Invisalign- Presley S

Getting My Invisalign Attachments, Buttons, and Elastic Bands

December 15, 2015 by admin Leave a Comment

It’s been a few weeks of my new life with Invisalign attachments, buttons, and bands, but I can honestly say it’s been a pretty simple transition. Before I get into my experience with them, I thought it would be important to describe what each of them actually are. Before I received my attachments and buttons, I actually thought those were interchangeable terms. I feel like I’m learning a whole new language!

What are Invisalign Attachments?

Attachments are small tooth-colored dots of dental bonding that are placed on certain teeth. They may be rectangular, square, circular, ellipsoidal or triangular in shape. The shape and placement of a button changes based on the purpose it serves. Attachments may promote tooth rotation, translation, intrusion or extrusion.

What are Invisalign Buttons?

Buttons are small plastic or metal brackets that serve as anchors for bands. One button may be placed on an upper eyetooth and the other on a lower molar, with an elastic band running between them. In some cases, one of the anchor points may be the Invisalign® aligner itself.

What are Invisalign Bands?

Bands are small elastic loops that hook onto the buttons. The thickness (or strength) of the bands varies based on need. The purpose of the buttons and bands are to correct any bite issues by encouraging proper alignment.

The longest Invisalign appointment for me, to date, has been the one where I received all of these extra bits and pieces. I was in the office for about an hour and a half while they applied each attachment and button. I’d keep that in mind when you finally schedule that appointment! I’d also recommend, if possible, to do it later in the day in case you have any irritation or soreness. The process itself didn’t hurt, but there is definitely a transition period after having them applied. It was difficult for me to eat for a day or two after I received my attachments, because they seemed sharp against my mouth as I chewed. A few days later, I barely noticed them!

The amount of attachments you receive is totally dependent on your individual Invisalign case. Some people have none, some people have a few, and some people have them on every tooth. I have attachments on every tooth but my top and bottom front teeth, two buttons on my back molars, two anchor points on my top aligner, and a band on each side of my mouth. And yet I still don’t feel annoyed by them! I’d say that is a huge success. The only things that have really continued to affect me in the slightest are my bands. I don’t open my mouth as wide to talk now, so my speech has changed a little bit. Other than that, none of my Invisalign additions are all that noticeable.

If you have any more questions, feel free to leave a comment!

My First Invisalign Aligners

November 10, 2015 by admin Leave a Comment

I recently got my first Invisalign® aligners! I’m currently on set 13 (Where has the time gone?), but I wanted to recap the beginning of my treatment before I move on to other topics. For those of you reading this who haven’t read my previous posts, you can learn more about my first Invisalign appointment before you read on.

Shortly after my initial Invisalign appointment, I came back to Dr. Carter’s office to pick up my first few aligners. I received a new patient kit, which was filled with aligner trays, a special brush, and instructions.

Seriously, this is all it takes for a nice, new smile? I was sold.

Of course, the most interesting thing I received that day was my first set of aligners. I was nervous to try them on, but it wasn’t a big deal at all. Yep, these babies are part of my daily routine now.

So how has my treatment been going? Well, I want to shout from the rooftops how excited I am that I’m officially working on my smile for the first time in my life. The best part? The process has been so smooth. That being said, there are a few things I have learned about wearing my Invisalign aligners:

• There should be no eating or drinking (except for clear liquids) while I’m wearing them. They need to be removed every time I eat, drink, or brush my teeth. I’ve actually noticed how much mindless snacking I did before I had the aligners. That’s probably the biggest “change” I’ve seen in my routine. It’s slightly more complicated now than just eating something quickly.
• I initially had a hard time remembering to grab my aligner case before heading out of the door each day. Tossing your aligners into a napkin before you eat isn’t the best idea, you guys. Luckily, you receive two cases. I now leave one in my purse and one by the bathroom sink. No more napkins.
• Ideally, you should wear your aligners for 22 hours a day. Some days I do better than others. I’d say I average between 20 & 21 hours a day, which is still within recommended ranges. I’m sure I’ll get better with practice. Maybe I should set a thirty minute alarm every time I take them out? Might just be a brilliant idea.
• There has been no pain associated with my treatment at all. My front teeth feel a little “achy” on the first day of a new set, but it’s definitely nothing I would complain about. By the second day, I barely feel them.
• I was also a little nervous about my speech being affected, but it’s not too bad! I’ve gotten passed the awkwardness, for sure. Sometimes my “s” sounds come out a little weird, but again, I can’t complain.

Overall, I am pleasantly surprised by how easy this whole process has been. I’ll check back in later with more details on my attachments, buttons, and bands and using AcceleDent to speed the whole thing up. If you have any questions, leave a comment below!

My First Invisalign Appointment

August 29, 2015 by admin 2 Comments

Before heading to my first Invisalign appointment, I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. I had been wearing a pendulum appliance for months leading up to this appointment, so I was just excited to get that out. I had a feeling getting and wearing trays would be a breeze compared to a permanent retainer. I was right!

After they removed my pendulum and took more “before” pictures, they started the Invisalign fitting process. I had heard horror stories of orthodontist using gross goo to take the impressions, but at Dr. Carter‘s office they use an awesome handheld imaging device.

After a few minutes of scanning, the computer created a rough digital image that exactly mirrors my smile, in all of its crooked glory. The really cool thing about the image was that it was able to show me all the angles. I honestly never realized just how bad my overbite was until I saw the 360 degree view of it. Yikes, you guys.

A few minutes after that, the computer had produced a finalized version of my smile, along with a predicted outcome after I’m done with all of Invisalign trays. At my next appointment, they will show me the official Invisalign predictions, but they explained that this one would be pretty darn close. I have to say, I definitely like the new smile much, much better. It’s really cool to see then end goal when you’re starting a process like this!

And with that, my first appointment was over. It was a really simple, pain free process and it was also seriously neat to watch my smile change on the screen. Now I’m officially on my way to a healthy, new smile. I couldn’t be more excited to share the Invisalign process. If you have any questions about anything so far, leave me a comment. I’ll do my best to fill you in!

In the meantime, if you’re interested in getting started, schedule your free consultation today.

Molars on the Move: My Pendulum Appliance

February 18, 2015 by admin 1 Comment

As a new Carter Orthodontics patient, and a first-time orthodontics patient in general, I really did not know what to expect when I decided to finally straighten my teeth. I’ve wanted to start this process for such a long time, but I didn’t want traditional braces. Invisalign sounded really appealing, so I reached out to Dr. Carter to learn more about how they could work for me. I made an appointment in January and crossed my fingers that I would be a candidate for the process.

After my initial appointment, I was told that I was in fact a candidate for Invisalign! Cue the happy dance. Come to find out, Invisalign can work for most people. I just assumed that my teeth were too far gone, you guys. The only downside to the process was that I would need to wear a pendulum first. What’s a pendulum, you ask? This beautiful thing, right here:

pendulum appliance

I promise it’s not as scary as it looks. The pendulum appliance is used move the back molars into the correct position. My back left molar was crowding my other teeth and needed to be adjusted before I could move forward with the plastic Invisalign aligners. The pendulum consists of a plastic piece that touches the roof of your mouth and wire springs that basically sweet talk your molars into moving further back into your mouth. I’ll have to wear this for several months before it’s removed and I can be fitted for my first aligners.

As far as wearing the pendulum goes, it’s definitely not as bad as I thought it would be. I speak a little funny now, some foods are slightly more awkward to eat (lettuce, I’m looking at you), and it was somewhat uncomfortable for the first week. Overall, I’m still extremely excited to continue the process of revealing my brand new smile!