Invisalign top tips

[Cindy1802]

Got invisalign fitted today, and wow it feels weird. Took them out to eat dinner and feel like my teeth have moved already, my bite felt different... bonkers!

Anyway, anyone got any top tips to help me make it through? Does everyone stick to the rules, i.e. only drinking water, having a proper brush after eating etc?

@Gatekeeper we have the exact same smile! I had my appointment but I couldn't afford to have it done, going to get it as soon as I can afford it!

@Gatekeeper that is so helpful, thank you. I have many of the same issues! After years of hating my smile and teeth, I'm excited to finally be in a position to do this. Thanks again and thanks to the OP for starting this thread.

We should have a monthly photo update to monitor progress!

@Gatekeeper Yes!!

I used to use the retainer cleaning tablets and dunk them in when I was eating dinner.

Update: day 2 worse than day 1 😅 thought they felt fine yesterday apart from the weirdness.

Today I feel like my teeth feel really tight/full of tension and I just want to pull them properly something! I have bitten my cheek a few times while eating cos my bite has moved slightly already. Just put them back in after my evening brew and my bottom aligner is now cutting into my gum behind my wisdom tooth 🥲 also feel like I have a gross taste in my mouth, and can't drink anything more exciting than water to help that 🤣🤣

But feeling positive that they are moving already!

The first 2/3 days of the new tray are the worst but as it goes along it will stop feeling as sore

if you need to, use a bit of bonjela on your gums if they’re sore

Anyone find the invisalign app awful?! I'm using it to record my time out of aligners and it is so slow, its doing my head in!! Is this why people use Trayminder app?

@Cindy1802 how are you getting on? I am on tray 3 and I can see a slight difference. Will take a photo later. Teeth feel loose in my head somewhat which feels very odd when eating

@Gatekeeper I'm doing ok I think. I am just finishing up on tray 5, and it was only tray 2 that caused any notable pain. Each tray defo feels tighter, but none causing me pain which is a good thing. Taking them in and out has become much easier too! I probably average 21 hours a day (minimum).

In terms of progress... I can't say I can see a lot yet... I wonder if my adjustments each week are quite minor, hence why it's not painful or uncomfortable. I might actually have a look at tray 1 vs tray 11 (that's all I have at home at the mo) and see what differences I can expect over the next 6 weeks.

I'm 2 months in now. One thing that is helping me drink enough is waterdrop water flavourings. They don't have enough colour to stain, no sugar either. It would be nice to have more warm drinks now its colder, but its hard to get the time in to take aligners out just to drink!

How's everyone getting on ? Im 8 weeks in and starting to see a change. Close up one is from October, plus one from 5 mins ago

Wow that is fantastic, you must be delighted Gate. My daughter was more excited about the teeth whitening at the end.......!

That’s fantastic progress.

i recommend using Steradent when the crystals run out. It cleans the aligners and retainers really well.

i found that the trays were a lot more comfortable the straighter my teeth became. I took 18 months or so in total to complete my course. Now I just wear a retainer at night. It’s made such a huge difference to my appearance.

I'm finding them terrible for weight loss as I eat more at meals to compensate for not being able to eat with them in ... I'm sure you will be more sensible!

Huge Invisalign advocate here! Took far longer than expected (expect many refinement stages long after your predicted treatment end) and I remember during my first week thinking OMG what have I done. But I got used to it so quickly and would never look back. I was very strict about how long I wore my trays each day and religious about cleaning at night etc, but outside of that I drank anything with them in, just swill some water round your mouth after tea etc (I had weekly tray changes so they couldn’t really stain that badly). My dental practice was so supportive and realistic about the rules and it really helped.
Have you got attachments yet?

@Bobsy123 they look amazing! And @Gatekeeper it's amazing how much yours have moved in such a short space of time!

I really want mine done maybe in the new year, I read somewhere about Invisalign causing gum recession but it hasn't put me off too much as I'm guessing that comes with age anyway 🧐

I did fit the first few weeks but then stopped. Lost a stone since April with them in.

Worse thing is when feeling sick but I have learnt to remove them very quick.

I do occasionally drink tea with a straw or lemonade at social events with them in. But mostly I sm good.

I don't know use any retainer cleaner, I tried one off Amazon but doesn't make much difference. But it's only 10 days then next tray.

I now find my mouth is very unhappy if brace out and I am not actually eating. I want to get the teeth clean and brace back in asap sone times.

I'm on tray 11 out of my initial 22, and got more attachments on yesterday. I can defo see a little difference but not massive, however I'm quite happy with trusting the process and not really spending too long looking at progress photos. I've not had too much pain either and quickly gotten used to the routine, and find it pretty achievable to hit 21 hours a day and I'm tracking fine!

Can wait til they are done though. I've been using toothpaste to clean mine well twice a day, but read about toothpaste scratching them..I've not noticed due to being on weekly changes, but wondering what people use to clean their night retainers which we have to keep for a long time??

I used RetainerBrite- worked really well and just got into the habit of cleaning them while I ate breakfast every day.

I use half a Poligrip Pro Guard & Retainer tablet (although they've become difficult to find - maybe a Brexit thing as I spotted them in several French pharmacies)

@bobsy...your teeth are absolutly beautiful

Tray 13

I am so pleased with results so far

...and how they were in October