I hope u feel better. i was researching about invisalign and now im scared to get them. but y isnt ur dentist not talking to you and at least see you to make sure all is well. You paid a lot of money for this and are on day 4. i would just drop by the office cuz this sounds horrible. according to all i have read your pain should be getting less espically after all the painkillers.

i am thinking about getting this but am really scared now. can you please answer some questions? is the pain on 1st day bearable? if you put the 1st aligners on friday night after dinner and take painkillers can u sleep through the night? when u wake up does the pain hit you right away or the pain starts when you take the aligners off?

I have read every post that has ever been put on this board and I can assure you that most people do not experience the type of pain that anit_hegemony has. Mostly, the trays are annoying. Pain usual comes from taking out or putting in the aligners, and subsides after the first three days or so of each new aligner. Putting in a new aligner before bed (I did it after my last meal) with pain meds is a great strategy for avoiding some of the pain and gives your teeth a good long time to move before having to remove the trays. Almost everyone will tell you that the first tray is the hardest. After a while, wearing trays becomes second-nature and you become more confident with them. It actually gets to the point where it feels strange to have them OUT.

Everyone reacts differently to this experience and has different pain tolerances. But most on this board have been happy with the result and don't regret their decision to go with Invisalign. Hope this helps.

quote:

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Originally posted by ss12345:
hi everyone,

i am thinking about getting this but am really scared now. can you please answer some questions? is the pain on 1st day bearable? if you put the 1st aligners on friday night after dinner and take painkillers can u sleep through the night? when u wake up does the pain hit you right away or the pain starts when you take the aligners off?

I have a gap between top my front teeth about 3mm and dat is all i need to fix but im reading about the pain and am getting really discouraged. iam a baby about the pain. i am not sure i can do this if its not bearable and after reading anit_hegemony's post i am really scared. is this normal pain for anti hegemony to go through?

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quote:

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Originally posted by ss12345:
hi everyone,

i am thinking about getting this but am really scared now. can you please answer some questions? is the pain on 1st day bearable? if you put the 1st aligners on friday night after dinner and take painkillers can u sleep through the night? when u wake up does the pain hit you right away or the pain starts when you take the aligners off?

I have a gap between top my front teeth about 3mm and dat is all i need to fix but im reading about the pain and am getting really discouraged. iam a baby about the pain. i am not sure i can do this if its not bearable and after reading anit_hegemony's post i am really scared. is this normal pain for anti hegemony to go through?

---

I too only had to fix a gap, roughly that size, and the pain is definitely not too bad. Basically for the first day of each tray it feels like it does if you push the teeth toghether with your fingers. Its not comfortable, but it doesnt make you want to die. I think most of the people with pain have really crowded teeth.

I had a bit of drama over the weekend. Saturday was my 10th day with my first trays and I when I go to put them back in after breakfast the tray didnt go on my molars on one side like it usually does. It turns out the upper tray had a tear down one of the seams between teeth of about 2 mm, just behind one of the buttons. I tried to call the dentist since but no response since it was the weekend. Since it was only 10 days, I really didnt know what to do, stick with it or go to the next tray. Ultimately, since it was making some of the molars hurt, i decided to go to the second trays. Better to have the teeth move forward too soon than move in some strange direction for 4 days and then move back (I hope.) So now Im very nervous because this next set of uppers has to last me 18 days for me to get back on track. I dont know what else to do than to try and take the trays out very slowly, and try to be more gentle.

Switching to the next set wasnt bad though, i took some ibuprofen and went to bed. the only frustrating thing is i have to go through the discomfort for the lowers again tomorrow, rather than getting it all out of the way at once.

quote:

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Originally posted by 12U14L:

in case anyone is interested, hers a look at my clincheck. pretty simple. 12 uppers 14 lowers, 3 buttons on top, 6 on the bottom.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lKveAnz5bg&NR=1

quote:

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Originally posted by Jeffrey L. Wissot, DDS:
Here are a couple of additional consideartions...

The most difficult task is remember to put them back in your mouth after eating, especially in a restaurant -- some patients forget & they get tossed out when the table is cleared.

You must also be patient: Treatment does take longer than conventional orthodontics.

---

quote:

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Originally posted by JD:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by jim:
[b]if it was that bad why are you still posting on this board? move on with your life.

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WELL IM WAITING FOR MYNE,NOT STARTED YET, BUT ONE THING I DO KNOW,I DONT CARE IF THEY HURT. OF COURSE IT WILL BUT TO ME IT WILL BE WORTH IT. JUST LIE HAVING MY CHILDREN WAS,AND LIKE MOST HINGS IN LIFE!! LOL NOTHING IS EASY BUT I DO KNOW I REALLY WANT NICE TEETH. AND WOULD DO ALMOST ANYTHING,CARLI
[/B][/QUOTE]

I was in and out of the office in 45 minutes after them attaching the buttons and I'm not sure what people are complaining about since the buttons are covered up by the trays & I'm supposed to wear them 23 hours a day for 30 days.

