Invisalign- tell me to woman up!

[SharyBobbins]

I had a consultation for Invisalign today and I'm in turmoil! I'm hoping some of you may have already had it or be in the middle of having it and are willing to help talk me off the ceiling!
I have an irrational fear of dentist so just sitting in the waiting room today had me in tears. I've been that distracted all day I've only just realised I've not had lunch (not like me at all!).
The thing is that I hate my smile. I try not to smile, not let people sit a certain side of me (my crooked top teeth are more noticeable on one side that the other). In every photo my lips are firmly sealed. I cry at the thought of living the rest of my adult life being so self-conscious. I want to be confident for me and for my little girl. That Jess Glynne song (Thursday?) makes me cry in the car. Despite all of that, having never even had a filling, I am terrified of interfering with my teeth when I don't "need" to. The dentist said I'd need them on the top and the bottom (which also made me upset as I thought the bottoms were alright). I'll need to wear them for 9-12 months in total. I think I can be disciplined enough to maximise their potential during and after with the retainer. But I'm getting put off as from what I have read they aren't really "invisible". The adhesive dots which they attach to your teeth seem to ruin that and given my front two teeth are the issue I imagine I'd need some on there. I keep swinging between thinking I just accept my imperfections and leave it to thinking that sorting my smile will genuinely improve my confidence and if I can then why shouldn't it. I'm also scared of being even more self conscious due to having plastic and random dots in my mouth 22 hours a day but on the other hand I'm so self conscious of my teeth anyway so I might as well be a tad more self conscious for the next year or so and possibly come out with some good results.
Can anyone offer any advice or experience?
Sorry for ramble. My DH isn't home yet and when I talked this through with my toddler she didn't care enough to offer any good advice

Teeth shaving was totally fine - I was really apprehensive about it, but in the end it felt no worse than the hygienist, so don’t worry about that.

My teeth feel HUGE with this big old wodge of plastic on them 😬 not painful so far, but let’s see how it goes tomorrow when I have to take them in and out...

I have a slight lisp and it’s made it reall,y noticeable, which is irritating. Hopefully that’ll settle down.

Hope your poor strangled feeling teeth settle down soon too!

I felt exactly the same! Felt like I had a mouthful of plastic, it was horrible! But a lot of the time now I forget I'm wearing them & I actually feel better when I have them in strangely. The one thing I didn't expect though was how dry my mouth would feel. That is constant for me unfortunately
Hope the discomfort stays away for you, let me know how you get on with them tomorrow!

Thanks for the reassurance about the shaving! I lost my lisp pretty quickly although it does creep back in if I'm chatting on to someone and my mouth gets too dry!

I'm really nervous about the teeth shaving. Thank you for the reassurance. I've had fixed braces on my back teeth for a month. I'm having the teeth shave and front braces in just over a week. I'm 46. My braces will be on for two years and I need one misshapen tooth removed at the front and canine teeth moved next to my front teeth and squared off as I have hypodontia . I will have an Invisalign retainer. My ds1 has an Invisalign retainer and is getting a bridge to cover his missing teeth. He really hates the retainer. He doesn't like the retainer on his back teeth.
Braces have definitely helped me lose weight. My teeth hurt and because of a cross bite tooth I have cement on my back teeth so I don't like chewing on them. I've been clenching my teeth at night so my teeth are sore all day.🙄

Had my invisalign about 5 years ago.
Wear them rigiously.

Can hardly remember my oddly overlapping teeth.

If i dont use the retainer they start to shift back.

So worth it.

Ouch, littlesweet, sounds painful. The teeth shaving really didn’t hurt at all for me- slightly uncomfortable feeling when he poked about to see if he’d made the gap big enough, but not painful.

onaclearday you teeth look amazing!

I slept ok last night, have taken them out now for coffee and breakfast and they ache a bit, but only really the very crowded ones, which makes sense as they will be the ones moving the most.

My friend has them at the moment and I'm due to start them in a couple of months.
You absolutely cannot see my friends - but even if you could, so what, people are going to notice your teeth moving and that hasn't happened by magic. Just tell them you're having your teeth aligned!

Sophocles glad you slept okay!
It's my front tooth which has been really sensitive so I'm hoping that eases soon but it's the one which needs moving the most to perhaps not!
Littlesweet how long has your son had Invisalign?
Oneaclearday your teeth look amazing!! Have you finished treatment now & wear the aligners at night?

