impressions this week! :/ ...

[little miss sunshine]

Ok soo im really excited to be getting closer to the journey to have straight teeth. I get my impressions done this thursday slightly nervous but mainly excited.

What are peoples experiences with the impressions process, I know its probably not the most pleasant thing having putty stuffed in your mouth but what exactly happens?

!

I have started a blog at The Invisible Diary obviously just before pictures at the moment though

[Noaa]

I have to say they weren't my favorite part of the treatment! They're more annoying then anything else since you have to sit there for a couple minutes with each mold. I had a tough time when they took my upper impression 'cause the putty started running down my throat and I kept gagging.....not pleasant. Other then that, it's done before you know it!

[MCOMarkhamOrthodontist]

If you'd like to see a video of the process, you can find one here: Toronto Invisalign | Getting Started with Invisalign

In general PVS impressions should be fine because, if loaded properly, the material will not run like other impression materials. However, if the tray is overfilled, there may be an issue.

We are starting our 3 day hands on training in intra-oral scanning which will eliminate the need for Invisalign impressions in our office .

[JSET]

i have to say my first impressions at the oral surgeon's office was hard to keep from gagging. then i got it done at my orthodontics office and they did a really good job and it didn't even phase me at all. and then they did a digital scan of every tooth and that sucked more than any of it!! took a long time and my jaw got TIRED!! but i guess it all comes down to who does it. good luck with the invisalign!

[MrBurns]

Getting impressions wasn't pleasant for me, but then again neither is a regular visit to the dentist. It's just one of those things you have to do. There's no pain, no significant discomfort ... but it's not particularly fun sitting there for a couple of minutes while the goo sets around your teeth. Because my teeth were so crooked, taking the molds off once they set wasn't super easy, either.

I did start to gag one time. They had me sit up straight, and all was well.

I sure don't want to discourage you. Thousands of people have gone through it before us, and they all lived to tell the tale. You'll be fine, and it will soon be over!

[Bekster45]

As others have said, it's not pleasant, but it's better than regular dental impressions. As Dr. Tam said, it's a little thicker. One thing my dentist told me (she's in same office as ortho) was to wiggle my feet. Not sure why, but it seemed to help keep my mind off the stuff in my mouth.

[magdalene]

Just for the record, I had no issues at all with having my impressions done. I guess I would classify the experience as neutral, or.....slightly less pleasant than a pedicure and slightly more pleasant than a blood test. I definitely wouldn't worry about it if I were you.

[Crush]

No problems here. Granted, I wouldn't say having a mouth full of putty is an enjoyable experience, but it lasts only a few minutes and then you're good to go. I found having to brush off the excess material afterwards to be more of an inconvenience then the time spent taking the impressions themselves. In any case, you'll be just fine, little miss sunshine .

[MCOMarkhamOrthodontist]

Couple of things to stop yourself from gagging:

1. Tilt your head so that your chin is not pointing up to the sky (which is the direction the assistant will be pushing when taking your upper arch impression).

2. Relax and breath through your nose.

3. Keep one leg straight and lift it up off the chair. After 10 seconds, switch. If you distract yourself, you are less likely to think about gagging, and lifting your leg this way makes you flex your ab muscles. It is much harder to gag when your abs are flexed .

As mentioned above, most people don't have any issues with impressions. Orthodontic offices are usually very good at taking impressions since we do them so many times a day (compared to other dentists).

[MJ2030]

3. Keep one leg straight and lift it up off the chair. After 10 seconds, switch. If you distract yourself, you are less likely to think about gagging, and lifting your leg this way makes you flex your ab muscles. It is much harder to gag when your abs are flexed .

Nice, Dr. Tam. haha, very nice.

[little miss sunshine]

Heyy guys thanks for all the helpful comments not particularly worried just curious, I will let you all know how it goes. Loving the distraction techniques about moving your legs that made me laugh... and crush you "having putty in your mouth is a pleasent experience" ? haha typo me thinks

Thankss every one

The Invisible Diary

[Crush]

crush you "having putty in your mouth is a pleasent experience" ? haha typo me thinks

Haha, that is why I prefaced the statement with "I wouldn't say".

[little miss sunshine]

I really shouldn't be on here when at work skim reading never works properly

home now though thank goodness some chill out time is in order. Hope everyone has had a good day, (or having a good day if your in a different time zone to uk) with not too much invisalign related discomfort... something I'm still waiting to experience haha

[little miss sunshine]

One step closer now to starting invisalign.

The impressions went really well. They started off by taking lots of photos from different angles which where mostly fine apart from the ones with the mirror in your mouth .... *I have a small mouth* the mirror was to wide!! haha

Ipressions them selves went really quickly top one needed doing twice but was a breeze, bottom one only took one go but was slightly less comfortable my tongue felt like it was getting in the way...

But never mind done now go back in 2 and 1/2 weeks for clincheck video review woohoooo time to see the finished result haha virtually of course. Then hopefully trays will be here later in July!! yay Looking forward to knowing exactly how many trays i need but my approximate time is just under a year !

This is great because I was put off braces when at school 1 because I hated the idea of having something permanently stuck to your teeth that had to be tightend. 2 I would have had to have 4 teeth taken out. 3 It was going to take 3 years on the nhs waiting list then about 2 years to complete treatment....

Invisalign ortho says I have a less teeth than most "none of my back wisdom teeth are there". No teeth are going to need removing nothing is going to be physically tightend whilst stuck to my teeth and its going to take under a year ... to date i couldnt recomend invisalign more.. lets see what my opinion is when im actually wearing them right haha xxxxxxx

[w0rd]

But never mind done now go back in 2 and 1/2 weeks for clincheck video review woohoooo time to see the finished result haha virtually of course. Then hopefully trays will be here later in July!! yay Looking forward to knowing exactly how many trays i need but my approximate time is just under a year !

This is great because I was put off braces when at school 1 because I hated the idea of having something permanently stuck to your teeth that had to be tightend. 2 I would have had to have 4 teeth taken out. 3 It was going to take 3 years on the nhs waiting list then about 2 years to complete treatment....

I don't want to be "that guy," but I feel the need to provide a slight reality check. While I hope you finish the treatment process as quickly as possible, it very well could be more than a year. I bring this up because I looked at your blog and you made a few mentions of one year treatment time. I got the impression (ha.. no pun intended) that you're really relying/set on this time frame. Treatment time could be extended due to..

- Align Technologies taking forever to ship trays out. I actually had to finally put my foot down right before the second refinement process. I told them enough and to do whatever was necessary to expedite processing and shipment. Each cycle was taking 6+ weeks. I calculated that I lost months just sitting in old trays and waiting for new ones to come in.

- Teeth not moving exactly as they should. It's easy to look at a set of pictures and a mold and quickly come up with a solution for movement. However, Align Technologies doesn't know how your mouth completely works, in terms of reaction. A tooth or indeed a few teeth may be very stubborn and not move as they should. This would be addressed during a refinement stage and, of course, would ultimately add time to treatment. I don't have stats in front of me, but I have to believe that most people need at least one mid-course and/or refinement.

[little miss sunshine]

hi world no just optimistic ... I expect it to over run refinements and the likes I was just amazed at the "guesstimate" ... Im a pretty patient sort of laid back person lets just see how it goes. All I care a bout is getting nice straight teeth and for the price i'm sure they will look after me

But thanks world there are plenty of people who don't do the research and are unrealistic Its good for these people to read this if they come across it

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