question for invisalign wearers

[Remedy]

Hi everyone,

I am thinking of going with invisalign for my treatment, but my ortho said that it would be 18-24 months. I have confidence in her diagnosis because she
is an Elite provider of Invisalign.

My question is it realistic to thinking I can wear them for two years or more? What is your experience with them?

My dentist said he has had them for 4 months and is over wearing them, he still has 4 months to go.

She also gave me the choice of going with the Damon system but don't think I want to go with those because I will have to wear "turbos" on my teeth to prevent my upper teeth
from hitting my lower teeth.

Thank you

[bluegray]

In my opinion, it is what you make of it. If you choose Invisalign, you have to commit to it knowing that for a length of time -- a year, year and a half, two years, or more -- you will have to make some concessions and changes in your lifestyle. You have to get used to the feeling of the plastic aligners in your mouth for 22 hours a day, you have to deal with taking them in/out to eat and drink, you have to learn to love your toothbrush and floss because you are going to be using them often, you have to get over the fact that people may or may not notice, you have to accept that you will have some attachments that may possibly be visible to others, and you have to accept that you can't do everything exactly the way you used to (ie. dinners out, movies, going to the bar, etc).

For me, it hasn't been a big deal. I wanted straight teeth, I knew what the Invisalign process was through previous research, and I know that a year and a half is a short amount of time compared to the many years of straight teeth I have in front of me. It would be nice to eat and drink whatever I want, whenever I want, but that will happen again in another couple of months. I don't really notice the aligners in my mouth much of the time, I haven't had any issues with my trays -- just a pop an advil before putting in a new tray and I'm good to go, and I don't have a problem brushing my teeth at work or in a public restroom. It's nothing to be embarrassed about - people do different things to alter their appearance all the time and wanting straight teeth is not an unusual desire. I have read on here some complaints about the length of time they have to wear the trays, what they can/can't do with them in, and what an inconvenience it has been in their life. I don't tend to agree - for me it was a choice that I went into knowingly and decided to commit to. I have 33 U/L which is about 15-16 months, not including possible refinements. I'm currently half way through #12 and time has seemed to fly by. I'm definitely looking forward to being finished, but I'm ok with it in the process. If you decide to choose Invisalign, do your research and go into it fully informed and ready to commit to a lifestyle change for a while. If you don't think you can handle that, then go with the Damon system -- plenty of people, teens and adults alike, wear braces and wanting straighter teeth is nothing to be embarrassed about. Whatever you choose, good luck with your decision!

[invisimunki]

I think bluegray said it all perfectly.

There are days when it can feel like a chore, and sometimes I do step back and look at how much time i have left on my treatment (another year and a half, already had them 8 months) and I feel a bit deflated. But then I get a new set of trays, and although progress is slow I can still see progress, which is exciting. I think, wow in 3 weeks this tooth will be a bit straighter! So my advice is keep focused on the short term goals and time will fly by!

[Teefers]

Well said bluegray. Gosh I wish my orthodontist had presented InvisiAlign more realistically, more so in the way you laid out. Instead, I got the marketing pitch and the downsides were glossed over. I'm trying to wrap my head around the reality now and that it will be worth it in the end. I'm only 3 weeks in...reality bites

[Remedy]

Oh wow! thank you all for responding!

I agree that you have to do the research to see if it is something you can deal with. There are so many things I have learned from this site that the initial meeting with my ortho did not tell me. I spoke to the new patient coordinator
after the first meeting and she said the ortho would be happy to meet with me a second time to give me more details to my treatment. So am going to go ahead and do that.

Your comments have helped me realize that I can do this!!

[invisimunki]

Good luck!!

[Jensen]

is there anybody else who likes him/her self better with alligners that without? Aligners give more proportional and natural look to my face and I am not at all in a hurry to get rid them

[Nicki11]

Today, 02:48 AMJensen
is there anybody else who likes him/her self better with alligners that without? Aligners give more proportional and natural look to my face and I am not at all in a hurry to get rid them

Up until tray 10, I preferred the way my teeth looked with the aligners in than the way they looked without them. Now though, on tray 11, I think my teeth look similar with the trays in and out.

U - 11/20
L - 11/13

[myhollywoodsmile]

I have been wearing Invisalign for 3 years, so i'm probably a good person to answer your question! At the beginning I did notice them far more than I do now. I really very rarely even think about them, and they certainly don't cause me any problems. At first I was well aware that they were in and (as you can read in my blog) I thought about them a lot. But after six months they just became part of my life and it is no more difficult than it was before.

For me, I have no pain, they are aesthetically far superior to metal braces and they have worked. Of course, I am still in treatment. My lower arch is still being worked on, and I am in upper retainers.

I have no regrets whatsoever about my decision to get Invisalign.

[Jo Anne]

I totally like the way my teeth look with the alligners in! You can't see the black triangle and they just look more even. I'm on trays 19/19 waiting for refinements.

[aries2k1]

I just started my treatment today, the first of 34 trays top and bottom. My ortho is also an Elite Provider and estimated treatment time would be about a year and a half. I decided to go ahead with it just to get it over with. In the long run, it would definitely be worth it. As for my first day, it's still gonna take some time to get used to them. It's incredibly difficult to remove them to the point where it feels like I might snap the aligners in half. At least it doesn't hurt though, although the constant pressure on my teeth is driving me crazy!

[LeslieKnope]

I just started my treatment today, the first of 34 trays top and bottom. My ortho is also an Elite Provider and estimated treatment time would be about a year and a half. I decided to go ahead with it just to get it over with. In the long run, it would definitely be worth it. As for my first day, it's still gonna take some time to get used to them. It's incredibly difficult to remove them to the point where it feels like I might snap the aligners in half. At least it doesn't hurt though, although the constant pressure on my teeth is driving me crazy!

Hang in there! The first day was the absolute worst. I can't believe how hard it was to take my aligners off back then! It gets really easy after a few days; you literally can just snap them on and off. I have a similar # of aligners as you. It takes a while to finish treatment, but you'll start seeing results in a few months so hang in there!