My lowers will go in during upper tray #7, but I only notice a slight discomfort all day the first couple days. On a scale of 1-10 I'd say it was a 1. Didn't hurt at all. It's not because I don't have perfect teeth either since I need 24 upper trays & 17 lowers.

You definitely can't eat with them in though or even chew gum. Keep them clean in simple too as I just brush them and rinse. For people who claim they're getting bad breath then that's their own fault. I just brush after every meal and brush my tray & rinse.

Cost was $4500 & my employment has decent dental insurance & I directed enough to my medical savings account as well via pre-tax income. I'm in the 25% tax bracket therefore it's reducing my income by the amount I must pay for the invisalign, so it's like getting a 25% off coupon!

My insurance said the $4500 was too much as well so they adjusted it to $3460 of which I was responsible for $1830 and insurance paid the rest. The $1830 I'm getting 25% off on, so it really only cost me $1372.50 taken out of my next 26 paychecks.

I was getting a slight discomfort if I took the tray out to eat after putting it back in, but if I leave it out for 2 hours it's more uncomfortable for longer. Frankly, I feel I'm ready for tray #2 which they already gave me. I'll post more on my blog here:

quote:

---

Originally posted by ss12345:
hi everyone,

i am thinking about getting this but am really scared now. can you please answer some questions? is the pain on 1st day bearable? if you put the 1st aligners on friday night after dinner and take painkillers can u sleep through the night? when u wake up does the pain hit you right away or the pain starts when you take the aligners off?

I have a gap between top my front teeth about 3mm and dat is all i need to fix but im reading about the pain and am getting really discouraged. iam a baby about the pain. i am not sure i can do this if its not bearable and after reading anit_hegemony's post i am really scared. is this normal pain for anti hegemony to go through?

---

I wonder if some people just try to make other people nervous about these things. I had to have a mammogram a couple of months ago and was so nervous because of what I heard other women say about the pain. OMG, it took 10 minutes, no pain, no discomfort, nothing. What was I so worried about???

quote:

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Originally posted by trish9999:
Athena, Don't worry too much about it. I wore invisalgin for a little over a year to fix a gap in my front teeth. I am now wearing retainers. I never really had any pain that some people describe on here. I would describe it more as a little soreness the first couple of days of each new tray. Some trays I never felt anything at all.
I am very happy with the results and would definitely do it all again.

I wonder if some people just try to make other people nervous about these things. I had to have a mammogram a couple of months ago and was so nervous because of what I heard other women say about the pain. OMG, it took 10 minutes, no pain, no discomfort, nothing. What was I so worried about???

I guess it is all individual experiences. Don't stress about it though. You will be fine.

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I just started my second set of aligners (14 for bottom and 6 for top).

I am happy with the way my upper teeth look (I really only got invisalign for my bottom teeth). Further, I didn't really like wearing the upper aligner and, consequently, I didn't wear the first set of uppers at all.

I saw my orthodontist today and she said that I could just wear the uppers at night for twice the amount of time (ie 4 weeks). My concern with doing this is that, from everthing I've read, this won't work and, most significantly, maybe this will affect my top teeth (eg will they be loose during the day or move unattractively?). In short, it seems a bit risky to wear the upper aligners part-time given that my top teeth are pretty straight.

Does anyone know if only wearing aligners at night can work (for a very small movement)? Or is there a chance it would get worse than it is now?

Any thoughts/experiences would be much appreciated!

I am completely satisfied with the results. I had a gap in between almost all my front teeth and they were protruding bcos I used to push my tongue against them out of habit. My ortho was even surpised with the results so that should tell you how jacked my teeth were.
Downside is that the trays created a gap in the back teeth and now they don't meet entirely. Make sure u see your Clincheck up front. I didn't and it was after coming to this Board that I even knew what that was. When I asked my ortho abt it I noticed that they number of trays I was initially given would not close all the gaps. I demanded more and now they all are closed. I don't know why he would do that after I told him what I expected from the treatment.

I wore them faithfully 20-21 hrs a day. I sometimes ate with them which I know i shouldn't have but I felt funny when I DIDN'T have them in my mouth. I think that's why I had to have a root canal done halfway through! lol I am much better abt keeping them and my teeth clean now. I also had bridge work done in between as well. I just cut off the back portion bcos it would no longer cover my teeth and it seems to be working fine. It wasn't doing anything back there anyway.

quote:

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Originally posted by brett1:
I got invisalign 3.19.09 & they put 5 buttons on my uppers. They're just little notches that the trays use to move your teeth around. Most people don't even notice I'm wearing the tray.

