<p>I used denture cleaner on my Invisalign (recommended by my orthodontist). I wouldn’t soak overnight, but it just takes a few minutes to remove the ‘ick’. </p>
<p>Not letting saliva dry on them seems impossible. We dine out a lot and I would pop them out in the car before entering the restaurant and not put them back in until we got home (I hate brushing my teeth in public places). </p>
<p>I loved mine! It was almost exactly 2 years and (as with ALL braces now) you need to sleep in the retainer at least a couple nights per week for the rest of your life, but my teeth look so much better!</p>
<p>About the ‘lisp’, I think mine was gone in just a day or two…hang in there!</p>
<p>I had regular braces (ceramic brackets) for almost 2 years. I lost 15 pounds since I couldn’t eat much in the beginning due to discomfort. Even when the pain went away, I still didn’t eat certain things. No salads since the greens got stuck in the brackets and wires, and no bread for the same reason. I had a lot of soup.</p>
<p>wnp, Are we related? Not only do we both have braces, but I also had a molar that started feeling “funny” last year. My dentist x-rayed it and didn’t find anything remarkable, so he told me to wait a few months to see how it felt. When it still felt funny after several months and another x-ray didn’t show anything, my dentist referred me to an endodontist, who diagnosed pulpitis. I had a root canal and the tooth has felt fine since.</p>
<p>Hope you have better luck than me when you get your wires changed. The last time I had new wires put in the technician jerked out my crown. Now I’m scared to get new wires.</p>
<p>BB, Those little brushes and floss threaders are my new best friends! The problem I’m having is what to do in situations where I’m talking and laughing a lot, such as eating out with friends. What do you do when you’re eating a several course meal over a couple of hours? It’s kind of embarrassing to get up after every course and run to the restroom. On top of that, I find it kind of disgusting to clean my teeth in strange restrooms. Oh, and when it’s a one-person restroom and you actually have to “go”, it takes forever to do your business AND clean your teeth and people who are waiting to use the restroom get really mad at you! </p>
<p>CBBBlinker, I agree–salad and bread are the worst! Rice and nuts are bad, too.</p>
<p>My DH started Invisalign 3 months ago. He had orthodontia as a teen, but was never given a retainer, so his teeth shifted. He always carries and uses a Colgate Wisp disposable brush/pick.</p>
<p>This was my problem too. I had a retainer, but just for a short time - my teeth were beautiful! Fast-forward 20 years and the gap between my front teeth came back. I guess this is why my kids were told that they would have to wear retainers forever.</p>
<p>OK, I need handholding and mental support from y’all.</p>
<p>52, horrible teeth getting worse, professional. Really need to get them fixed.</p>
<p>Have seen 2 orthodontists for evaluation. Will need at least 3 or 4 teeth pulled to make room. Also have one tooth laying sideways inside my jaw that has never caused any problems but they think it may need to be removed. Need to break my jaw to get into it. They seem to think its no big deal but sound horrible to me.</p>
<p>I am petrified. I don’t mind the braces part but all this teeth pulling gives me the willies. Anyone else had to have this kind of stuff done and will I survive it?</p>
<p>I got Invisilign 10 years ago and never regreted it. Growing up, my father was self-employed and we had no money for dental care. My lower canine teeth were perpendicular to normal and one was a cross-bite to my upper teeth. </p>
<p>Before Invisilign, I had one orthodontist (not the one I used) that wanted to pull one lower incisor to create enough space. My point is that you might want to get a few opinions before committing to one. </p>
<p>It only took 6 months for my top & 9 month for my bottom to be fixed,however he had me wear the last set for another 9 months 24/7 to ensure they were well seated. In order to make enough space, my dentist used sandpaper floss to file down between my teeth. I still wear retainers to bed every night, as I have TMD and grind my teeth. My ortho gave me a retainer cleaner to use when they get gross - my D uses it on her retainers.</p>
<p>If two orthodontist said Invisalign were not an option, I would probably believe them. </p>
<p>ihs76 - I had my wisdom teeth pulled prior to treatment and it was not a problem. I was already to pamper myself for a couple of days - I loaded up my kindle and I thought I would be just sittin’ pretty reading and taking occasional pain meds. Didn’t happen. I was really fine by that night. I milked a little extra sympathy from DH - but it was no big deal. </p>
<p>Jaw surgery is a whole different animal. The second ortho I talked to about my braces said he is very cautious about recommending jaw surgery. I think the recovery would be pretty tough. </p>
<p>I wouldn’t worry about the teeth being pulled, but I would want to know that jaw surgery was essential.</p>
<p>Well, they said they’d have to look at the x rays and decide if the tooth lying there in repose would interfere with root movement of the teeth being realigned. I guess I’ll go the next step and get the x rays done. I’m thinking if I need my jaw broken into, that’ll be the deal breaker.</p>
<p>My 53 yo husband got braces in the fall. I guess he decided it was time. His only complaints are no popcorn and hard tacos. The kid had hers when she was 7 (had to catch the adult teeth before they came in at crazy angles - took after her dad- lol).</p>
