I'm not understanding...

[locksbylace]

I'm on my invisalign trays number 5. My top teeth have 12 total trays and my bottoms have 8 total trays. I've been wearing them like I should but don't feel like I'm seeing much improvement. My teeth hurt like they are moving and my orthodontist doesn't seem like there's a problem in that way. So that's really not the problem I'm concerned about right now.

My top two front teeth have always been a little off. Not horribly, but enough to bother me. It's like there's not room for one to come completely down so the other one is just slightly crooked and just slightly shorter.

My orthodontist wants to try and pull it down with rubber bands. I wasn't told about the "buttons" until after my trays were ordered and received and now there's rubber bands? I'm starting to feel like this whole invisible part is a myth!

Anyways, I'm not understanding. I've seen rubber bands on traditional braces...but never the invisaligns. And when I've seen the bands on traditional braces they've been on the sides...never in the middle. I don't understand how I'm supposed to function. If my mouth is constricted with rubber bands in the front how am I supposed to talk?

Has anyone had this done? If so how many weeks did the rubber bands last for you? Can anyone explain it better than my orthodontist did?

[Phantom Muse]

I haven't had elastics, but my two front teeth are also just slightly different in length. After the next two trays (when my uppers will be "done"), I suspect I will better be able to evaluate the final appearance. If these two trays (or a few refinement trays) do not take care of that difference in length, I am not going to worry about it. Like a lot of things in my mouth, I doubt anyone else notices what is going on, and it is not so bad that it bothers me.

Have you discussed other options with your ortho? Is the difference in tooth length really that noticeable or bothersome to you? When the teeth are aligned properly, it may not be so noticeable. Would the ortho be willing to wait until you are finished with your initial sets of trays to see how necessary the elastics are for you? Maybe if they are still needed, they can be used during refinements. However, if you don't have to wear them for more than a few weeks, maybe that won't be so bad. {I am thinking out loud here!).

Hopefully someone with actual experience can chime in and give you more information.

Good luck!

[Brace Face]

Hiya. I have traditional braces but I imagine, when it comes to elastics, they work in a similar way to the Invisalign ones. I had one elastic band across the front of my mouth for 3 months. It was to adjust my midline. My ortho ran my elastic along my bottom teeth first (ie. from one canine across to the other) and then it went up and hooked onto my upper canine. It meant that the elastic crossed my mouth slightly more to the side which I found much easier and more discreet. Perhaps you can have an extra button put on to run your elastic across the bottom first also? I'm no expert, especially with Invisalign, but this might be something that's possible for you to do.

I agree...there's nothing much 'invisible' about these braces by the time they've added allsorts, no matter what type you have!

Good luck.

[Sunny]

Elastics are becoming more common with invisalign as the providers become better trained and take on more challenging cases.

If you want to succeed with your treatment, you will succeed with this elastic. It can take a few days to adjust to having elastics in your mouth, but if you wear them as instructed, you may not have to do it for long. It's important to keep your mouth well hydrated by drinking plenty of water and that helps your mouth to move.

I have five elastics in my mouth now and I can still talk and work with people the same as I did when I had none.

Good luck with your treatment!

[locksbylace]

I went today and had elastics put on 3 teeth. I'm slightly upset and nervous about them. They hurt horribly band and are a bit of a pain to deal with. Not really a big deal if I don't have to wear them long. I'll be pretty upset with treatment if I have to wear them for the rest of treatment though.

My ortho said it's rare to see teeth trying to slip back up like mine are doing. He said since my other teeth are shifting those teeth feel like they don't have room. I think this is funny since my teeth aren't super crowded by any means. Good news is I go back in a week to see where to take it from here. So maybe there's hope that this is just a short treatment? Bad news is I have big photo events in 2 weeks...so if these big attachments don't come off next week I'll be crushed. I feel like I'll be crushed...

I'm not sure if I regret my choice to do invisalign or not. I'm disappointed with all the attachments. I feel like people are always wondering what they are and thinking I have food stuck in my teeth or something. If I knew they would have been so noticeable I think I would have just went with regular braces...that way others that are looking at me know what's really going on and I wouldn't be so self conscious. However, if I would have went with regular braces that would have tacked on another 10 months of treatment!

[rocadental]

Elastics are used with invisalign when traditional invisalign isnt enough. Sometimes it is hard for invisalign to "pull" a tooth out of the tooth down/up so rubber bands help with this movement. Rubber bands an help shave off months of extra retainers
Any question about invisalign please send me an email

Dr. Roca