Two Years Later, Still Aligning Along...

I finally got my Invisalign aligners at the end of March. It's been six months since my last update, and I'm still getting adjustments to my aligners and braces. I've still got Invisalign on top, clear braces on the bottom.

The pics below are comparison shots. The first pic is from February 2007, before I received my Invisalign trays, but after OrthoClear had dumped my case about a year into my treatment. The second pic was taken on Aug. 29, 2007.

My whole treatment with Invisalign was six upper aligners. I finished with the sixth aligner about two months ago, but I'm not completely happy with the results. Yeah, they look pretty straight, and they are certainly straighter than when I began treatment. But I don't like how one of the upper canine teeth is lined up. If you're looking at the pics here, it's the canine tooth on the right. It pokes out a bit still from the other teeth. The canine on the left doesn't do that. And a bicuspid on the left in the pic didn't get pulled down as it should have. So I'm currently waiting for my refinement trays. I'm hoping to get them within another month or so.
The first pic with my mouth open is from Dec. 2006, the second pic of my mouth open was taken on Aug. 29, 2007.

















The bottom teeth are still coming along. It's been almost one year since I got this contraption cemented to my poor teeth, and I'm sick of it! Note the lovely power chain- my FIFTH since I began treatment. If you're looking at the pic, the tooth that is being difficult is the pointy one on the right. It's taking its own time tilting and moving to where it needs to be. It's getting close, though! My ortho has needed to bend the arch wire in special directions to help it along. I've now developed a gap in my teeth just to the left of the middle teeth. It's the darker line between teeth on the left.
I'm so close to the end of this, I can hardly stand it! The pic on the top was taken in Feb. 2007, the pic below it was taken Aug. 29, 2007.





I'm 17 weeks pregnant at this point, and I'm here to tell you that pregnancy and orthodontics do not mix! I've gone from needing to eat 3 times a day to needing to eat every 2-3 hours. It's a true pain in the booty to have to keep flossing and brushing all day long! And try to deal with the pain of braces adjustment when you're already feeling moody/grumpy/achy- not fun! Ladies, if you can delay your orthodontic treatment until after you have a baby, I strongly suggest it!

Power chain!

I'm in a lot of pain since getting a power chain attached to my lower brackets yesterday. So I'm not going to write much. I managed to get two pics, though, so you can see what a power chain looks like when installed on the braces. It's not easy to see, but boy can I feel it working! Ouch!

I've provided comparison shots: the image on the top is from December 2006. The image below it was taken on Feb. 21, 2007, and has the power chain attached. The power chain makes the guide wire more 'invisible' in my opinion!

Again the top image is from December 2006. The image below it was taken on Feb. 21, 2007, and has the power chain attached.

Oh, and I'm still waiting for my Invisalign to come in!

Still waiting!

It's been awhile since my last post, I know. There just hasn't been anything going on tooth-wise lately!

I had an adjustment to my lower braces about 4 weeks ago, and it was quite uneventful. It didn't even come with discomfort.

My Invisalign treatment for my upper arch is still in limbo. I called my ortho today to check for a status update, and there's not much to report. I was told that my ClinChek was 'in process.' At least I'm finally in their system! The office is guessing that my aligners will arrive sometime around March, but I'm not holding my breath.

I go in for another round of adjustments in less than two weeks, so I will post an update if I get one! :)

Delayed

I have been sick for over three weeks now. There's nothing like the holidays when you're sick! It started off with an allergy (I was allergic to the Christmas tree!), which caused conjunctivitis, which lead to an infection in my tear ducts, which resulted in a massive sinus infection. Three different doctors, three different antibiotics, and a slew of allergy eye drops and meds later, I'm still looking like a gorilla used my eyes as punching bags.

So I've had to postpone my latest visit to my ortho for lower braces adjustments (2 weeks). I don't know if I could spread my 'bug' to anyone, but I don't want to risk getting an ortho's assistant sick. That, and I don't think I could tolerate yet more discomfort; it takes about 5 days after a braces adjustment for my teeth to recover.

I noticed that my bottom teeth are leaning to the left- see the second pic below to see what I mean. I hope that this gets corrected with the next adjustment. And my molars in the back on the right are finally touching again. Yay!

Hope everyone has a safe and fun New Year's! :)

Updated pics!

I've got updated pics for y'all!

