Get The Smile You Always Wanted - Invisalignly

In case you do not know me personally, only met me in virtuality of the blogsphere, iChat or what way so ever this might be surprising for you. I mentioned it before, but never blogged about it in any specific way. This post is dedicated to my current teeth-straightening treatment I’ve been passing since February 2007.

What the heck is Invisalign? Invisalign is invisible for others, hence the name Invisalign. Inivisable + Alignment.

Does something hold you back when showing your smile? Get rid of this nuisance and straighten your teeth. “Invisalignly.” · Photo mosaic by strollerdos on flickr.com

A beautiful smile can give back so much. Confidence. Happiness. It can also impress others. So there shouldn’t be one thing in this world that makes you feel uncomfortable when smiling. But as a person with not a non-perfect smile, I know that there can be something that holds you back to show your smile. HOWEVER, there is help for us. Convenient help, actually.

I learned about the invisible teeth correction probably 5 years ago. After my A-levels my right incisor (de: Schneidezahn) really started bothering me. It stood out and it looked like it was chipped off, but actually it has turned in a weird way. While I was working in Krems at a company, I asked my dentist about a treatment that would fit my lifestyle and in the same gasp I insisted on one crucial fact. I don’t want my smile to be ruined by grey metal wires.

Before she took moulds of my teeth I had to remove my wisdom teeth since they were infected like crazy and caused quite some pain. Again if you met me in person in late 2007, you probably heard me complain about the stinging pain of my infected wisdom teeth and the aftermath followed by the removal.

Let The Invisalign Treatment Start

First the orthodontist takes imprints of your teeth. This is a pretty easy process. Right after that they are sent to the Invisalign HQ in California, where they produce a certain number of trays that will move your oh-so-crooked teeth into the wanted position. Usually it takes about 4 weeks for the aligners (that’s what the trays are officially are called) to be sent back to your orthodontist. From this moment on there is nothing that will delay your treatment except for you and your dedication/commitment.

The Best Case Scenario versus The Real Scenario

I have to wear 17 aligners. That makes 34 weeks of wearing Invisalign 24/7 (Actually 22 hours a day, but there is no phrase that is commonly understood, right?).

IF you have a nearly perfectly imperfect smile (Haha, why do you need Invisalign anyway?) you’ll just have to wear your trays. Period. End of the story for you.

However, if you are a plain patient, there are various things that additionally go along with your treatment.

• Attachments Little dots or squares are attached to your teeth, so that the pressure that is put on your “smile” is increased and can be concentrated on a specific spot. The attachments (dots and squares) Can be seen best in this picture found on flickr.
• Mining Sometimes your orthodontist mines (like in a mining site) a millimetre of your tooth in order to produce space that the tooth can make way for others to align beautifully.
• Pull a tooth If the “mining” doesn’t work with your teeth’s constellation, it might be necessary to pull a regular (non-wisdom) tooth to make enough room.
• Wisdomteeth Removal Adios, Wisdom Tooth! Adieu! In my case the wisdom teeth were obsolete. I can only recommend the procedure of pulling them. These wannabe molars are troubled kids that grow up in your mouth, making a lot of noise about pretty much nothing. Here reasons why wisdom teeth should be removed. Plus, they can mess up your 2k+ investment in superficial beauty.

You, Your Aligner Trays and Your Life

You wear each aligner for 14 days, 22 hours a day. 22 hours being minimum.For eating and drinking anything other than water, you take the aligner out. Then you brush your teeth and/or floss. That is a call for responsibility and self-discipline right there. I only recommend this to grown-up teenagers that understand that the money you pay for Invisalign results shouldn’t be wasted with drinking soda (taking the trays out several times a day) and immature stuff like that.

After 14 days of wearing an aligner you change the tray. Sometimes your orthodontist gives you several aligners (for the next month; that’s 2 aligners) and you can change them following a Do It Yourself policy. You get appointments so the doctor can make sure that everything is going well. So the treatment also requires meet-ups at the dentist, but it is less of a hassle, since your treatment procedure might allow some DIY.

The Dos

• You can drink water. Clear fluids, not sure if Vodka qualifies for that.
• Brush your teeth after every meal and clean your aligner on a regular basis with dental tablets (Brausetabletten). You can also clean your aligners with a tooth paste and a soft toothbrush.
• Keep in the 22 hours a day. In case you can’t keep in that rule, tell your orthodontist and he will make sure the next aligner fits well enough. Otherwise you might have to wear your aligners for one more day. You will “feel” how much commitment you came up with the previous two weeks.
• The stricter you are, the smoother the treatment works in terms of pain.
• Have discipline in the beginning since it helps you define a routine that you can stick to very easily.
• “DIY” in the evenings. In case you can DIY (change the tray yourself), make sure you do that in the evening (after you’ve eaten) or before you go to bed. Every time you change it you feel the most pressure. When you’re asleep, you won’t recognize it.

The Don’ts

• Never ever eat with them in. No ice cream. Ice Cubes work though.
• Don’t bite fingernails. I wish I could actually obey that one.
• Don’t bite onto your aligners purposely. The pressure created with your bite lessens the pressure that is applied by the aligners themselves.
• No chewing gums, alright? Don’t even try it.
• Avoid taking out the trays in the first two days (but don’t starve either), since I experienced that most of the movement takes place in the first couple of days. The more “consequent” pressure you allow in the first days, the sooner you are over the days making your teeth feel slighly sore.

Cleaning The Trays

I recommend fizzy dental tablets (brausetabletten) every other day (that’s a minimum) and rinsing them off every time you take them off. When you put them back you can brush them with some toothpaste and you will feel that the aligner is clean again and some sort of deposits have vanished (white/grey foggy trays).

If you don’t keep to a regular cleaning strategy you will soon notice a really gross smell and I’m sure your common sense will make you clean them asap. Or the people surrounding you.

Documentation For The Progress

As it is now, (July 2007) I am wearing my 12th Invisalign aligner. Here a comparison of aligner #2, #6 and #11. It’s pretty amazing to watch your teeth move… So I encourage you to document the progress with a web camera or a digital camera.

I have invisalign for my upper bite. I took the pictures with the trays in. You can see that the aligners are onlyvisiblefrom certain angles. One person so far asked me if I had some sort of thing stuck to my teeth. Of course, my friends know, but nobody practically noticed. Furthermore, people said that my smile improved, somehow they make them look nicer. Must be some Jedi magic trick…

I am planning on putting up an animation of my 3D model that shows each aligner’s movement (I have to enquire about it at my orthodontist). Once I hit #17 (my last tray), I’ll make sure you’ll see the final result, too.

Last But Not Least: Pain & Sore teeth

Whenever you are aching in pain (because your teeth are moving), keep in mind that this technique is actually working. Be happy about it. Sounds like a good advice for SM pain management.

Depending on your teeth’s constellation you are likely to experience sore teeth in the first couple of days. I also have a “spit-overproduction” whenever I put in a new tray, must be the sore gums or whatever.

Plus with every new tray you are getting closer to a beautiful, healthy smile. A tooth alignment treatment isn’t just about superficial beauty, it’s about getting back confidence and, you won’t believe it, health. My outer rightincisor, if it wasn’t put back into the arch formed by your teeth, might have fallen out because there wouldn’t be any pressure holding it in your gums (de: Zahnfleisch) and your dentin (de: Zahnbein).

Pain Killing Management: For the first tray my orthodontist told me it was okay to take some light pain killer, so I could get sleep. It was good advice, too.

Any further questions? Please, don’t hesitate to ask me in the comments.