Invisalign Part 2: The disadvantages

Jes 4 Comments

After the initial one day pain of feeling like your whole mouth is swollen and is the focus of your attention, your mouth will still feel a bit of the tightness after every change of the aligners which occur every 2 weeks. Everything went quite smoothly other than that, and I don't really feel its presence most times.

I ate with it because it was so cumbersome to take out and put on each time. Plus, I don't find any difference eating with the aligners even though my dentist said she felt that she can't taste the food properly with the aligners. When I take it out, some of my teeth are not aligned properly anymore and my bite feels weird. So, whatever method that you prefer is fine. If you eat with the aligners like me, be sure to check your reflection of your teeth in the mirror after each meal.

Cereal, black pepper food and spices: They are always stuck in the aligners. Take note of dark coloured food as they are quite unsightly. I forgot to check occasionally too =(

Yellowing issues! (Source: ayako at flickr)
Curry: Beware! Roti prata, curry chicken, vegetable, fish, curry sauce on your rice... The curry will stain the aligners yellow. You must definitely clean it right after eating or you will live with the yellow aligners until the next biweekly change. Green curry doesn't make it that bad though.

I forgot about it once and came to regret it. Tried soaking it in vinegar, baking soda, mouthwash, toothpaste water, salt water and the stains doesn't come off. The only thing that works is repeated brushing of it with toothpaste but the colour doesn't come off immediately, it gradually fades away and becomes less yellowish.

Eating hard things like nuts, cereal, apples and other food might make you uncomfortable in the beginning as your teeth are slightly shaky.

My Favourite apples but can't bite on it! (Source: Wikipedia)
Apple: I can't eat it as a whole but have to cut it into smaller pieces because the aligners are not sharp enough to bite.

Nuts: They are so hard that they wear off the aligners at the back but I just clip off the edges with a nail clipper and continue eating.

These are just some of the food that I have encountered but it's fine other than that.

The worst part of invisalign is not about the food getting stuck. It is that I have a misconception that the aligners will look invisible throughout. After the first month, the dentist installed some attachments on the teeth so as to control the movement of each teeth.

The new aligners will take into account all the attachments and together with the aligners, they are ultra visible. It is no longer invis-align now. I really thought people will not be able to see it but I guess I had too high expectations of it. My friends said that they will not notice it if they are not within an arm's length of me so I guess that is some consolation. Please take all these into consideration before you go ahead with this and do read Part 1 to compare it with braces.

I have no regrets because it is still less visible compared to bracers and no pain anymore! 

Jes

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4 comments:

  1. has the good old days of visiting customers and calling them to touch base fading off slowly in this Internet world? Gosh, even dentists are using affiliate marketing to sell their products/services. Of course, we used to call them referrals and buy them lunch in the past..........now..........all these jumbo mambo........

    Maybe you should listen to James Blunt - You are beautiful even though he gets bored answering the questions many asked him on the lyrics and stuff.
    For me, beauty is skin deep and one must not let outward image of a person influence too much..........

    of course, these are my 2cents lah.........
    Definitely, not a good idea to eat peanuts on a first date with the aligners.......hehe

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    Replies
    1. Hi Desmond,

      I don't think I have ever heard of dentists calling to touch base with their patients. I think these referrals are really smart because one would have done it anyway without the referrals. It's benefitting us consumers so I am not complaining.

      Yeah seems like only I would think myself pretty, no need straight teeth, hehe. But then, it is getting more and more crooked and affecting my mouth structure, plus it will also contribute to the decay of my teeth. So better to get it over and done with. If it's all about looks, I think I wouldn't have waited till today, it's a bit too late!

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  2. Hi Jes,
    Can you email me your tips and the additional information about the braces and invisalign in Casa dental. Thanks.
    Just drop an email at kimanh.dang@yahoo.com.
    Looking for your information.
    Kim.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Kim,

      I have dropped you a mail... thanks for reading! :)

      Delete

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