These are the most recent shots since I became a hybrid. I've got my clear retainers on the top that look just like Invisalign aligners, only without the buttons. The bottom has my clear bracket braces. The braces have been really effective in moving my teeth where they need to be!


Can you see my upper retainers? They really are invisible! I still need some refinements on the top. According to my ortho, I've only got a few months left once I get my Invisalign aligners sometime in March 2007.












I have to make a weird face to make the bottom braces really visible. No one has noticed them yet, and they've been on for almost 3 months. Yay! My ortho thinks that I will be free of the braces on the bottom by March- just in time to begin my Invisalign treatment. I never thought I'd be finished with the bottom teeth before the top ones!

OrthoClear lawsuit, anyone?

When I heard about the OrthoClear sell out, I was really shocked. I was over a year into treatment when it happened, with about 6 more months to go. I had already paid my orthodontist in full for treatment with OrthoClear. Then the news that I wouldn't be able to resume treatment until sometime in March 2007- and that date is subject to change to a later time.

My lower arch needed the most work, so I opted for clear braces on the bottom to keep moving things along. I paid an additional $750 for the braces. I chose to wait for Invisalign for my upper arch. My ortho has made me a clear retainer to wear until Invisalign provides treatment.

I really don't appreciate that Invisalign has placed the OrthoClear patients at the back of the line. I don't appreciate that OrthoClear has violated the contract it made with me by not providing full treatment for aligners that I have already paid for. I don't appreciate that I've had to shell out an additional $750 so I can complete my treatment in a reasonable amount of time.

Oh, did I mention that I was the very first OrthoClear patient at my ortho's office? And did I also mention how forthcoming my ortho was about telling me how much stock he owned in OrthoClear? He was so enthusiastic about the product when he pitched it being better than Invisalign. Looking back, I'm sure he was actually enthusiastic about the profits he was hoping to gain through the stock in OrthoClear.

I found a website that may be compiling plaintiffs for a class-action lawsuit against OrthoClear:

https://www.orthoclearlawsuit.com/

I don't know how much of a difference a lawsuit would make. I don't even know if it's possible to sue a defunct company. I've submitted my info to the attorney, though. I would love to get back at OrthoClear if I can!

OrthoClear No More

Someone call a Waaambulance! Well, that's it. Align Technologies bought out OrthoClear. No more OrthoClear! Since I'm 13 months into OrthoClear treatment, and still quite away from completion, it'll be interesting to find out how the rest of my treatment will go.

I called my ortho today to get more info. It turns out that they didn't even know about it! They sounded somewhat alarmed, and assured me that they were going to call OrthoClear's regional representative to find out more.

According to Align Technologies (the company that owns Invisalign) "OrthoClear patients will start treatment with Invisalign as if they were a new case. Doctors will have to take new records and submit a new case form, and Align will need verify that the patient is eligible for free treatment. However, Align will allow doctors to start OrthoClear patients in Invisalign at no charge - provided they agree not to charge their patients an additional fee."

So no additional fee. I expected that at the very least. But starting over?! This means that I have to get new impressions made, and that I'll have to wait 6-8 weeks to get my new aligners! I've been in treatment for over a year with less than 6 months to go at this point. Now I'm going to be delayed about 2 months?! This sucks. I was hoping that I'd be finished with aligners by Christmas. Grrrrr! Get me a Waaaambulance.

My OrthoClear Progress

Updated pics!

Lots of updated pics of my OrthoClear treatment are here! This shot is with aligner set #18 in.




And for those who want to know if the aligners fit completely around your teeth, here are how my current aligners are fitting. You can see some space at the bottoms of my upper aligners, as well as on the bottom ones. It's not very noticable, especially when you're talking.

This is the first shot of my teeth before I began treatment. Can we say "Snaggletooth"?

This shot is after five months of treatment. A big improvement!





This is the latest pic, 12 months into treatment. There's not much change in the front teeth, but my molars are in the process of moving outwards. My smile is looking more square than it used to. My overbite is greatly reduced as well!


Here's a sequence of comparisons of my aligners between my first set and set #19 (which I don't have in yet). Click on the image to enlarge it!


The most dramatic improvement has been with the reduction of crowding on my lower teeth. While my teeth aren't completely straight on the bottom yet, they are much better than one year ago!

This shot is of both aligners stacked so you can see how my overbite (and overall bite!) has been improved.


Here's a comparison shot of my top aligners. I still have straightening to do, but I hope I'm close to being finished with my treatment!