http://www.bracesreview.com/forums/blogs/anijh/ Adult Teeth Braces Forums Discussing Dental Braces, Invisalign, Ibraces, Teeth Whitening, TMJ, and More! en Sun, 12 Feb 2012 16:01:13 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.bracesreview.com/forums/images/misc/rss.jpg http://www.bracesreview.com/forums/blogs/anijh/ http://www.bracesreview.com/forums/blogs/anijh/tray-3-attachments-704/ Sat, 05 Sep 2009 19:32:47 GMT It's been a little over 3 weeks since my last post but I had to push my ortho appointment back because of my schedule. I learned that wearing the same tray for three weeks is not fun. I'm so glad to have a new one.

Today was the start of tray 3. I went to the ortho and had some attachments/buttons put on. It was the longest visit yet but it was to be expected. I have 13 attachments (8 on top, 5 on the bottom). I was so shocked by this number, I was expecting more like four or five LOL.

They don't look too bad. Sure, they're not invisible but they're not incredibly huge either. The only thing I can find to dislike about them are their placements. I have them all along my front teeth. Not the most desirable placement but I think I'm going to survive it. They sorta look like ceramics without the wire. The bubble on the Invisalign tray is what make them look crazy IMO.

Here are some photos with tray 3 and the attachments. ]]> anijh http://www.bracesreview.com/forums/blogs/anijh/tray-3-attachments-704/ http://www.bracesreview.com/forums/blogs/anijh/tray-2-652/ Thu, 13 Aug 2009 15:05:52 GMT I just started week 3 (tray 2) a few minutes ago. I wasn't at the orthodontist's office long, maybe 10-15 minutes total. The ortho didn't do much other than insert tray 2 in my mouth and prepare me for the next visit (a short talk on what to expect). I'm getting attachments next time so it won't be a zip in and zip out appointment. He estimated an hour.

As for this new tray, #2 is tighter than I remember tray 1 being. My mouth doesn't hurt too bad but I do feel a headache coming on. I survived tray 1 without having to take any pain pills but I don't see that happening this time. I think a tylenol is on order. :(

Other than that everything is going well. My aligners are staying pretty clear and there's no stench. :thumb: ]]> anijh http://www.bracesreview.com/forums/blogs/anijh/tray-2-652/ http://www.bracesreview.com/forums/blogs/anijh/first-hour-invisalign-treatment-631/ Wed, 29 Jul 2009 15:37:02 GMT It's been an hour since I visited the orthodontist to pick up my first set of trays. So far, so good. I feel no pain on my teeth, just a little pressure.

The appointment went pretty smoothly. The orthodontist put them on my teeth and then left me alone to read the Invisalign manual and to go through the starter kit.

I received the Invisalign cases (red and blue), a blue travel toothbrush (very nice), and some travel toothpaste. Not the best swag bag, but not the worst either. I'm happy.

I have 12 aligner trays each for upper and lower teeth. The orthodontist is only starting me out with one set, which means I have to go back in 2 weeks. I was so hoping to bring another set home. LOL

After going through the starter kit and letting the trays warm up in my mouth, one of the staff assistants came over to answer questions and to teach me how to insert/remove the trays. Easy peasy. This forum along with youtube has taught me well. :clapping:

I will receive attachments/buttons on the third tray so I have four weeks to snap these babies (this set and the next) on/off before the real struggle comes in.

The orthodontist didn't mention anything about IPR but I saw on the Invisalign box that it's included in my treatment. :( I'll blog about it if/when it happens.

Here are some photos of my smile with/without Invisalign. I took them on my computer this morning but I'm going to ask for a copy of the dentist photos on the next visit so you can get a better look.

The first two are me without the Invisalign. The others are with my trays on. The space in between my upper and lower teeth appears larger with the trays in my mouth.

