumed my life too. All you worry about is eating and cleaning those things!

I really love my smile right now. I have 6 aligners to go after the one I am wearing right now. I would be satisfied with the whole process if they ended up how they are now. It took until about tray 9 to start seeing results. The hardest teeth to move are the canines and the ones next to them, towards the front. That is where I am having problems, but it isn't anything that I can't handle.

I have a total of 6 buttons on the top. you can see them if you look closely when I smile, but other than that, you can't tell I am even wearing braces. Towards the beginning of treatment I had one button fall off, so I had to go back in.

I went to the University of Minnesota and my whole treatment plan was $2995, and I won't be getting braces after my treatment. I probably won't post after I am done with my treatment, which is why there aren't many people posting AFTER the finish their treatment, but I am almost finished (3-4 months left) and I am really satisfied with the results. I am excited and won't have any problems wearing the retainer afterwards. I wear the invisalign for about 22 hours a day at least. Sometimes more. I am anal retentive about that and about brushing my teeth.

Hope this info helps someone.

quote:

---

Originally posted by newperson:
I am thinking of getting Invisalign, but have some questions. I been looking on all these pages of the forum and havent noticed too many people who have finished the treatment. How straight has your smile become? Do most of you need braces afterward? How many of you require a retainer after the treatment? How long do you have to wear the retainer? Did anyone get an overbite fixed? I believe its the way to go, but i want to make sure i make the right decision before i spend 6k.

---

1. Has anyone else in this forum actually had to have rubber bands with their invisalign? Or am I the only one?

2. Has anyone else had any problems with teeth moving so they have to wear the aligners longer than 2 weeks? I have had to wear some aligners as long as 6 weeks, WITH rubber bands!

quote:

---

Originally posted by rhauptman:
I have a couple questions:

1. Has anyone else in this forum actually had to have rubber bands with their invisalign? Or am I the only one?

2. Has anyone else had any problems with teeth moving so they have to wear the aligners longer than 2 weeks? I have had to wear some aligners as long as 6 weeks, WITH rubber bands!

---

I just had a button put on the tooth next to my front tooth & my dentist cut away part of the alligner & I hook a rubber band around the back of the alligner & then the button.It hurt alot the first day but since then nothing.It's only been about a week. It's to pull the tooth down into postion which the alligner itself didn't do.Not sure if this will be effective.Time will tell.

quote:

---

Originally posted by Chris:
Does anyone have a good Ortho, they would suggest in the DC area?

---

I have 5 more aligners to wear after my next appointment in March. I will probably wear a rubber band for three of those, to try to fix the tooth, then nothing for the last 2 aligners, hopefully that will work.

It did take about a week to get used to the rubber bands, the inside of my lip was cut from the hook attachment, and it felt uncomfortable even when I put wax on it.

Take care!
Rebecca
http://www.purifyyourbody.com

quote:

---

Originally posted by Big E:
Are the rubber bands intended to "pull down" teeth that don't line up with the rest of your smile? I don't have this situation, and my ortho never mentioned using rubber bands, I was just curious. This is the first I've heard of them.

Eric

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Chris:
Does anyone have a good Ortho, they would suggest in the DC area?

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by mahria .f:
hi everone
people im so depressed ive had my inviasaligns for a few months now and was cahnging them every 2weeks as i was told but than my top aligner did not fit propelly(the aligner became visible on my front to teeth)i maen like the aligner fits my back teeth fine but its visible on my front two teeth.

anyways i cacried on changin them every 2weeks for another two months than when i finally went to my ortho i was set 11 he put me back on set 6(the most recent set that fit perfectly) saying "oh you should keep them in until set 7 fits perfectly"
he predicted another 2 weeks.ive had aligner 6 in for like 7 weeks and aligner 7 is still visible when i try it on has anyone ever experienced this sproblem if they have plaese tell me about it beacuse its really getting me down!!

my lower sets goin fine mind you:P(but i really didnt have much of a problem with my lower anyway)

---

The other bad thing about the dots is that they are slightly abrasive in your mouth when you take out the aligners to eat. However, this just makes me more sure that I wouldn't have enjoyed wearing traditional braces :-)

For me, one of the most annoying things about invisalign is not being able to eat whenever I want to. I'm a "grazer" - usually eat throughout the day rather than in 3 big meals, and it has been really hard to adjust to this new way of life. It kind of sucks since I know that I was healthier before, although I can't munch on lollies and chocolate biscuits all day now, which is a good thing. However, I sometimes find myself eating chocolate or something after a meal just because I might feel like it later and won't be able to have it later so had better have it now, which I really need to stop doing.

