Invisalign Experiences
 

Anyone have any experience with Invisalign?

I'm looking into getting some for my overbite.

My 2 front upper teeth lean inwards, I am hoping this will correct it allow my jaw to be a bit lower and more forward to improve the bite and air flow.

I'm quoted at $3500 at my place, is this fair?

Well yea it's fair. I have 32 perfect implants because my life is standing in front of execs and giving presentations. If you can get your teeth straight for that price then do it. The alternatives are 20X's that cost.

And let us know how it works out. :)

From the cases I see there is a compromise in the ability to move teeth predictably paid for the convenience of clear removable appliances. Conventional orthodontic results are almost always better, especially in occlusal (bite) results, if you're willing to do it. Most certainly invisalign can work great for simple cases. Price seems in line with what I see but can be all over the board and can also depend on how many aligners are needed.

Scott... 32 implant fixtures? Wow,never seen that.

I'm doing upper and lower now. $5000. So $3000 for upper sounds about right.

The change over the past 15 months is staggering. Still have 5 months of new trays before I go to a retainer.

Started Misaligned, twisted, wearing down. Now looking much better.

Discipline is the key. And never eat with them in. And really don't drink with them in either. Except water or may be a beer. Sugar will get caught between the teeth and tray and ruin your teeth.

So you have to get into a routine of popping them out, brushing your teeth and popping them back in.

Still better than metal braces!

I did it and was pleased with it. I've always had a front tooth gap despite surgery and braces as a kid. Not wearing my retainer after braces didn't help.

My dentist had been telling me for years I needed to wear a mouth guard at night to protect against my night teeth grinding. At 43 years old she finally convinced me by showing me what I would look like as an old man with ground down teeth.

So I decided if I was going to wear a mouth guard for the rest of my life, I might as well go all the way and do Invisilign. For $5000 I had 14 upper and 7 lower aligners to get my teeth straight.

I did have to get a permanent front retainer after Invisilign behind my front 4 teeth. It was a few hundred dollars from an orthodontist and my mouth guard was adjusted to clear it.

I know a couple of people that have done invisalign. I think it was somewhere between $4k and 5k. The results are pretty impressive.

Anyone brave enough to show a before and after (or even better - during) shot? I am at a decision point myself, and debating Invisalign vs metal...at 51 years old. My case is "interference". I.e. tight teeth that interfere with each other during bite with the result of stress cracking and chipping. Not horribly crooked by looking at them, but the interference is there.

JA

If you need serious occlusal (bite) relationship changes Invisalign is probably not going to achieve that very predictably. Your teeth have probably erupted as they have worn and you most likely need a combination of intrusion along with prosthetic rehab. I have seen many of these cases tried and failed with Invisalign, some with catastrophic results. Invisalign is great for simple tooth rotation and tipping, closing gaps, etc. Sounds like you have bigger challenges then that.

You sound like you stayed in a Holiday Inn last night! ;)

What? You haven't heard? 32 implants is the new standard of care for everything. Just read it in "Dentistry Today" :D
Edit: You know they have custom abutments that can correct mesioangular impacted implants? Don't you?

I have friends that had good results. But they were all fairly easy jobs, some teeth a bit twisted but all basically already in a straight line. Definitely no adjustments to jaw / bite.

I am getting to the point where I am just glad if they are functional. The teeth craze in the US has gone too far. Now if you don't bleach the bejesus out of your teeth you look like a yellow toothed bum, even though 10 years ago your teeth would have been considered "white".

Hope this helps - you should listen to Dr. N. - I think he is a pro ...

G

Nickshu is our resident Periodontist extrordinaire. 32 implants sounds, well...unusual. If Nickshu hadn't seen it, yes, it's unusual!

Just went through it. Got a discount for paying the whole balance in one go. Your quote sounds right.

Word of caution- the edges are really sharp, & will tear your mouth up. I ended up using a nail file to smooth them off.

I had to have 'lugs' glued onto my teeth to give the invisaligns something to grab on to. If you get this, make sure they remove all the glue when they're done. Ask me how I know.

Some of the sets hurt like the blazes, but the retainer I now use doesn't seem to put any torque on them at all. Which makes me wonder why I have to wear them...

What they told my wife was this. When they are done moving your teeth, and you have to wear the retainer, it's to give your bones/teeth/gums time to set. I guess all of the movement leaves them a bit loose and if you don't hold them in place for a while, they'll try to wander back to where they used to be. Or something like that.

The reason the trays hurt when you switched, was because of the torque that the new trays put on your teeth to try to get them into a new position. The retainers are just retaining the current position, not trying to move them into a new position.

