Dental Forum

here's one of the websites I found of before and after pics:

http://www.locateadoc.com/gallery.cfm/Action/List/ProcedureID/269

(my teeth are very very similar to the first case, just that one tooth)

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Originally posted by BadBoy:
Apparenlty your doctor isn't aware that for the invisalign retainers, Align Technology usually makes them based on a previous aligner stage like the final aligners in the series, not from a new impression. Of course if you want months and your teeth shift during that time, the final aligners might not fit? You might save your final aligners and try them on once a week to see if your teeth move from that positition. The final aligners should last for several months and could be used instead of the lab retainers until the invisalign retainers are made. If they are made based on the final aligner stage (not new impressions) they come in very fast, only a week or two from the order.

The new invisalign retainer subscription service press release also states that they can be based on a prior invisalign case aligner state without needing new impressions, or for a non-invisalign patient with impressions.

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Originally posted by duhjessness:
Due to sheer boredom of having a couple days off work, I've been looking for before and after pictures of Invisalign pt's. There were a few cases in which the pt had similar teeth displacement as mine and what I found was awesome was that the before and after pics were taken 9mnths apart. Crooked to straight w/in 9 mnths..that's so awesome! Those pics gave me more reassurance that I did make the best decision in going w/ Invisalign after reading a lot of the horror stories found on the web stating that it didn't work for them.

here's one of the websites I found of before and after pics:

http://www.locateadoc.com/gallery.cfm/Action/List/ProcedureID/269

(my teeth are very very similar to the first case, just that one tooth)

I guess one very good and important tip for ppl looking into Invisalign is to make sure that you ARE a good candidate.

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I had similar fears before I started, so I'd like to reassure you:
Invisalign have taken good care of my problem, which was similar to the third case shown, only worse, I think, with one of the most front tooth ejected forward, and it was only getting worse over the years. Now, after only 6-7 months of treatment, the teeth are fairly straight and the final result look very natural the way I wanted it to. I supposed I could continue with refinements to get them very straight, but it's never been my goal. I am happy with the result visually-wise. Still have problem with teeth moving about, one and a half weeks after officially being done with all my trays. Hopefully this would be resolved in the coming weeks.

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Originally posted by jil:
I had similar fears before I started, so I'd like to reassure you:
Invisalign have taken good care of my problem, which was similar to the third case shown, only worse, I think, with one of the most front tooth ejected forward, and it was only getting worse over the years. Now, after only 6-7 months of treatment, the teeth are fairly straight and the final result look very natural the way I wanted it to. I supposed I could continue with refinements to get them very straight, but it's never been my goal. I am happy with the result visually-wise. Still have problem with teeth moving about, one and a half weeks after officially being done with all my trays. Hopefully this would be resolved in the coming weeks.

I don't think I will regret choosing invisalign. One thing I think I should have done differently was to make it absolutely clear I wanted just minimal changes for the lower teeth. They were crooked, but I had no problem with that. I understand they still had to be moved to match the changes done for the upper teeth and make chewing possible, but still I could have done without the changes in position to the very front ones.

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jil -
Thanx for that little boost. I hope I'm not being rude or nosy, but why would you want to have only done the top teeth if your bottoms are crowded as well? or were your bottoms fairly straight before Invisalign? Cuz I feel like I'm in the same boat. My bottoms really don't need any straightening, I'm just more concerned w/ the top. Also worried that, since I don't have my trays yet, that if I tell him so and they do adjustments to accommodate me, my bite will be way off. My faith is all up to my dentist/ortho (whatever he is) and I hope everything goes according to plan.

They will probably be more noticeable until the gap closes a little bit. I wouldn't worry about speach problems either. You will get use to them pretty fast and chances are slim you'll have any real problems. I'm sure your gap will start closing almost immediately with treatment and you'll see the benefits greatly out way the minor inconveniences.

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Originally posted by lilypad:
I had a 4.5 mm gap in my front teeth and from the beginning I thought my teeth looked alot better with the aligner in. The plastic sorta fills in the gap and makes it appear much less noticable! I had a small lisp for the first 3 days but once I got used to having the aligner in my mouth it quickly went away. Now, after 8 months, my teeth feel funny naked. LOL

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Originally posted by jason1990:
I should also mention that not only do I have a large gap, but my front teeth protrude quite a bit...my big concern is how noticeable they will be and the speech problems. Any input??