ETA: I have a teeth cleaning scheduled for later this afternoon so I promise I'll have brighter teeth next time. :D ]]> anijh http://www.bracesreview.com/forums/blogs/anijh/first-hour-invisalign-treatment-631/ http://www.bracesreview.com/forums/blogs/anijh/i-have-start-date-620/ Thu, 23 Jul 2009 17:30:26 GMT Hey All,

Just received a call from my orthodontist that my Invisalign aligners are in. I have an appointment for Wednesday morning. I'm so excited to start. :party: ]]> anijh http://www.bracesreview.com/forums/blogs/anijh/i-have-start-date-620/ http://www.bracesreview.com/forums/blogs/anijh/its-official-choice-587/ Sat, 20 Jun 2009 16:29:09 GMT ... Invisalign. :D

It's been a little over three hours since I left the orthodontist office with that decision made. I visited the ortho today to discuss the records he did on my teeth last week and to make the final decision on which type of braces I would wear for the next year or so. It came down to ceramic braces and Invisalign. I chose the aligners.

After making that decision, I was supposed to set up another appointment with his office to do impressions but I instead completed them today. He wanted me to come into the office for a visit next week but with my schedule for the next few weeks booked, I told him I would have to wait until mid-July to do the impressions. He then offered to do them today if I could be a little patient with him since there were others in the office. Of course he warned that there was no rush if I really wanted to wait until next month to complete them.

He thought it might be a good idea to have them done today if I couldn't come back until later next month because it takes about a month for the aligners to be made. It ended up being the perfect suggestion because instead of having to wait a month to do the impressions and then waiting another month for the aligners to be made, I can just go on with my life as planned and then visit him later when the aligners are in. It's almost like having no wait time since my schedule for the next 4 weeks is full with no room to visit him. :thumb:

I'm so excited. :) ]]> anijh http://www.bracesreview.com/forums/blogs/anijh/its-official-choice-587/ http://www.bracesreview.com/forums/blogs/anijh/invisalign-consultation-578/ Sun, 14 Jun 2009 14:50:09 GMT Hello Everyone,

Welcome to my first blog post! I thought I'd write about my first visit to an orthodontist in over 10 years. Two days ago, I visited with a local orthodontics office to discuss my teeth and possible Invisalign treatment. It went really well, the doctor and his staff were very nice and professional. For the first few minutes of the visit, the orthodontist made small talk with me about his practice, his experience as an Invisalign provider (premier) and college life (he taught for 27 years at the university I recently graduated from).

After the intro/small talk, he examined my teeth and proceeded to rattle off a couple of things to his assistant about what he saw. He could tell I had orthodontia work before without me mentioning it to him so I took it as a good sign that my previous orthodontist had done some decent work on my smile and that my case wouldn't be too bad.

After examining my teeth, he discussed with me my options for braces. He thought I would be a good fit for Invisalign but he also talked to me about metal and ceramic braces. He thought ceramic or Invisalign would be ideal since I'm not too keen on the metal look. He said I would probably be wearing braces (any of the three mentioned above) for a year and that the prices for Invisalign and ceramic braces were roughly the same ~$4700.

He shared with me that Invisalign had something called an Invisalign Express plan that the company sometimes like to recommend for patients like me but that he wasn't a fan of the Express. He think it's second-rate and said that if I were to choose to proceed with Invisalign, he would go with the full plan.

After discussing Invisalign and the other options, I was able to have a Q&A session with him and we discussed my slight tongue thrust where I like to rest my tongue against my two fronts. He said tongue thrusts are usually a sign of allergies or a blockage of the airways but that sometimes it can be due to a bad habit. I don't have any allergies so I guess I have a bad habit. LOL It wasn't all terrible news with the tongue thrust though because I haven't pushed my teeth out much. :)

After Q&A, he let me know the Invisalign consultation was completed and that I was free to leave with no charge but if I wanted to do the next step of completing medical records stuff, i.e. x-rays, pictures, impressions, etc. that there would be a charge for that. I wasn't prepared to get all these things done on Friday but I liked the doctor and his assistants so I went for it. They spent a lot of time answering my questions, made me laugh more than a few times, and provided me with a reasonable price (from what I've read online). Awesome customer service goes a long way with me.

I haven't yet committed to Invisalign or ceramic braces but I'm pretty sure that if I do proceed I will be going with this office. I have another appointment with him in 6 days to discuss my medical records (x-rays and impressions) and more on what I want to do. :thumb: ]]> anijh http://www.bracesreview.com/forums/blogs/anijh/invisalign-consultation-578/