My worst problem was that they irritated and even cut my tongue. However, it was the bottoms that did that. To me, the tops are more comfortable that the bottoms. Advil should take care of any tooth pain. You won't need it past the first day on a new set.

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Originally posted by asha85:
Thanks marsh...
i am just hoping that i dont lisp too bad as i am training to be a teacher and do a lot of placements teaching kids in the classroom! And i also work part time in customer service. Does anyone have any opinion as to whether the top or bottom aligners contribute more to a 'lisp' or if they are both bad?!?!

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My bottom retainers make me lisp more than my top ones. They are the ones my tongue gets stuck on most when I have to deal with "s" sounds in the middle of words/sentences.

Being that you'll only have them on for 20 weeks (and only top ones at that), I don't really foresee that interfering with your training to become a teacher. Most people really hardly notice any speech changes. It seems to be more apparent in our own heads.

http://thyinvisalignjourney.blogspot.com

I'm on my 4th set of aligners. I have 10 trays total for both upper and lower. My ortho tells me the 10th tray is an overcorrection which I might not need.

I have been fairly happy with the process. I love feel my teeth move. I had to bug my ortho to show me the 3D model of my teeth progression. =( I wish he had let me contribute my opinion on it. From what little I saw, Im not sure all the asymetry will be corrected.

I also have more attachments than anyone else I know. 14 total! The first week it was SO HARD to take them out. I think it would have been easier with less attachements.

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Originally posted by Druihd:
Hi Everyone!

I'm on my 4th set of aligners. I have 10 trays total for both upper and lower. My ortho tells me the 10th tray is an overcorrection which I might not need.

I have been fairly happy with the process. I love feel my teeth move. I had to bug my ortho to show me the 3D model of my teeth progression. =( I wish he had let me contribute my opinion on it. From what little I saw, Im not sure all the asymetry will be corrected.

I also have more attachments than anyone else I know. 14 total! The first week it was SO HARD to take them out. I think it would have been easier with less attachements.

Has anyone experinced adverse bite changes? I'm in the seventh week and I cannot chench my molars anymore. When I bite down (without my aligners), my front teeth meet and leave a gap between the molars. I assume its just temporary thing. I was just hoping someone else might have experinced this.

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I am currently on my 11th set of aligners, and I only have 3 more to go!! I just got my new set yesterday, and they are killing me. It's only my bottom teeth that hurt though, never the top which was the main reason I wanted to get these things!

At first, I had a small lisp, and I can still notice it at times. It was really embarassing after they put on my first set and began asking me questions. I couldn't pronounce anything that ended with an "s". It felt real awkward to close my mouth too...but it's no problem now!

It was hard for me to eat at first too, not because of the pain but the buttons! I have them on 4 of my lower teeth, and my upper teeth would not close properly for the first couple weeks. I was stuck with eating soup and jello!

In my opinion, anyone considering invisalign should go for it. It's a great choice. Minimal pain for only a couple days, the lisp disappears, and they are INVISABLE! Not one single person has asked me about them. It may be the way I smile though(my gum line doesn't show). But, yeah, they're amazing. I am already satisfied with the outcome, and I still have 2 months left!

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Originally posted by asha85:
hey,
am now on my 4th day of aligniner 1/10....... So far soo good... except i have a bit of an irritated and cut mouth on one side... And i feel i still cant pronounce "fff" properly.... Just a question- I was told by my ortho only to wash the aligners in water but i dont feel this is really doin the job. What else is safe to wash the aligners and has been recommended by your ortho's?

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The changes to my top arch are more visible to the outside world than the bottom. Before treatment, my central left incisor protruded significantly. At this point, my top front teeth are very close to being perfectly aligned. Thus far, it does not appear the top arch will need "refinement".

The funny thing about all this is that now that I am getting so close to finishing, I no longer care about how much time is left. For the first 15 trays, I was constantly thinking (in a very positive way) about how far I had come, how exciting the improvement was, how much longer I had to go. At this point, my teeth look so much better with my aligners in than they did without the aligners before I started, I find that I am long longer "counting the days". My routine is comfortable and my teeth are looking great.

In some strange way, I miss the sightly obsessive focus on my Invisalign progress. I guess its time to do something new for myself and get into shape. I have to say that Invisalign has been the best thing I have done for myself in a long time.