I was in and out of the office in 45 minutes after them attaching the buttons and I'm not sure what people are complaining about since the buttons are covered up by the trays & I'm supposed to wear them 23 hours a day for 30 days.

My lowers will go in during upper tray #7, but I only notice a slight discomfort all day the first couple days. On a scale of 1-10 I'd say it was a 1. Didn't hurt at all. It's not because I don't have perfect teeth either since I need 24 upper trays & 17 lowers.

You definitely can't eat with them in though or even chew gum. Keep them clean in simple too as I just brush them and rinse. For people who claim they're getting bad breath then that's their own fault. I just brush after every meal and brush my tray & rinse.

Cost was $4500 & my employment has decent dental insurance & I directed enough to my medical savings account as well via pre-tax income. I'm in the 25% tax bracket therefore it's reducing my income by the amount I must pay for the invisalign, so it's like getting a 25% off coupon!

My insurance said the $4500 was too much as well so they adjusted it to $3460 of which I was responsible for $1830 and insurance paid the rest. The $1830 I'm getting 25% off on, so it really only cost me $1372.50 taken out of my next 26 paychecks.

I was getting a slight discomfort if I took the tray out to eat after putting it back in, but if I leave it out for 2 hours it's more uncomfortable for longer. Frankly, I feel I'm ready for tray #2 which they already gave me. I'll post more on my blog here:

http://alignmyteeth.blogspot.com/

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quote:

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Originally posted by Relle:
[B][/B]

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I just read your message and felt some relief that someone already passed for what I am feeling.

I am at the 31/33 upper, and I am feeling exactly like you are descriving. The hypersensivity causes a intense sharping pain, beggining from the gum and expanding all over my frontal teeth when taking any drink, feeling any air or even talking for a while, until as you say, I shout my lips and wait for the relieving warm.
Did you overcome it? How? What should I do?
Theoretically, I have to change the ferrule in about 3 days, and the ideas scares me. Is the pain going to dissapear? Should I wait a bit longer before changing to the new ferrule?
Thanks a lot for your support!

quote:

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Originally posted by kimmybee99:
Looking for better prices......
I'm in the Baltimore, Md area and just got a quote for $6200 for a one year plan for "minor" corrections for my daughter. Does anyone in my local area or within an hour drive have an orthodontist with better pricing? I think the prices are inflated here in Howard County since last year I got two estimates for regular braces, one in Howard for $5000 and one is Baltimore county for $3500. Thanks.

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quote:

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Originally posted by ncjen:
My teeth are very crooked and crowded. I was just wondering if anyone could tell me if Invisalign will work for me or will I have to go with traditional ones??

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ncjen, I have very crooked crowded teeth and my ortho told me that invisalign would work for me. Its just going to take a little longer. He did put the option out there for ceramic braces but after reading up on them and the pros and cons and the pros and cons of invisalign i would rather go with the invisalign for many reasons. One of those reasons being I'm almost 27 and look about 18 so braces would just be one more thing making me look way under my age. But that of course wasn't the main reason for going the invisalign route.

I would call and make an appointment for a consult it is free so you wont be out any money and they will discuss with you what would be best.

I would look around on YouTube there are some vblogs and stuff on there and of course reading the personal experiences on the forums helps as well.

Mine ran me a little over 5000$ i paid in full and got a nice discount took a few 100 dollars off. I would recommend paying in full if you can if they offer this.

The first two days hurt quite a lot. I've had two set of metal braces when I was younger (I'm 25 now) and it's a fairly similar pain: constant dull ache. It has got better as the days passed but it's still very much "there" in my mouth! It's weird because although the trays look really small, they feel quite bulky in your mouth but I guess you get used to it.

I've found that I'm really thirsty all the time and the plastic seems to dry my mouth quite substantially. The trays just feel quite restrictive and I'm dying to just wrench them out - I only don't because I'm clearly a raving masochist and am too stuborn to give up! My speech is affected slightly and I'm having to concentrate really hard to speak clearly. I've pretty much got my phone on voicemail today at work! Nothing is that urgent that can't be said in an email I figure!!!

All of these things are completely normal and I know it will get better as each day goes by and the end result will be so worth it but there are times when I wonder why the hell I am paying through the nose for the discomfort!

I've discovered coffee drunk through a straw isn't that bad! Snacking is definitely reduced mainly because I can't be bothered to take the trays out, clean them, eat, clean my teeth then stick them back in again. Boring, but a plus for my waistline, I feel!! They aren't hugely noticeable other than the speech but I'm due to get two buttons on both top and bottom in two weeks time which I'm not looking forward to. I think these will make my treatment a lot more noticeable and I'm not entirely convinced they are required but then I am not a dentist.

