I am doing Invisalign Express for some minor crowding, and just got my first set of trays this morning. It is exactly the same as regular Invisalign except that there is a maximum of 10 trays, so the whole thing will only take 6 months or less.

I had originally only wanted the top done, since my bottom teeth aren't really visible. The dentist recommended getting both, to make sure my molars still lined up after treatment. He said there wasn't a price difference between getting just the bottom and getting both the top and the bottom. I paid a total of $2700.

Hope this helps!

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Originally posted by Carolyn:
Hello,

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.

Thanks

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I was VERY concerned because nobody had said a single thing about shaving away my teeth to me - it was kind of a rude shock! They used really thin one-sided 'sand-paper' that's a tiny strip of metal and just ease it between two teeth a few times. It didn't hurt, and you definitely can't notice that one has been shaved, but it was a very uncomfortable experience feeling my teeth sanded away especially since I wasn't prepared for it and had no idea what to expect. It's fine though - those guys know what they need to do :-)

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Originally posted by Nervous:
I am concerned about the slenderizing process. I love the shape of my teeth now, they are just a little crowded. Will they look different once they have been shaved? Do they usually shave the teeth in the center, or less noticeable ones on the sides? The dentist assures me they will take less than a millimeter off, but I am still very nervous.

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As for how to take them out... hmmm... :-) It is definitely not an easy process, so I'd say that if you got them out on your own for the first time without crying from the pain or frustration, congratulations :-)

The trick is to flick off the back first (I just do one side but I guess you could do both) and then try to ease them off over the attachments that you have. In my case my 2 'fang' teeth (sorry I'm not a vampire but I'm not sure about tooth names!) have very big attachments so it's pretty hard for me to take mine off. It will hurt while you're pulling at your teeth to get them off but I have 12 attachments and none have come off yet (after a month) so I just don't care any more and it takes me about 2 seconds to get the aligners off :-)

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Originally posted by Collette:
One of my attachments just popped off when I took my trays out to eat. This was the very first time I ever attempted to take them out (just got them this morning) - am I doing it incorrectly?

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I also have TMJ. A few years back it got so bad that I couldn't open my jaw. I had to go in for physical therapy twice a week, but the cortisone steroids they gave me worked wonders. Now I try not to clench (this is hard to stop) and if my jaw starts to show any signs of pain I do some of the things they taught me in physical therapy. So far after 10 months of invisalign I haven't had any problems with the TMJ.

Regarding your teeth only moving from the top, I don't know if this is true or not. I can feel the roots of my teeth moving, and I was told that the first 3-4 days of a new aligner was to move the teeth, and the rest of the 2-week period was to heal the roots/bone area. If you don't do the full two weeks you can have permanent bone/root damage.

I hope this helps!

Rebecca
http://www.purifyyourbody.com

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Originally posted by cknight03:
Hey everyone! Before I drop my questions, I just wanted to say that this has been THE most informative source that I have found on Invisalign so far!

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?

Any insight y'all have would be great!

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Originally posted by Collette:
One of my attachments just popped off when I took my trays out to eat. This was the very first time I ever attempted to take them out (just got them this morning) - am I doing it incorrectly?

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I usually wear my aligners for 22 hours a day, and for the most part, brush my teeth after eating every meal. There are days when I go out to lunch and after I eat, I pop my aligner back in and when I get back to my office I get too busy to go to the restroom and brush, so I don't until after dinner. Granted, this is maybe only once a week that I do this. I think it is more important to wear the aligners than it is to brush EVERY time you put something in your mouth that isn't water. As long as you don't do it every day. I may be wrong, but that is my thoughts.

Glad you were able to get the stains off, no one likes stained teeth!!

Rebecca

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Originally posted by e:
In case anyone read this post and was curious. I went to the Dentist today and those lines were actually staines from where the aligner makes contact with the tooth...

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.

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Originally posted by Joe:
2/21/06
Got aligners #2 of 31 today. Noticed they were hard to get on, a lot tighter than set # 1. Not really sore yet..but took 2 Aleve...Have not treid to get them off yet...not looking forward to that..will do so at lunch time.

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I've heard that concern regarding the roots not moving as in regular braces before - guess we all should query our doctors on that & see if we all get the same answer. I don't quite understand how the roots cannot be moving - our teeth don't bend afterall...

