[Punkin]

Originally Posted by invisaligngirl85

hello everyone.. this is my first post on this forum.. im trying to get used to navigating on this one.. im not used to it yet... so forgive me if i have repeated any questions that i am sure, have been asked before..

these are the things i am mostly concerned about:

while doing research on this, ive found that people have lost alot of weight with invisalign.. this is something I do not want.. im already very thin as it is.. does anybody have any eating habit tips, so this won't happen? u think ensure will suffice in between meals? i heard that helps u maintain ur current weight, and then some.. does ensure work?

I haven't lost any weight since I started, what, like 5 months ago. Maintain a healthy diet and you should be fine

Second, since i know i eat alot, can i get away with eating soft foods and clear (but sugar flavored) drinks while they are in? If i clean my aligners and teeth right after, bacteria, cavaties, and stains shouldn't be a problem, right? that way i can eat longer, and not have to time my meals in intervals throughout the day.

Why do you have to leave the aligners out while eating? if it has nothing to do with the effectiveness of the aligners, then ill take that chance.. As long as its still doing its job, i think ill eat whatever i like, just as long as i clean my teeth right after....

Nope. At least not the eating part. You run the risk of breaking the aligner by eating with them in. You also shouldn't drink anything with them in.

If you are going to take them out to clean them right after you are going to eat with them in, you might as well take them out to eat. It's really not that big of a deal. The first few days with each set can be tough, especially if you have a lot of attachments, but I've found that, with each successive set (I'm on 10 right now), there are less problems.

I take mine out for breakfast (usually about 1/2 hour), lunch (which is typically and hour), dinner (again, an hour), and then a snack at night (half hour or so). I will sometimes pop them off for a quick snack during the day as well. If I'm not able to brush my teeth right away, I was told to rinse my mouth with water and then pop them back in. I've done that as well. If I'm going out to eat, I will either pop them out before we leave, or after we order, I'll go to the ladies room and pop them out. If we are going straight home, I'll wait until we get home to put them back in. If we aren't, I'll drink some water, and pop them back in in the car.

how frequently do you throughly clean your aligners? and with what do you clean them with? any tips?

I thoroughly clean them 2 or 3 times a day - morning, noon and night. The rest of the time, I usually just brush my teeth, maybe brush them, but usually just rinse them out.

I use a small toothbrush (infant size) and toothpaste (gels work better than pastes). Sometimes I will also soak them in listerine.

another worry is when i have to shave my teeth down.. how much do they usually shave off? i worry if i become lazy in the future with retaining my teeth, that i will have spaces where there was none before.. my bottom teeth have to be shaved, and they are already perfect.. i just need to move my bottom row, in order for the top row to move in place properly... the top row won't need any shavings, but the bottoms will... are the spaces really big? anybody have pictures of how much space will be left in between the teeth?

Can't comment.

how do u know when to change the aligners? even though they say two weeks, i worry about the infamous root resorption, that ive heard can happen... i want to make sure i am not changing them too frequently.. i was thinking that i might move my aligners a couple days after two weeks, just to be on the safe side.. if i do this, will this cause any problems, other than delaying the process?

Your orthodontist will tell you when to change them. it should be a minimum of 2 weeks, but maybe 3 weeks. I've had to leave a few of mine in for three weeks, and I can kind of tell if they are too tight when it's time to change, I'll leave them in a bit longer. I don't think there will be an issue with leaving them in for a few more days, but it might not be necessary. I would ask your ortho about this (he/she may want you to leave them in for three weeks); and I also think that as time goes on, you'll be able to tell yourself if they need to stay in longer.

any easy tricks to move the aligners, with minimum pain?

Honestly, only the first few days are painful. I find motrin helps, but it doesn't help with the initial "ouch" when you snap them on which you sometimes get the first few days - again depending on what teeth need to be moved, and how bad they are.

I find keeping a paper towel handy is useful, as dry hands get them out the easiest. I also found that I drooled quite a bit when I first had them in and had to get them out. LOL Not a pretty sight. practice at your ortho's office, so you can ask any questions.

They gave me a hooky thing, but it didn't really help me. I've got some teeth that stick out pretty far (my canines), so I usually start at one end (the molars), pop that off, and work my way around, pulling them away from the front of the teeth using my finger nail.

okay i think thats all for now.. im sure ill come up with some more questions, as more come to mind...

i appreciate the help.. TIA

Hope that helps. It's understandable to have concerns; and if you're like me, as soon as you get them on, you'll think you've made the biggest mistake of my life, but it does get better. I've had mine on since February of this year, I can see spaces between my teeth, and the locations where the teeth were extracted are getting smaller.

Just maintain good oral hygiene (brush, floss regularly), and follow your ortho's instructions, and you'll be good to go.