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Originally posted by Betsy:
Friday was a milestone for me. I picked up aligner 17 of 19 top - I have completed 16 of 16 bottom trays. The result almost exactly matchs the clincheck with one minor difference. My lower right central and lateral incisors are slightly lower than my lower right cuspid. My plan includes 3 free "refinements" and after I complete my initial 19 top trays, we will do a refinement to resolve this minor discrepancy with my target result.

The changes to my top arch are more visible to the outside world than the bottom. Before treatment, my central left incisor protruded significantly. At this point, my top front teeth are very close to being perfectly aligned. Thus far, it does not appear the top arch will need "refinement".

The funny thing about all this is that now that I am getting so close to finishing, I no longer care about how much time is left. For the first 15 trays, I was constantly thinking (in a very positive way) about how far I had come, how exciting the improvement was, how much longer I had to go. At this point, my teeth look so much better with my aligners in than they did without the aligners before I started, I find that I am long longer "counting the days". My routine is comfortable and my teeth are looking great.

In some strange way, I miss the sightly obsessive focus on my Invisalign progress. I guess its time to do something new for myself and get into shape. I have to say that Invisalign has been the best thing I have done for myself in a long time.

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quote:

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Originally posted by asha85:

Hi asha - I think that most people fall into your category - "the lucky ones" though many people have an initial challenge or two (for me it was removing my aligners).

The thing that I want newbies and folks thinking about treatment to realize is that this forum's most important function (in my opinion) is to help people who are having problems (very often during the first couple trays). Thus, it is natural that we sometimes hear more about problems than successes.

I am happy to see an increasing number of members who are sticking around and sharing their positive experiences.

I have to admit i was petrafied to get my aligners after reading a lot of the stuff on here. But looks like so far i have been one of the lucky ones... Minor discomfort for the first couple of days and now they are great.. I went to a party with them on the other night and not one person commented on them, not even my best friends that have none me since i was a kid noticed them!! which is comforting becuase they are really unoticible to other people!!
Goodluck with the refining betsy!

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1. How large is the "large space"? I believe that the maximum movement that should be done with a single tray is .25 mm (BadBoy, correct me if I have this wrong). Divide the size of the space by this number and then ask each ortho why their plan will take longer than the resulting number of trays.

2. What exactly does each ortho plan to change. In my case, I didn't think anything NEEDED to be done to my bottom arch since it LOOKED fine, but I had 16 aligners for the bottom to shift my teeth to better align with the top arch (and to make adjustments to back teeth for better alignment). I know you said your bite is excellent, but have all of the orthos indicated that ALL that needs to be done is to close the gap?
3. If you do end up with 10 trays or less and have a choice between express and the regular plan, make sure you know what is NOT included in the express plan.

If any of the orthos is not willing to answer your questions to get you to the point where you understand the reason for the differences in the plans, keep looking. Don't feel guilty or stupid or that you are being unreasonable - its your mouth and your money and your time !!!

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Originally posted by TheGapper:
hey everybody, i'm back with a few more questions. just to set this up, i'm getting invisalign for a large space between my two front teeth. The rest of my teeth are in great shape and my bite is excellent so the gap is my only concern. after going to three seperate consultations i have run into a problem. the first two ortho's i went to told me i was looking at a treatment time of 12-15 months. they seemed very knowldegable and are both premier providers. i went to a third ortho today, also a premier provider, and he told me i would only need a treatment time of 6 months. ???? he said i could go with regular invisalign or invisalign express, but that the express would be cheeper. i asked him why he thought there was such a large difference between his estimate and the other two and he said he the problem was minor enough to treat in that time. i'm am really confused as to who to go with. i would love to go with the cheaper, quicker ortho, but am really wondering if he just doesnt know what he's talking about, or maybe its the other two who dont. is there a different/better result with a longer treatment, ie., will the closed gap hold and look better? i've read that the teeth need time to heal between movements so thats why the estimate from 12 to 6 months is throwing me off so much. has anyone had experience with invisalign express or with closing a large space between the two front teeth? thanks for your help!

