invisalign

[SumatraBouffant]

So at the tender age of 48 I had this big idea that I would like to improve the minor crowding in my upper and lower teeth. I had a slight over bite as well. Otherwise no major problems. So my girlfriend had invisalign braces and I was sitting on top of a very generous unused orthodontic benefit from my employer and I thought, Oh okay, gloriously sexy straight teeth, here I come.
So after nine months of invisalign my teeth are still crowded and now my bite is messed up! My rear teeth don't meet in the back anymore. My othodontist contacted the invisalign folks and they said they would give me some "refining" trays at no extra charge (oh how very generous of them) but my ortho told me, if I really wanted perfect teeth, I was going to have to go with traditional braces. Fortunately for me she was willing to write off the cost of the invisaligns against the archwires, but it will be at a loss to her, more expense to me (even with the write off), and tons more time invested on my part.
If I had to do it over again I would have never ever gone with invisalign. My ortho made the very best recommendation she could at the time of my consult and no one would have ever been able to guess we would have such a crummy outcome.
My advise: Don't waste your time and money. If you are really serious about perfect teeth bite the bullet (sorry no pun intended) and get real braces.

[Marianna]

Oh no! Now I'm scared!! I posted on the 'Ask the doc' thread about my bite but didn't really understand Dr. Rick's answer. I also have 12 aligners with Invisalign. I have 3 more to go. My bite was fine before except I had a slight overbite. Now the molars/premolars don't meet.
I guess I really should talk to my ortho about this. I'm also angry at him at this point for not telling me that this might happen!
I don't want to wear braces again!

[rooroo]

Do they not meet as in there's a gap between or don't line up right? They might not line up right because all of the correcting has yet to me done, and remember that your muscles in your mouth may be used to your bite being off... it just takes some time to get used to it. I'm sorry to hear that so many people have gotten bite problems as the result of Invisalign. I didn't have a bite problem at the end of my treatment, though I didn't have a bite problem at all throughout the entire treatment.

Anyway, just stick with your treatment until the end. Don't freak out yet cause you still have 3 trays left and there are still more corrections to be made.

[SumatraBouffant]

Read up on Invisalign, wish I had done this first. Go to:
[/url]http://www.coastaldentistry.com/invisalign.html

[rooroo]

I think that article paints a worst case scenario picture. I personally think invisalign is a worthwhile consideration. Just make sure you really listen to what your doctor says and not what your self confidence is saying. I still say that even after a fudged go with Invisalign. actually, my go wasnt fudged, just not perfect.

[Invisalignee]

I have asked my dentist and he said that Invisalign is good, but usually it works best with a combination of therapies. See, right now I have an appliance that is used to expand my arch...as he didn't feel Invisalign would work it's magic with a narrow jaw. If I were to put Invisalign without having done expanders I would have probably had problems as well. When I have my Invisalign put on I will let you know of what is happening. As far as my teeth moving back after the treatment, I highly doubt it 'cuz I will have 3 implants and that will fill up all the available space that there is to have teeth, all of the gums. As you see, every case is different so I would recommend asking a doctor this: Is there any other treatment I should be undergoing through before using Invisalign in order to achieve better and faster results that Invisalign won't be able to cover 100%?! It is very important that you know what other helping treatments are there that can co-work with Invisalign, because you might have a problem that can be fixed better with another appliance...like in my case widening the jaw. If you don't ask about that, then you're gonna have to undo what Invisalign did, fix that problem, and then go through braces once again!

So, make sure you know the limitations, correct them before hand, and then go for Invisalign, if you are 100% convinced that is the best way to go for you!

[Debi]

I've been in invisalign since november and I'm pretty content. If you are thinking taking them out to eat is a pain you're crazy.

Ouch Mike, calling me crazy! lol
Actually, I will be on aligner no. 8 tomorrow. I am still not thrilled with taking the aligners out and replacing them several times a day. My aligners have been so tight that my mouth has actually swollen up. Once the aligner was so small, I had to take it into the Ortho for him to stretch it. My aligners have been very painful to remove and replace. My teeth are very sore, which makes it hard to chew anything.

The Ortho now has me wearing each aligner for 3 weeks instead of 2 weeks. This is because the aligners were still fitting so tight by the end of the two weeks and should be loose by then. This is my 3rd week in no. 7 and they are easier to remove.

I think my experience may be unusual though. The Ortho had never seen such swelling before, though I have heard from one other person online that this happened to.

I was originally told the treatment would last 2 yrs, this changed to 9 months and now is at 1 yr.

I'm glad you and others are having such success with Invisalign. I'm sure at the end of my treatment, I will be happy too.
Debbi