What I did find out during some research was how the teeth are able to move. Basically, it works like this & is called "bone remodeling":

"Teeth are socketed in bone. Under the gums, surrounding each tooth's roots is a Periodontal Ligament which attaches it to the bone. This PDL is a sort of messenger between the tooth & surrounding bone.

Pressure between the PDL & bone causes the bone to break down to restore normal spacing between the tooth & bone. Corresponding tension on the PDL behind the movement causes new bone cells to be generated to fill in the difference & restore the normal spacing again.

Not a whole lot of force is necessary; only "some" which is not normally present." Our aligners provide the artificial force needed to create & sustain the pressure.

It also stated the breakdown process takes about 72 hours to get going fully. After the regeneration happens, the teeth supporting structures begin giving & moving again & the cycle continues. Stabilizing the result actually takes about 10 months - which is why wearing a retainer is so important. Regardless of what type of braces one has, retainers are necessary - sometimes for life.
It only makes sense.

I also read that slenderizing has a 60 yr. history in orthodontia. It does not increase the incidence of decay or periodontal disease. It can help long term stability of the final result by slightly flattening the contact point between the teeth.

I sure hope that's not all a bunch of bunk...

After reading over the care instructions - again - I realized I shouldn't have done that - it advised against it right there in black & white. Lesson learned...

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Originally posted by christine:
why do the instructions say not to use denture cleaners on the trays? does it ruin them? i usually brush mine, but would like to soak them in something to kill the germs while i have them out to eat. if not denture cleaners, would listerine work?

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Originally posted by Anne:
Christine - I think I posted this here before, but it may bear repeating: about halfway through my first set, I thought I'd try soaking my trays in Listerine (full strength) while brushing my teeth. This was only for about 5 min. My trays came out unharmed, but I noticed the hard, clear plastic soaking cup was actually "etched" afterwards - & it had been perfectly clear before.

After reading over the care instructions - again - I realized I shouldn't have done that - it advised against it right there in black & white. Lesson learned...

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Originally posted by Anne:
Christine - I think I posted this here before, but it may bear repeating: about halfway through my first set, I thought I'd try soaking my trays in Listerine (full strength) while brushing my teeth. This was only for about 5 min. My trays came out unharmed, but I noticed the hard, clear plastic soaking cup was actually "etched" afterwards - & it had been perfectly clear before.

After reading over the care instructions - again - I realized I shouldn't have done that - it advised against it right there in black & white. Lesson learned...

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I have actually started using efferdent. It doesn't do ANY harm to your trays - they just want you to buy their stuff. My trays come out looking just like day 1 every time - clean and clear...

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Originally posted by Relle:
Hi Josh,
welcome back, It's been a while that someone whose had the trays for a while has come back to share their long term experiences.
I was wondering. I thought about considering "ahem" reducing, my time with each set of trays. trouble is.. one way or another, I would end up wearing the last set a "LONG" time because my ortho only gives me 4 tray sets when I see him every two months.. so, lets just say, the 1st 3 sets, I wear for 12 days each, that means I have gained almost 1 week..then, when I put in my 4th set, I have to wear them the extra 6-7 days until my next appointment where I get checked out and then get the next 4 sets.
I think that I would rather wear them accordingly, only because when I wear them for two weeks, by the time the 2nd week rolls around, they are sortof loose and floppyish.. I can almost use my tongue to pop them out ( not really, but it seems that way)They don;t feel tight at all, and don't feel like they are "doing the job'. so, I can't wait to get the next set in.
How does it work that you can go 12 days between change outs? Did your ortho say it was ok?

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Hi Relle,

Sorry for the delay replying. Well, I left a few posts back when I started my treatment, sharing my theories on cutting back the days for each tray (that was back around page 3 or 4, I guess). I few people responded, but not a lot of feedback. One or two warned against decreasing the bone density by not allowing enough "recovery time" after the teeth have shifted. But I never suggested anything crazy like switching them every 5 days -- just trimming a day or two off of the iron-clad "two week" standard.

I did mention it to my ortho, and she rolled her eyes, laughed at my thorough analyzing, and told me not to be in such a big hurry, but never said NOT to do it.