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quote:

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Originally posted by TheGapper:
hey everybody, i'm back with a few more questions. just to set this up, i'm getting invisalign for a large space between my two front teeth. The rest of my teeth are in great shape and my bite is excellent so the gap is my only concern. after going to three seperate consultations i have run into a problem. the first two ortho's i went to told me i was looking at a treatment time of 12-15 months. they seemed very knowldegable and are both premier providers. i went to a third ortho today, also a premier provider, and he told me i would only need a treatment time of 6 months. ???? he said i could go with regular invisalign or invisalign express, but that the express would be cheeper. i asked him why he thought there was such a large difference between his estimate and the other two and he said he the problem was minor enough to treat in that time. i'm am really confused as to who to go with. i would love to go with the cheaper, quicker ortho, but am really wondering if he just doesnt know what he's talking about, or maybe its the other two who dont. is there a different/better result with a longer treatment, ie., will the closed gap hold and look better? i've read that the teeth need time to heal between movements so thats why the estimate from 12 to 6 months is throwing me off so much. has anyone had experience with invisalign express or with closing a large space between the two front teeth? thanks for your help!

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Hi, I am new to the board, currently @ aligner #3. Just wanted to tell TheGapper that the orthos only give you an approximation of the length of the treatment. The real decision is made by the Invisalign Lab specialists, the ortho doesn't have a say in the whole matter. Regardless of which ortho sends your impressions to the lab and what his/her estimate is, the number of aligners will be the same.

I see two explanations for the significantly shorter & cheaper treatment offered by the 3rd ortho
1) He/she may lack enough experience
2) It could just be a sales trick to get you in.

For example, in my case we initially thought my treatment could be accomplished using the Express process. Invisalign returned an Express plan (10 aligners). It looked fine me, but my dentist was not satisfied. He indicated that although my front teeth would look much better, my bite would not be right. He was unwilling to go forward with the plan. We resubmitted my case to be done using the normal process. He went back and forth with them for several weeks, having them add buttons to move teeth in certain ways.

My dentist was an active participant in working with the company to develop my plan. If this were not the case, we could all go to any dentist to have them send it our impressions and then just stop in to pick up the trays.

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Originally posted by Villy:
[B]
Just wanted to tell TheGapper that the orthos only give you an approximation of the length of the treatment. The real decision is made by the Invisalign Lab specialists, the ortho doesn't have a say in the whole matter. B]

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My treatment is 10 Upper / 6 Lower

So far:
Zero pain, for the first few days they felt snug.

I have 8 attachments on the top, they are almost invisible, I can can barely see them in the mirror myself. No one else can even see them unless I point them out and they get 6" from my face and look at the teeth from an angle.

The IPR/Shaving was no big deal, I was very worried about this, but they only removed about (.1 to .3 MM) between several teeth, its about the thickness of a piece of dental floss. There was no increase in tooth sensitivity to cold after this was done.

No Lisp, sores, pain.

So far I haven't have to file down any edges, maybe on future aligners.

The trays are very confortable, I actually like the feeling of the tray in my mouth.

The only thing that is annoying is having to take them out to eat.

I will try to take some pictures of the progress.

I bought this toothbrush to keep with me, it has a mini tube in the handle so you can fill it with your own toothpaste. I lightly brush the aligner before putting it back in and it has stayed clear as day 1.

http://www.yourhealthysmile.com/toob.html

It feels really tight when I first put in a new set and I can feel alot of pressure, but I never feel pain. I thought it would be bad for the first few days.

By the end of the two weeks the aligners start to feel alot loser.

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Originally posted by remmie:
Does anyone else feel no pain with their invisalign?

It feels really tight when I first put in a new set and I can feel alot of pressure, but I never feel pain. I thought it would be bad for the first few days.

By the end of the two weeks the aligners start to feel alot loser.

Also I brush the aligners everytime I put them back in my mouth, and they stay very clear even at 14 days.

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quote:

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Originally posted by remmie:
Does anyone else feel no pain with their invisalign?

It feels really tight when I first put in a new set and I can feel alot of pressure, but I never feel pain. I thought it would be bad for the first few days.

By the end of the two weeks the aligners start to feel alot loser.

Also I brush the aligners everytime I put them back in my mouth, and they stay very clear even at 14 days.

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Hi there and welcome! What you describe sounds very normal. I'm a new insivaligner myself, on my 4th set of about 18.

There should be a good bit of pressure feel for the first few days of a new set. I find that I can have alot of pressure and on the third day it's gone and from then on the trays feel loose.

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Originally posted by coolvicki:
estimated 12-16 month treatment time...although now i'm wondering if i got rooked at my estimation- because my trays came in and i only have 6 months of treatment

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same here, my ortho estimated 18 months but i only have 6 months of invisalign treatment. he also said that this is just phase 1. i didn't ask for more details about how many phases we'll be doing, but maybe he just pads his initial estimate with time to refine the treatment.

the clincheck videos show that after 6 months my teeth with be pretty much straight though.