I also speak with a slight lisp now. I usually speak very clearly so most people can't notice that I speak with a slight lisp now, but it bothers me because I can definitely hear it. It requires a bit of effort to talk now (to speak clearly) whereas it didn't before.

The other really bad thing is that my aligners smell TERRIBLE when I take them out, even when I brush them and my teeth properly after each meal. People keep assuring me that I definitely do not and never have had bad breath, so I'm not sure what is causing it. However, I read on this discussion forum that you can soak them in vinegar for the smell, and I've been doing that at least a couple of times per day when I take them out for meals (also giving them a brush with toothpaste) and I think it is helping a bit. They still smell really bad though - I don't think I'd be comfortable dating anyone this year! :-(

But all things considered, I'm still happy with them and I really wish I'd done it sooner!!! It's definitely a lifestyle change but people say they can't notice them (even with so many dots) so it's just something that I have to deal with. I can't wait until I start to see some improvement with my teeth :-)

P.S. I'm 25yo, living in Australia, and need 16 lower and 27 upper (so about 6 months and 12 months, respectively). The total cost is around $AU6500, which is apparently a flat fee for invisalign upper and lower, regardless of the particular treatment case.

quote:

---

Originally posted by Still Deciding:

Also, I had a question about the "buttons" they attach to your teeth. How do they determine which teeth they go on or how many are attached? The reason for me considering Invisalign was so that no one would notice if I was wearing them...seems like the buttos would be noticed if they are on your front teeth.

---

Regular braces have wire wrapped around teeth to grip and pull and twist them wherever they need to go, so I think that they put dots on teeth if the plastic trays wouldn't be able to get the teeth into the perfect position.

I think that your ortho works with the invisalign people to decide where they need to go (when they set up your aligners after taking the impressions).

A few times a week I was drinking unsweetened Ice Tea and it stained my teeth. I tried brushing those lines off and they wouldn't budge which is why I thought it might be a more serious problem, but the dental asst. used pumice and buffed them right up and now they're pearly white again.

quote:

---

Originally posted by e:
Ok, this may be an original question to this board. Has anyone noticed light brown lines forming along some of their lower teeth? On 3 of my front teeth Im getting what appears to be stress lines or something because they dont brush away, they're sort of inside the tooth but show through. Im going to ask the dentist next time but wanted to see what knowledge was here.

---

I'm glad I found this thread.

I may need something like Invisalign for a minor correction on my bottom front teeth. I'm wondering if anyone has done Invisalign Express? What was it like?

Also how much did you pay? I only need the bottom, so I assume that will knock the cost down some.

Okay. My background: I have crowding on the bottom and my upper teeth are pretty perfect. I also have TMJ so any kind of orthodonic treatment makes me nervous. I've never had serious problems with it, it's more of an annoyance but I certainly don't want to make it worse. I went to a very well-recommended ortho in the northern VA area and he gave me the options of either having an extraction or slenderizing, and he recommended slenderizing over an extraction because it isn't the greatest option to pull a tooth that has no problems. I will not need aligners for the uppers. Total cost is $4600 and my insurance covers half of that so it won't be too bad.

My questions:
1. Slenderizing. I already have pretty sensitive teeth and I'll probably need to have a good bit of this done. My concern is that this will make the slenderized teeth unbearably sensitive by the time I'm done. Any thoughts?
2. TMJ - mine isn't really bad, my jaw pops sometimes but I can usually avoid it, and I don't eat extremely chewy foods. I'm going to be pretty mad if I get halfway into this treatment and it starts causing problems with my jaw.
3. Root structure. My sister is in school to be a dental assistant and she said that most of the dentists she's asked have said that Invisalign does not change the root structure of your teeth - it only moves the tops of the teeth. Is this true, and if so, why is it bad?