<p>I am finally going to do it! Well, have the appointment set up anyway. Plan is to get braces on next week then pull 3 pre-molars few days after. The 4th is laying in my jaw and will be left to its own devices. I told them having to remove that was a dealbreaker. As it is, the teeth on that part of my jaw have enough room without that premolar so they don’t look too bad. They will leave that section alone and I will end up with top and half of bottom in braces.</p>
<p>Any advice on how to survive the first few days will be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>My 70 some year old mother, who loves to baby me, will be visiting at that point so she will be ecstatic to make me all kinds of easy to eat food. </p>
<p>I scheduled some moonlighting work to pay the 6K :eek:</p>
<p>2 advil every 2.5-3 hours. When you start to feel a twinge of pain, pop the advil! (you may be lucky and not have pain when they are first installed - it’s the tightening that’s the problem). For the teeth that are pulled, they will probably give you a prescription pain killer. Good Luck! Did they tell you how long to expect it will take?</p>
<p>The 16yo is nearing the end. He’s now seeing the ortho monthly, and we hope they’re off in August before schools starts. This last month is the only time he’s complained at all about pain, and that’s because they used a heavier gauge wire to perfect things as he heads into the home stretch.</p>
<p>The 19yo goes back for his second visit next week when he’s back from college. He has busted two brackets (is that the right word?) while he was gone so this could take a while for him at that rate. I’m going to try to get the ortho to do the heavier wire for ds1 because of the lost time on the upper teeth thanks to the busted brackets, and that’s where he needs the most help. I have to figure out whether to get a local ortho at his college 1,000 miles away.</p>
<p>The big issue, however, is that when we went to get the braces put on, the ortho informs us he needs oral surgery. It sounds hideous, but everyone swears it’s not that bad to have your jaw broken and realigned :eek: <em>thud</em> Plus, he needs surgery to correct his deviated septum and have his wisdom teeth out, which can be done at the same time.</p>
<p>^^ Ouch on the jaw thing. They do seem to think it’s no big deal. </p>
<p>nj2011: I’m assuming it will take a full 2 years. They are pretty crooked and they have to move into the to-be-empty slots. This will be interesting to see. Maybe I’ll take photos every month or two to document progress.</p>
<p>Looking at the molds they took of my teeth was a ‘yuck, that’s terrible’ moment :D.</p>
<p>Dear fellow brace buddies - I had my braces removed yesterday and I am so happy!!! This was the best thing I have ever done for myself. I never realized just how much shifting teeth age you. My teeth now look like they did when I was 23 and I feel so good. I have to wear the retainer at all times for the first six weeks and then the orthodontist said we will most likely start to lessen the time. </p>
<p>I also happy I didn’t listen to the first orthodontist. He would have removed four other teeth in addition to my wisdom teeth and he suggested breaking my jaw. I can’t imagine how the result would have been any better - although I am sure my profile would have improved slightly. </p>
<p>Anyway - for anyone considering braces, DO IT. As my 83 year old mom said, you will be happy every morning when you see how nice they look and you will just want to smile (for someone with dementia, she says the most insightful things).</p>
<p>We were never able to get the jaw surgery on ds1 mentioned above. There’s one guy in about a 50-mile radius who does it, so he calls the shots. There was no way to get it done when ds was home from college. So, this summer, we just took the braces off, and he looks great. It’s amazing how the straightened teeth help. Like you, I’m sure his profile would be better with the surgery, but he’s going to have to make that call on his own later in life.</p>
<p>Oh, but we did get the deviated septum surgery done, and ds is sooo happy. I had been telling him that he had no idea how poorly he slept because he’s never known what a good night’s sleep was!</p>
<p>Thanks for the encouraging good report on getting through your treatment! After deliberating for years, I decided to go for it. I just had my upper braces put on, one week ago. This was a tough decision for this 50+ mom! I hope to be as happy as you in (hopefully) just a few months from now.</p>
<p>In case you missed it, Faith Hill got braces. Her story is similar to mine (well, not really…)- had braces as a child but did not wear her retainer, so teeth moved and she needed to do it again as an adult…
<p>DuckMom - YAY for you! I know you will be so happy you made the decision to get braces. Honestly, the time went by quickly and every morning when I brush my teeth I am just so glad I did it. I wear my retainer from after dinner until morning. If for some reason I am away and don’t get home until late, I wear the retainer all day the following day. You really don’t notice it and I don’t mind it. </p>
<p>I didn’t need braces as a kid. I wish as my teeth started to shift my dentist would have noticed and recommended a retainer at that time. </p>
<p>One tip - those little christmas tree-looking brushes are wonderful. I spent a small fortune on them and I continue to use them to get between my teeth!</p>