Makes sense. BUT...

My orthodontist told me that the last set would 'set' my teeth. That's certainly the way it felt. I forgot to wear the retainers one night & feared the next night my teeth would hurt due to the correction provided by the retainers, but not at all. Retainers are a PITA, I might try forgoing them or just wear them every other night. I don't like having a mouth full of plastic all night!

I completed my upper & lower Invisalign treatments in Sep 2015, after starting in Jan 2013. I am 55 now, and I kick myself for not doing it earlier in my life. I am really satisfied with the results and the costs that you quoted seem to be in line with I paid.

It is very important to stay with the regime and to wear the retainers as much as possible, no less than 20-22 hours per day. At first, I felt really self-conscious but I soon realized that almost nobody noticed them, or if they did notice, did not care enough to comment on it. I am now just wearing an overnight upper retainer which is very similar to the Invisalign trays but a little more sturdy to keep everything in place. I also have a permanent wire retainer glued to the back of my lower 4 front teeth which is invisible from the front.

Good oral hygiene is non-negotiable to prevent other problems that might damage your teeth.

I could send you my before/after pics by pm if you want.

Retention is forever. The risk of relapse goes down w/ time but there is no way to predict when, how fast, and how much. This is especially true with lower incisors.

my coworker takes them off when he eats and sets them on a napkin on the table. kinda weird.

i wonder if they have a travel case he could use.

Not being in the trade but knowing what other people have had done, implants are kind of last resort, no? From my understanding, they are not done for cosmetic reasons(?) :confused:

Veneers and caps, maybe but not implants which are very time consuming and sometimes painful, not to mention expensive. One of my close friends recently had a dentist over-torque the post into his jaw and cracked it, (his jaw). Talk about some pain and healing time. :eek:

Also, would it not be unusual to do cosmetic procedures on rear molars, (beyond porcelain crowns)?

There is an epidemic of really bad cosmetic dentistry in the U.S. these days. Over-whitening of teeth being the most common, even among people who should know better and can definitely afford the best care. Any time teeth look unnatural or obviously bleached, it's a fail. It can look just horrible, especially on older people but on young as well.

My dad had one of those million dollar, movie star smiles. He lost his fronts fighting back in HS, (I think he lost another in some accident in military), his grille was dentures. We were watching the news together a few years back and commenting on some politician's awful, fake looking grille. My dad lectured me on the importance of only using a top prosthodontist(sp?) for cosmetic dentistry. They know how to match other teeth and use a shade that is attractive but 100% natural looking. The minute teeth don't look natural, they look like schit. They should never stand out. :cool:

Thanks all for the advice! I feel much more confident about the procedure.

What are typical catalysts of relapse? Age? Lowered calcium intake?

I'm not looking to have a chiseled jawline after this (though that would be nice) but the orthodontist mentioned it would change the jaw since my front uppers lean inwards towards the back of my throat. All my teeth are straight relative to each other however.

Update: I have my first tray in! When will the lisping go away?? Also, any rec's on cleaners? It's day 4 and there is some bacterial build up it looks like. Doesn't smell but it doesn't come off easily.

Sorry - you missed this opportunity - just saw this link today on a news site:

College student prints his own braces
College student 3D prints his own braces - Mar. 16, 2016

That technology is coming. A buddy holds a few patents on 3d printing orthodontic brackets. The 3d technology will tie together CT scanning, 3d facial photography and 3d printed orthodontic appliances to achieve guided results. Pretty cool technology. He's in the forefront of the technology (lectures about it worldwide) and says 5-8 years before it's mainstream. Limiting factor is the cost of 3d printers that can produce the needed resolution.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

That's essentially how it's done...plaster models are sent to the company and they cut off the teeth are rearrange them straighter a little at a time and make a series of plastic trays along the way, which the patient wears in succession as the teeth straighten.

Basically except they scan the stone models and the movements are done digitally in their proprietary software, then the aligners are CAD/CAM milled out of the software.

Some orthodontists have the scanner in their office, so no impressions or stone models are needed, they just scan the teeth directly in your mouth, then upload it to Invisalign.

Again I maintain my opinion and observation that for anything other than minor tooth movement Invisalign (or equivalents out there) does not produce good occlusal (bite) results. Excitement about the technology often overshadows the reality of compromises in the final product/outcome. As with anything with the human body, every case is unique.

The lisp goes away eventually. I forgot about it when I was asked to do a quick interview on the local news for work and really kicked myself afterwards for not taking them out, but I don't think anyone noticed.


I drop my retainers in warm water with a denture tablet every week or so, although I only wear them at night now.

I know some of those words.