Dental Forum

quote:

---

Originally posted by animalperson247:
...does any1 know if the first few days of the trays hurt a ton? thanks!
~Sophie

---

Hey Sophie,

I can't speak for everyone, but in my experience, the pain can vary from tray to tray. Some are just mildly annoying, while others have kept me from sleeping (fortunately, there haven't been too many of those!). The pain goes away by the third day usually. Take lots of pain meds, and you should be fine. Good luck with your treatment!

How is it going for you now? Have been checking in on your blog - will you be able to post any updated pics soon? Last time you did, the results were very good! How close are you to finishing your plan?

quote:

---

Originally posted by AnneC:
Hey Christine ---
How is it going for you now? Have been checking in on your blog - will you be able to post any updated pics soon? Last time you did, the results were very good! How close are you to finishing your plan?

---

Thanks for the compliment. I need to get new batteries for my digital camera. Once I do, I'll post new pics.

As far as finishing my plan, I have no idea when I'm going to be 'free'. I was told that I'd be done "in about a year." It's been a little over a year now. Based on the current state of my teeth, I think I have another 6 months to go. sigh. Oh well.

PROS: Before I began my treatment, I read numerous posts about trays cracking, but I have not experienced this, and I am on Tray# 5. It appears that OrthoClear has listened to the complaints of patients and responded accordingly by using a stronger material for the trays to help avoid cracks/tears.

I had also read numerous posts about delays in receiving trays. I have not had any delays thus far.

From what I understand, OrthoClear is less expensive than Invisalign.

With OrthoClear, the orthodontist is able to make mid-treatment changes if necessary.

CONS: The thing I have been most disappointed with is the visibility of the "buttons" (a.k.a. "attachments"), since I have them on two of my FRONT teeth. From what I understand about Invisalign, because the "windows" are closed, the buttons are less visible, since they are hidden underneath the trays. With OrthoClear, the buttons actually poke through holes in the trays.

I have also been disappointed with the trays not fitting closely to my teeth. The extra space above and below the front teeth makes the trays a lot more obvious.

Though, the OrthoClear trays ARE very clear (supposedly more so than Invisalign because of the lack of "ridges"), in my opinion, the buttons on the front teeth as well as the spaces above/below the teeth take away from the biggest selling point - the "invisiblity" - of the trays. I know I would have been much more pleased with my treatment if I didn't have the obvious buttons on my front teeth. You may not need them, so this may not be an issue for you. However, if you do need them, you might want to consider Invisalign rather than OrthoClear.

Hope this helps you, and I hope your treatment goes well.

quote:

---

Originally posted by Matt:
Hi everyone. I've been doing some research into Invisalign and am trying to get a sense of what actual customers think about Invisalign vs. Orthoclear. I've been reading some of the postings from this page, but there are a ton to go through. I was wondering if any of you who have been posting since the beginning may be able to comment on general trends you may have noticed between Invisalign and Orthoclear patients, whether they relate to improvement (or lack thereof) in products or customer satisfaction over time, pricing, ortho sentiment towards the products over time.. Anything you can offer would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!

---

The last pics you posted some time ago appeared pretty amazing. I don't think I'd like that very much at all, not knowing approximately the end of my treatment - at least the actual movement part. How much more time does your doc think will be needed - will he give you a clearer estimate?

Looking forward to some updated pics when you can manage them. Must say you've got a beautiful smile even with those last ones you posted!

Hang in - it'll all be well worth the wait.
Anne

I hear your frustration with the ill fitting buttons, but am wondering how your tooth movement is coming along in spite of that problem?

As far as I can tell by the pics on your blog, they seem to have shifted favourably so far. Does your ortho think the movements are happening as they should?

I did notice that in one of your most recent pics, it appeared your lower tray had a crack in it over the lower left cuspid - just an optical illusion from the reflected light or an air bubble maybe?

Must say your smile is enviable even as it is now - hope your problems get solved soon with subsequent trays!

Regards,
Anne

/ubb/Forum11/HTML/000836.html

AnneC provides us with tons of excellent information. As always, thanks AnnC!

quote:

---

Originally posted by Matt:
Hi everyone. I've been doing some research into Invisalign and am trying to get a sense of what actual customers think about Invisalign vs. Orthoclear. I've been reading some of the postings from this page, but there are a ton to go through. I was wondering if any of you who have been posting since the beginning may be able to comment on general trends you may have noticed between Invisalign and Orthoclear patients, whether they relate to improvement (or lack thereof) in products or customer satisfaction over time, pricing, ortho sentiment towards the products over time.. Anything you can offer would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by AnneC:
Uh oh - what makes you think you've got that much more left to be changed yet, Christine?