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Jason, I had a 2 mm gap (it's almost closed now that I'm more than 2/3 of the way done!), and my gaps looked a lot better with the aligners in than without. I'm not quite sure how that works, but maybe it's because of the way the clear plastic reflects light and makes the gaps look white as opposed to black.

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Originally posted by jason1990:
Skimboarder - Thanks for the input!! It is nice to hear from someone that was in the same situation as me....with the public speaking and all. I hope that the plastic also makes my gap look smaller as that is my main concern being self-conscious and all. As far as the speaking goes, I guess I will just hope I get lucky.

By the way, how many aligners have you worn? When did you see the gap begin to close?

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Originally posted by duhjessness:
jil -
Thanx for that little boost. I hope I'm not being rude or nosy, but why would you want to have only done the top teeth if your bottoms are crowded as well? or were your bottoms fairly straight before Invisalign? Cuz I feel like I'm in the same boat. My bottoms really don't need any straightening, I'm just more concerned w/ the top. Also worried that, since I don't have my trays yet, that if I tell him so and they do adjustments to accommodate me, my bite will be way off. My faith is all up to my dentist/ortho (whatever he is) and I hope everything goes according to plan.

p.s. I'm just glad I don't have to be in braces cuz how could I give up my sweets. IMPOSSIBLE, I tell you!

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No problem. The reason I didn't want my bottom teeth moved was that I don't have the need for perfect teeth, and had no problem with how they looked, though they were somewhat crooked. Obviously I'm quite alone with this opinion on this forum. I wouldn't have gone through with the braces, possibly damaging my teeth's health, if I hadn't felt that one particular teeth sticking out was beyond aesthetic looks already. It was not the case with the bottom teeth. Also the rest of my tops were already straight, which is why I think my treatment was relatively short, with only 10 trays for tops and 13 for bottoms.

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Originally posted by Baby4538:
Hi all (in particular Jason). I'm going tomorrow to have my first trays put on and I too have a gap and overbite. I'll let you know how it goes... I'm planning on posting some more pics of the "after" on my blog.

I'm nervous about seeing how it looks in pictures. And as a grad student I have to give weekly presentations as well. So it looks like the two of us are almost in the same boat! Hopefully the lisp won't be so bad!

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I look forward to hearing back from you Baby...let me know how it goes!!

Otherwise they look great. I had told a coworker about them and she inspected when they came in. My gap actually looks less pronounced than the black hole. I can bite down perfectly because of the tray, but it's not that noticeable when I smile.

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Originally posted by Baby4538:
So they've been in for about 40 minutes now. 33U/26L. There's definite pressure and I've already popped some Aleve. I'm having to adjust to the amount of saliva in my mouth -- so that's extra swallowing and it's fun when I talk because I have to swallow more. I'm coming up on lunch, so I think I'm going to attempt taking them out to eat.

Otherwise they look great. I had told a coworker about them and she inspected when they came in. My gap actually looks less pronounced than the black hole. I can bite down perfectly because of the tray, but it's not that noticeable when I smile.

I'll be posting pics later on my blog. So far so good....

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Sounds like things are going pretty good so far Baby!! Glad to hear the gap is less noticeable. How's the lisping? Where can I find your blog?

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Originally posted by jason1990:
Sounds like things are going pretty good so far Baby!! Glad to hear the gap is less noticeable. How's the lisping? Where can I find your blog?

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Hey... it's http://microilluzion.blogspot.com/

Sounds like you have the same situation I do. I didn't want perfect teeth, I just didn't want the first thing people see when the look at me be this darned upper front tooth sticking out at a 45 degree angle (no exaggeration). I learned how not to smile so instead people thought I was in a bad mood all the time.

I found an ortho who understood this and agreed to only do the top since my bottoms didn't bother me much. I am at 25/27 now and the results have been fantastic. My only problem now is learning how to smile again! But I do have to say, after going through this process, I wish I had gone ahead and had the bottoms done. I'm more aware of them now and now feel that "killing two birds with one stone" would have been a wise choice. Also, since my front teeth have changed position, I'm now hitting teeth
on the bottom that I may not have if they had been shifted as well.