Hi! I have just started with ClearCorrect which is basically the same thing as Invisalign. I’m on my second set of trays. The first three or so days were awful - the trays rubbed the side of my mouth so between that and my teeth hurting where they were starting to move I really struggled to eat and even brushing my teeth hurt. However that soon settled down and it’s much better now. I was expecting more discomfort when I put the second set in but it was fine, didn’t feel any different to the first set. I do get a really dry mouth with them though. It is a pain not being able to have anything except water without taking them out - I miss cups of tea and just being able to do things like have a sweet if they’re being handed round the office. However, I was a little bit overweight so being forced to stop snacking is probably beneficial for me! It’s a bit of a pain at work though as the only place I can brush teeth and rinse the trays is the ladies loos with people walking in and out all the time which makes me self conscious.

I had to have a bit of teeth shaving before the first trays went in - it didn’t hurt but was a bit uncomfortable, but that was partly because my teeth are so tightly packed together the orthodontist was struggling to get the shaver in between them so it took a while to do! My next appointment is Tuesday and I will need attachments then, don’t know which teeth they will be on though.

I can’t see a difference yet but I can feel it - when the trays are out my teeth don’t line up the same way they used to! That in itself can make eating feel a little odd but at least it shows it’s working.

The only other con for me is trying to keep them clean - even a toothbrush can’t quite get into all the deeper nooks and crannies. I’ve been using Retainer Brite which largely does the job but again doesn’t always clean absolutely everything. Maybe I need to try using it more often.

Yea just wear the aligners a few nights a month.
Had the teeth shaving, makes them easier to clean and look after.
my dentist filed the front two into that slight curve to define them (they were square)
Love my dentist.
Best money i ever spent.

To cleanthe trays try an ultrasonic cleaner, battery powered.
Brill.
Just uses water.

Day 3 update and pleased to report no pain. Can’t lie, they are very annoying though. I batch cook for the week on Sundays and not being able to taste as I went along was v frustrating. Also cramming my coffee drinking and general eating into the short periods I have them out is fecking irritating.

I also have the occasional accidental chin drool, which is gross.

I’m finding it easy enough to get them in and out, which is something, and no real pain when I do it.

All in a good cause, this will all be as nothing compared to lovely straight healthy teeth

I had ceramic Damon braces for two years at 29, got them off last year. Was going to get invisalign but it sounded like a right faff, and I think you can do more quicker with traditional bracket style braces. It won't save you from the dentist chair though. Day one versus now.

Fabala, can you tell me a bit more about your Damon experience please? Pain? How long you had them on? How long it took to get used to them? Etc.

I was considering Inavisalign but spent a weekend sharing a room with someone who had them and they seemed a real bloody nuisance!

And I should have said, your teeth look amazing now. Do you have a retainer etc?

Sycamore sure thing. Pain at the start was minimal and lasted about a week (had to eat smoothie and blend my breakfast, but beyond that it was not too bad). The great thing about the Damon braces is the minimal dentist chair time - I had to go and get mine seen to once every 10 weeks (because they're not tightened like traditional braces). Also the fact that they are different from traditional brackets and elastics means less pain overall. They were more expensive though, at 3.5k for both upper and lower teeth (invisalign would have set me back the same though).

If you're thinking about it, one regret I had was not going for the metal Damon brackets. The ceramic ones are slightly bigger and they can look kind of mangy if your teeth aren't sparkly clean all the time. Also, the metal ones allow for more movement quicker. People were going to notice I had braces anyway, so I wish I'd just gone full metal!

Other than that, they were fine. You can see how fucked up my teeth were before. They moved an extraordinary amount and were straight in just 18 months. Would recommend.

Oh yes and I do have a clear retainer that I wear every night. That's unavoidable if you have any kind of orthodontic work done.

I should also say I had a 14mm overjet* before beginning treatment. By the end it was...4mm!

*overjet = How far your front teeth stick out for those not aware!

Thanks so much and for the advice on the metal v ceramic. I’ve got a consultation soon with an orthodontist who does a huge variety of systems and from what I’ve read, Damon seems to be a good balance if effectiveness, pain, speed etc. I’m not sure I’m disciplined enough for Invisalign

Your smile is really transformed, it’s amazing. I’m probably not quite as complex a case as you - overcrowding, mostly on my lower jaw, - and it’s incredibly inspiring to compare your before and after.

Thanks :). Good luck with it.

Glad you are feeling okay Sophocles
Fabala your teeth look amazing!
I think if I had the confidence to pull off wearing metal braces I would have found them easier than the faffing about with invisalign but my self esteem has taken a battering recently so I went for what I hoped would be the most discreet option. At the minute it's working for me as no one has even noticed them but when the attachments go on I think that will unfortunately change

Best thing I ever did was get my Invisalign !

Were they painful at all? Do you take them out for eating?

Moving do you mean Invisalign or Damon braces?

I would really love to get my hideous teeth fixed, but every time I have looked into it dp talks me out of it! Says it's too expensive, inconvenient, won't work etc. It's probably too late for me now but I would encourage anyone else to just go for it.