How much more time does your doc think will be needed - will he give you a clearer estimate?

---

Hey Anne,

Well, this is absolutely going to take longer than I'd hoped. I went in for trays 18/19 this morning. I put on my upper tray, and it was in for about a minute. Then,"pop!", it split right in my mouth. The split in the aligner was in front, along one of my canine teeth. Several ortho assistants came over to view the 'curiosity' that is my cracked aligner. I can't tell you how disappointed I am.

My ortho told me that it would take another 3 weeks to get a replacement. Arrgh!! Since this is OrthoClear's defect, I believe that OC should be making every effort to get me the replacement within a week. Boo OrthoClear! Get your act together!

I'm wearing the new aligners on the bottom only (at least they didn't crack apart), and the old ones are still on the top.

Regarding your question about a crack in my most recent pic...there aren't any cracks, and thankfully, there haven't been any thus far. What you are seeing is saliva underneath the tray. Not pretty, I know.

You mentioned that my teeth have moved favorably...I'm not sure of exactly what you've noticed. Since I am a former braces wearer, I realize that there won't be any really DRASTIC changes to my smile. Of course, I am EAGERLY awaiting differences in the front teeth (crowding and vertical alignment). What I understand from reading other posts is that the back teeth are moved first to make room for the adjustments of the front teeth, which seems to be what is happening with my treatment. I have noticed more space in the back when I floss, and I have noticed VERY subtle differences in the front teeth when I compare side-by-side pictures.
During my numerous visits to the ortho, I have asked LOTS of questions, and I've voiced my concerns OVER AND OVER about the buttons. He and his assistant don't appear to be worried at all about my stubborn teeth as they call them. He hasn't made any comments to suggest that my teeth aren't moving according to plan, but since I know that it is not uncommon for patients to have to follow their clear aligner treatment with braces, I am always concerned about possible delays in treatment, and of course, extra expense. As seems to be the case with many patients who have posted to this message board, my ortho doesn't say a whole lot while I'm in the chair, which makes ME feel very awkward about doing all the talking/questioning. I fully realize that it is my right as a patient to ask questions, but still, I just wish my ortho/assistant would INITIATE explaining more of the process so I wouldn't have to ask! At times, I feel like they are avoiding a lot of the explaining in order to get me out of the chair so that they can move on to the next patient. While I value them trying to stay on schedule, its not a good feeling to sense that you are a fly in their ointment because you actually want to know what to expect with your treatment. I just wish that more doctors would realize that they may fully understand what is going on, but they should not automatically assume that their patients do.

When I got my first set of trays, I asked to see my OrthoView animation, which the ortho showed me once. I have since asked whether the animation could be e-mailed to me, or maybe put on some type of removable media so that I could take more time to look at what each tray will accomplish, but I haven't gotten a response. The ortho's assistant said that she would ask their "computer guy" about doing this...that was several weeks ago, and I've heard nothing since. Have any of you OrthoClear wearers been able to obtain your OrthoView animation on removable media and/or via e-mail? If so, will you let me know? Thanks a bunch.

quote:

---

Originally posted by AnneC:
MusicLover ---

I hear your frustration with the ill fitting buttons, but am wondering how your tooth movement is coming along in spite of that problem?

As far as I can tell by the pics on your blog, they seem to have shifted favourably so far. Does your ortho think the movements are happening as they should?

I did notice that in one of your most recent pics, it appeared your lower tray had a crack in it over the lower left cuspid - just an optical illusion from the reflected light or an air bubble maybe?

Must say your smile is enviable even as it is now - hope your problems get solved soon with subsequent trays!

Regards,
Anne

---

I'm in metro NYC and my ortho is one of the top 20 providers of Invisalign/Orthoclear, so I always feel rushed and never totally satisfied with the time spent as there are always five more people in line behind me.

I'm on the end of my fourth set of trays and I've asked for for my animation for months (!) and still get the brush off.

Sorry - seems I missed replying to you. I meant that just by viewing your last blog photos, it looked to me that your upper laterals had straightened out somewhat. But what I'm seeing in that full front on view is not as accurate as what you are able to see in real life. I guess it's just that you have such beautiful teeth already, that the subtle front on change will be difficult to see in photos

Regarding you feeling like your questions are not being answered as you'd like or that you feel rushed during appointments, here's a suggestion: compose a short, to the point, e-mail to your ortho's office (or even a handwritten note may get it's due attention). Voice your concerns without sounding negative - just make them aware of how you honestly feel. See if that gets you any satisfaction. Your ortho no doubt genuinely cares about your concerns, but needs to have them spelled out clearly to better address them.