I finally decided to go by "feel". With some of the early trays, my teeth were sore for a good 8 or 9 days. But it seemed with successive tray, the soreness would last a shorter amount of time. Like you said -- by the 2nd week, the tray is loose. So I figured this: If on tray #3 my teeth were sore for 9 days, and I switched on day 14, then on tray #10 the soreness lasts only 5 days, shouldn't it be fine to switch a day or 2 early?

So I switched every 14 days for the 1st 4 or 5 trays. Then for trays 6 - 11 I switched every 13 days, and since then I've been switching every 12 days. And with these last trays, the soreness is almost nonexistent, lasting only the first day or two.

I haven't gone overboard with it -- I've always made sure there were at least 5 days without any soreness and a "loose" tray before switching. In the end, I've trimmed by total treatment time by over 6 weeks.

Your ortho is forcing the two-week wear time by only giving you 4 trays every 2 months. My ortho has been very laid-back - she has always given me 12 trays at a time, and she has had no idea what tray I'm currently wearing without me telling her.

I started seeing a huge difference in my teeth about the 10th tray (10 out of 20 total). In the past couple months, I have started having one specific tooth become extremely sensitive. I wonder if this is normal? The roots hurt, and even when I do kickboxing, we jumprope for warm ups, and jumproping with my mouth open (to breathe)or any other type of aerobic activity where the air flows into my mouth because of breathing, really hurts the tooth, even with the aligner in. That pain is usually after the first 5 days of wearing a new aligner. And it lasts for about a week, I would estimate.

I have a problem with sensitive teeth anyway. I had to stop playing the saxophone because I couldn't bear to put a wooden reed in my mouth... I could never have gotten regular braces because I can't stand to have metal in my mouth. I hate the drill more than anything, I have to wear ear plugs. I will hate when they have to remove the attachments/dots on my teeth.

Take care and have a great day!

Rebecca
http://www.purifyyourbody.com
Detox Your Body While You Sleep!

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Originally posted by L.C.:
I am almost finished with my first tray... I switch to my second aligner soon and am a little worried about it. Is it going to hurt as much to take them out as it did with the first tray?... and is it hard to put the new tray in for the first time?
This message board has helped me out a lot, I tend to worry about things a lot and this really has made me feel a lot more comfortable... so thank you very much

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Check it out and leave comments/questions.

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Originally posted by L.C.:
I feel the same way. I try to eat softer foods that don't have to be chewed much. Thank God Ice Cream is soft . What are most people using to clean their aligners? I noticed last night that mine don't seem as clear as they used to be. I don't want to make it worse using something I shouldn't to clean them.

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Originally posted by L.C.:
I feel the same way. I try to eat softer foods that don't have to be chewed much. Thank God Ice Cream is soft . What are most people using to clean their aligners? I noticed last night that mine don't seem as clear as they used to be. I don't want to make it worse using something I shouldn't to clean them.

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right now, i'm just using toothpaste and a rotating brush about 3 times a day. I am using a whitening toothpaste sometimes though... maybe that's whats causing the problem. Efferdent doesn't cause any problems?

Also, I forgot to mention that every time I take them out, I immediately put them in a glass of warm water (except at dinner when I put them in the Efferdent). I think that helps to keep some of the deposits from building up.

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Originally posted by LC:
CH,

right now, i'm just using toothpaste and a rotating brush about 3 times a day. I am using a whitening toothpaste sometimes though... maybe that's whats causing the problem. Efferdent doesn't cause any problems?

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I'm just starting tray 12 out of 20 for the bottom and 30 for the top. I've been able to switch them every two weeks so far, but my ortho mentioned on tray 14 I would need a rubber band... not to pull my teeth down, as others have mentioned, but to ensure that the gains made so far wouldn't be lost. He claimed that after 300 cases that's what they've learned.

I guess you never had to wear the rubber bands. Did you have to move your teeth back to make room for the crowded teeth?

Anyway, I hope the remaining trays go as well as the first trays... and as easily as you described. Not that this has been easy for me. It's very stressful to wear these, but at least it really hasn't been too painful.

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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!

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My dentist did mention the possibility of elastics during our first discussions, but not specifically in my own case yet. I must ask about that at my first checkup.