My Experience With Invisalign: How Is The Adaptation To The Aligners

A few weeks ago I told you what the were the reasons why when trying to correct my teeth I chose Invisalign orthodontics. I was convinced by the fact that I was able to take off the aligners to eat, as well as to clean them properly without risking food scraps; and I liked, although it was not a priority for me, that it was hardly noticeable that I was wearing orthodontics.

On the other hand, I was a little scared that if I chose the braces they hurt my mouth in some way, so these wearing molds seemed great to me. Something more expensive in terms of price, but more relaxed when it comes to cures and cares for my mouth.

How does it feel to wear invisible braces?

After the pertinent study of my teeth, the dentist summoned me to show me on a computer, in a three-dimensional image, the process that my mouth was going to undergo. I really enjoyed recognizing my teeth on the screen and seeing how they evolved week by week in its computer animation, until it reached a point where it seemed incredible to me that they were this good.

That is to say, at that moment I felt a mixture of hope, illusion, and impatience; wanting to start and get to the endpoint where the teeth were already that way.

But it was still a few more days until the first aligners were finally delivered to me. According to the dentist told me, the first two molds made a very slight correction, since the objective was that they did not bother me much, that I was getting used to their use and the daily routine of wearing them.

And so the moment came when he finally put them on my teeth. They fit well, although when fixing them I already noticed the forces that they exerted in different directions to begin to solve the crossbite little by little. It is difficult to explain the sensation, but it would be as if with your own fingers you were continually trying to force your teeth to be in another position: a gentle but constant pressure.

I also found it strange not knowing very well how to put the tongue. Not being in contact with the teeth, as usual, I tended to push it back so that it did not collide with the material that covered all my teeth. But this did not last long, in a few days, tongue and molds became good friends.

Why I was about to abandon invisible orthodontics

Everything was going well until at night I got ready to eat a small sandwich that I had prepared. I took off the aligners, rinsed them with a little water under the tap, and put them in one of the boxes they gave me for temporary storage. As I went for the first bite, I saw the stars, the sun, and the moon orbiting around me. I tried to bite again, and the pain stabbed in my teeth again: And it had only been a few hours! I was a little desperate to think that I had to be like this for a year and a half.

Luckily, little by little, I was able to bite the bread and I was able to move on with dinner, to prove to myself that yes, at first it bothers to bite a bit, but after a while, it passes a bit.

The next day he realized that he had to travel to give a lecture, and something happened that he did not expect: when he spoke to people more than usual, rubbing and wounds appeared on his tongue and on the inside of his lower lip. Wounds that the aligners kept touching every time I spoke.

“How painful! And it’s only the first mold… and it’s only the first day. I will leave this, ”I thought. However, I soon remembered that I had already paid for almost half the corrective treatment and that put me back, while I was thinking that “Now I understand why they charged me so much to do the study of the mouth … if not, I would quit”.

Why did I have to file the Invisalign aligners?

I took them off to survive that day so that the next day the pain from the mouth wounds had subsided quite a bit; I remember that the hygienist had told me that the molds are cut by laser and that sometimes the edge can be annoying, and I applied the solution he told me: when I got home I applied a file to the areas of the edge that rubbed the most.

As is commonly said, it was the hand of a saint. Once those edges were filed, they stopped bothering and the wounds were fixed without reappearing.

Little by little I got used to the routine of taking them off to eat, cleaning them well after meals and putting them back on, and even talking quietly to them in my mouth (at first I took them off a lot if I had to speak extensively, give a lecture, etc).

So although the principles were a bit difficult for me, I can only recommend them. I have been with the invisible orthodontics and there are people I work with every day who still haven’t realized I’m wearing it.

The care and maintenance of aligners: a luxury

I have never carried orthodontics before, so I do not have the possibility to compare with previous experiences, but I have spoken with people who took it and they all agree on the same thing: I wish I could have done what you eat without an “appliance”, wash it and put it back on.

And it all comes down to taking them off in the morning for breakfast, brushing your teeth, cleaning the molds with the brush and a little paste and water, and putting them back on, repeating this operation for lunch, lunch, and dinner (or sometimes that is precise if something is going to be consumed).

It is true that as the days go by the transparent aligners take on something whitish in color, but when it goes on the teeth it is imperceptible, and also you have to discard them immediately: when I see that they begin to be even whiter it turns out that already I have to wear the following, which are completely new and pristine. So, I put the file where I know they can hurt me, I put them on, and I’m already on the premiere again.