I'm not completely happy but even after four days I can notice an improvement and so if I ever feel disheartened, I whip them off (the liners hehe) and take a look in the mirror.

quote:

---

Originally posted by Jeffrey L. Wissot, DDS:
Here are a couple of additional consideartions...

The most difficult task is remember to put them back in your mouth after eating, especially in a restaurant -- some patients forget & they get tossed out when the table is cleared.

You must also be patient: Treatment does take longer than conventional orthodontics.

---

My sister used to read this forum - approx. a year ago she got her Invisalign and now I will be going in tomorrow to get my first set of trays. I saw her go through it and how amazing it worked out for her, so now it's my turn!

Some background: I'm 24 years old. I had many orthodontic treatments when I was young. Palate expander, regular braces, retainers. As I've read through many of the pages of posts here, I see a lot of people get Invisalign due to being irresponsible with retainers at a young age. I was probably 12 or 13 when I got my final retainer after my braces came off. I wore it for a while and then basically just forgot about it. What I was left with was a straight smile but a nice big gap in between my two front teeth that I basically caused myself. Now? I'm paying for it - literally.

I've gotten so used to the gap that it didn't dawn on me to actually do anything about it until the past few years after I graduated college and got out into the "real world". I found myself becoming increasingly more self conscious with the gap in front of peers and people I did not know. I felt like people looked at me like "wow, she must not care about her teeth" when in reality I spent a good portion of my pre-teen and adolescent life with braces and retainers.

After my sister began her treatment, my dentist approached me about it and I said I wanted to see how she progressed before jumping in myself. When I saw her results, I was immediately on board. My sister has what I call "pageant teeth" now. Her smile is perfect. She also lost a significant amount of weight with them! So, I figured it'll be a great thing. I've been through orthodontic work before so I'm hoping it's easy for me.

I am getting this done through my regular dentist. I went for my full routine of impressions and pictures on Tuesday, April 7 and like I said, I will be getting my first trays tomorrow - Tuesday, May 12.

The cost for me is $3,500 with insurance "intending" to cover $1,000 so as of right now I am responsible for paying $156.25 a month for 16 months - which to me seems like an awesome price. If the insurance claim is denied, then I obviously would be responsible for the rest of the payment. But they seemed positive that it'll be approved.

I don't know how many trays I will have yet, I'm sure all of that will be laid out tomorrow. I was only told that my treatment would probably be anywhere from 10-14 months. My sister was told the same thing and she finished her's in 10 months. Now she only wears them at night and will be getting a few trays for refinements within the upcoming weeks.

My guess is that they must have given you by mistake what they call the "template" for the attachments. The templates look like aligners but are much thinner and flimsier, your ortho has you wear them in the office while they put the attachments on your teeth to ensure exact placement of the attachments. The templates have little holes (as opposed to bumps) where the attachments go. After you get the attachments put on, you get the real aligners to wear normally.

The templates come in plastic pouches just like regular aligners but they are supposed to be kept at the ortho's office. They must have confused them with a regular set of aligners. Read the plastic bag carefully, it should say the word "template" somewhere

quote:

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Originally posted by Miguel:
Terrie,

My guess is that they must have given you by mistake what they call the "template" for the attachments. The templates look like aligners but are much thinner and flimsier, your ortho has you wear them in the office while they put the attachments on your teeth to ensure exact placement of the attachments. The templates have little holes (as opposed to bumps) where the attachments go. After you get the attachments put on, you get the real aligners to wear normally.

The templates come in plastic pouches just like regular aligners but they are supposed to be kept at the ortho's office. They must have confused them with a regular set of aligners. Read the plastic bag carefully, it should say the word "template" somewhere

That's my guess anyway

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Any suggestions on dealing with the tongue irritation? Of just wait until my tongue gets used to the aligners??

I'm on day #2 of 15 lower aligners and 10 upper aligners.

Just wanted to say that I'm glad others here have experienced the same issues, because I was getting worried.

It is a PAIN to take off the lowers due to the bottom on my front lower tooth...but I have two buttons on either side on both upper and lower also.

I decided to skip lunch yesterday and today because it's such a pain so I'm just drinking water all day long...no snacking or sodas.

When they are off, the button on the front lower tooth also makes it hard to chew because normally my lower front teeth would fit behind my upper front teeth while chewing, but now the button prevents that so I have to chew differently.

Also my thumb fingernails are very soar from when trying to pry them off.

But I'm taking in all of your encouragement here...and keeping my thoughts focuses on the 3d animation that shows the teeth becoming perfectly straight....so hopefully that will get me through this!

I will probably try to get one of these picks that some have suggested for helping to remove the aligners because I'm not only worried about cracking/pulling out teeth when I remove them but I'm worried about prying off my fingernails!