Should I wait till after my vacation?

[Norwegian_girl]

I am going to have my first consultation for Invisalign May 3 and hope I can fix my teeth with invisalign, but I have heard that maybe it's not so easy to drink and eat everywhere so maybe I should wait to after my vacation in Budapest in july to start the treatment? I will go out to eat everyday and have alot of drinks and ice cream, that might be difficult or what?... I want to start as soon as possible, but I also want to use them as much as possible to get the best results...

[Sunny]

Hi and welcome to this forum!

When you have your aligners in, you should only drink water ... don't drink anything else or eat with the aligners in, as your risk permanent damage to the enamel of your teeth.

Waiting till after your vacation sounds like a great idea, as then you can put your energy into adjusting to your orthodontic treatment, after a great break!

Good luck!

[Norwegian_girl]

Thanks

I guess I just have to be patient and wait, I am really looking forward to the treatment, I don't care how much it hurts as loong as my wallet can take it

My ortho told me it would be around 4300 dollars, but I don't know if I should only take my upper teeth or both...

[Phantom Muse]

Norwegian Girl,

Welcome! You may find that the biggest difficulty with Invisalign is the lifestyle adjustment. It is necessary to wear the aligners 22 hours per day (some orthos are fine with 20 hours). To maintain that schedule can be a bit of a challenge at times - especially when you like to eat out. That being said, if you get your aligners a month or more in advance of your vacation, you will probably have made the adjustment (it took me 2 weeks to "forget" about them and another 2 weeks to develop the confidence to brush whenever I needed and deal with the aligners in public).

I guess it really just depends on your comfort level. I wanted to get started, so I did, and as time had passed, there was really only one long weekend where I felt inconvenienced. I have traveled quite a bit since, and I just make the time to take care of things. For me, I'd rather be done with this all sooner rather than later! However, if you are not getting the aligners until a few weeks before your holiday, I'd wait. Looking back, I would not want to deal with the "newness" of it all while taking such a big trip. I'll still be wearing my trays when we head to Japan for a gig/vacation, so I think at some point, for most of us, there's no avoiding the inconvenience of Invisalign and some sort of travel - but since it is all second nature now, I am not too worried.

Good luck, and keep us posted!

P.S. I have found Invisalign to be only mildly painful at times - really only two trays of 8, so far, would I describe as painful. That pain only lasted a few hours, so it's not so bad!

[Norwegian_girl]

Today I had my consultation and they were so positive and helpful But they also told me I had to take out my visdom teeht, so I took one of them out today. I will be back in two weeks for my other tooth and to take pictures and everything so we can send it to the USA and get to see it on the computer, I am so exited!!

[Norwegian_girl]

Now all my visdom teeth are out and I have sent the pictures and gotten to see the results on the computer It looks really good and I only need 14 uppers and 12 downers(Is it called that?) Now I just have to wait...My ortho said that I should not wait till after my vacation because my teeth move all the time so I sholud start the treatment soon, but maybe I could wear them only at night the one week I am in Budapest...

[Phantom Muse]

14U and 12L is a short "sentence," Norwegian Girl! Good for you!

Yes, your teeth do move throughout your life, but waiting a few weeks is not going to make a big difference, in my opinion. My ortho thought I could wait a year or two to begin treatment and I'd still be in the same place as I was when I began treatment in January. Either way, your first tray will shift your teeth where they need to be. I suspect waiting too long between impressions and starting the first tray could make for a tough fit, but a few weeks? I don't know...

If you go ahead and start, you really will need to wear the aligners 20-22 hours a day or you will be fighting discomfort and ill-fitting trays. That being said, once you are used to wearing the aligners, you'll often forget about them. However, every time you eat, you will think about them, and there are no two ways about it - they are inconvenient.

I guess you have to way the pros and cons of either decision. Once you get started, you'll be so pleased to see progress!