Tomorrow's my next checkup - am getting my question list ready tonight. Last time I e-mailed a coupla questions regarding my Invisalign, my hygienest (sp?) wrote back: "Questions are always welcome...remember, we're learning right along with you!"

OK - plan to tell her (with a wink) that is NOT what she's to be saying out loud. Us patients don't wanna be hearing THAT!
Anne

(& thank you Betsy, for the cheerleading -
seems I missed that too)

Oh noooooooooooo!
Can't imagine how frustrated you must feel!

Any indication you'll get a replacement any sooner than 3 weeks yet? Do keep us posted...

quote:

---

Originally posted by AnneC:
Any indication you'll get a replacement any sooner than 3 weeks yet? Do keep us posted...

---

Good news! OC sent my replacement aligner in 10 days instead of 21. Yay! So my treatment has only been slowed down by a week and a half. I need to get a button reattached, so that means another visit to the ortho in about 2 weeks.(they had to order my template for the buttons)

The bad news is that this new aligner is making my teeth ache pretty badly. At least I know that it's working.

http://myorthoclear.blogspot.com

I think I'm the longest running OC patient on this board. 18 aligners and counting...

quote:

---

Originally posted by Christine:
New pics of my progress are up on my blog:

http://myorthoclear.blogspot.com

I think I'm the longest running OC patient on this board. 18 aligners and counting...

Arrgh!!

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by MusicLover:
I only hope that my results are as good as yours...I haven't seen the changes that I want to see yet. I am just wondering how many months I'll REALLY have to wear these things. I'm so ready to be done!!

---

Hey MusicLover,

I hear ya! Do you have any new pics for your blog? Your teeth already look great!

I hope to have new pictures posted by tomorrow. I started Tray 6 a few days ago.

quote:

---

Originally posted by Christine:
Hey MusicLover,

I hear ya! Do you have any new pics for your blog? Your teeth already look great!

I'm totally jealous that you're only expected to be in treatment for 6 months. Or so they say. I'm beginning to think that OC is just telling us what we want to hear... and then in reality they tack on an extra 6 months. Kinda like how things go when you do a remodeling project on the house. Heh, heh, heh... This is all really like remodeling, isn't it?

---

As a result, effective immediately Orthoclear is ceasing the import of aligners into the US. For their end of the settlement, Align will pay Orthoclear $20 million for the intellectual property right and will also offer Orthoclear patients the option of finishing their treatment with Invisalign at no charge.

What a pain though going through all the fitment stages again. Not to mention grinding down of old buttons and attacment of new buttons.

Orthoclear is going out of business and Invisalign has offered to provide Invisalign treatment free of charge to Orthoclear patients and dentists/orthos IF the dentist/ortho agrees not to charge the patients.

http://investor.aligntech.com/ReleaseDetail.cfm?ReleaseID=212476&

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/061016/nym074.html?.v=54

quote:

---

Originally posted by megwatt:
Invisalign purchased ortho clear and everyone will need new impressions to send to invisalign for new aligners.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Betsy:
Invisalign did NOT purchase Orthoclear. Invisalign is only purchasing Intellectual property rights.

Orthoclear is going out of business and Invisalign has offered to provide Invisalign treatment free of charge to Orthoclear patients and dentists/orthos IF the dentist/ortho agrees not to charge the patients.

http://investor.aligntech.com/ReleaseDetail.cfm?ReleaseID=212476&

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/061016/nym074.html?.v=54

---

I feel your pain. As far as I can tell, my OC case has not even been submitted to Invisilign yet. This despite two impressions having been taken: One back in early October and one last Monday. I am supposed to go back tonight to meet the Ortho. I am not sure what he is planning for this visit.

My Ortho is so incompetent and pre-occupied with a huge number of adolescent cases (he has got four different offices!),they have not given any thought on how to transition my case. It's pretty much a disaster.

I just wish I hadn't paid in advance ($7,500) so that I could just walk away from this situation and start anew somewhere else.

http://mitchellconsulting.net/commonsense/?page_id=2363

Apparently, there are 2 other companies offering aligner treatment, so Align certainly does hold a monopoly on this type of product - the first being Ormco as a way of expediting the completion of your OC plan:

http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/10-25-2006/0004459667&EDATE=

And NuBrace:

http://www.nubrace.com/

Best to do your homework - sometimes you can be even better informed than your doctor it seems...

I'm going to post this in another thread so it's easy to find. Interesting reading for all, anyway.
Anne

quote:

---

"Apparently, there are 2 other companies offering aligner treatment, so Align certainly does NOT hold a monopoly on this type of product..."

---

Try the deal I'm getting out with your ortho. The worst is that he'll say no. Good luck.

I'm "AnneC" & have been an Invisaligner since the beginning of my treatment.