So I feel as you do about the appearance of your teeth, but wish I had gone ahead and had the bottoms done as well.

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Originally posted by gettingitdoneat41:

Sounds like you have the same situation I do. I didn't want perfect teeth, I just didn't want the first thing people see when the look at me be this darned upper front tooth sticking out at a 45 degree angle (no exaggeration). I learned how not to smile so instead people thought I was in a bad mood all the time.

I found an ortho who understood this and agreed to only do the top since my bottoms didn't bother me much. I am at 25/27 now and the results have been fantastic. My only problem now is learning how to smile again! But I do have to say, after going through this process, I wish I had gone ahead and had the bottoms done. I'm more aware of them now and now feel that "killing two birds with one stone" would have been a wise choice. Also, since my front teeth have changed position, I'm now hitting teeth
on the bottom that I may not have if they had been shifted as well.

So I feel as you do about the appearance of your teeth, but wish I had gone ahead and had the bottoms done as well.

[/B]

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Hi.. it's good to hear from someone in similar situation. Mine hasn't been exactly 45 degrees, but not far from it. I suspect it was getting gradually worse because I don't remember it being as bad when I was younger. It didn't keep me from smiling, on the contrary, I always tried to smile widely or keep my mouth unsmiling, because otherwise I'd be 'smiling with one tooth'. All in all I was too aware of my smile, checking other people's teeth and comparing them to mine all the time. Now I just enjoy exposing my teeth, whenever they are not plasticed over. Still wonder how long it's going to take before I could do that throughout the day. I'm happy to hear you're almost there as well.

I don't like the artificial plasticy looks of perfect teeth. I don't know where you are from, but I think it's more to the Americans' liking. Of course I could be wrong about that. I know I wouldn't have had such strong opinion about how teeth should nor should not look if I hadn't had the problem with my teeth in the first place.

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Originally posted by jil:
[
I don't like the artificial plasticy looks of perfect teeth. I don't know where you are from, but I think it's more to the Americans' liking. Of course I could be wrong about that. I know I wouldn't have had such strong opinion about how teeth should nor should not look if I hadn't had the problem with my teeth in the first place.

.[/B]

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I'm originally from Canada, have lived in England, Scotland and now live in the US. How about you?

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Originally posted by BadBoy:
A good suggestion is to start a new tray set just before going to bed and take some pain medication then as needed. Then you can get a long period (12+ hours if possible) with the aligners in at first, that helps.
If you only wear a new aligner set for a few hours initially, you will have more pain when you take them out then.

The first couple days of a new aligner set are when the pressure/pain occurs, after that the teeth have moved and the aligners hold them in the place for the rest of the typical 2 week period, thats when the main pressure is off.

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Thanks Badboy! This seems like a great suggestion.

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Originally posted by Baby4538:
Thanks Badboy! This seems like a great suggestion.

My teeth HURT when I took the trays out today for lunch. They gradually got better (more loose?) as the day went on. OR I guess as I got used to them. I just took them about about 30 minutes ago to eat a quick bite, clean them, brush etc. and it wasn't so bad going back in. Still hurt, but less so. I think I'm going to take you up on your suggestion for future trays!

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Originally posted by gettingitdoneat41:
[B] I'm originally from Canada, have lived in England, Scotland and now live in the US. How about you?

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Originally posted by Baby4538:
Hey... it's http://microilluzion.blogspot.com/

I just updated it with my lunch story. I've learned that having them IN is better than having them OUT. I hope to have pictures up by tomorrow AM, because I won't be home to get my camera until late tonight. So far, so good. And the lisping isn't so bad... I notice more than others.

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Originally posted by jason1990:

Any updates or pictures Baby?

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It's updated!

I'll try to keep writing each day this week while the trays are new.

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Originally posted by lilypad:
I had a 4.5 mm gap in my front teeth and from the beginning I thought my teeth looked alot better with the aligner in. The plastic sorta fills in the gap and makes it appear much less noticable! I had a small lisp for the first 3 days but once I got used to having the aligner in my mouth it quickly went away. Now, after 8 months, my teeth feel funny naked. LOL

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