invisalign

[Livid]

I am an invisalign user that recently had my trays stop fitting properly. New impressions were done so that new trays could be made. I was exactly half way through my treatment. The new trays took 6 weeks to come, so I was on hold. When they arrived, 22 extra trays were added, extending my treatment another 14 months. I still have not received an adequate explanation for this. The only thing that keeps being thrown around is a "mid-treatment adjustment." The possiblity of this was NEVER explained to me. As a matter of fact, it was the opposite -- that Invisalign is calculated by computer and that each tray will move your teeth exactly where they are supposed to. I am thinking malpractice of some sort. My new trays feel much different than the first set, as though the first set were never right to begin with. If there is anyone out there with a similar experience, would you please post it, especially if you are over 35? Thank you.

[attitude]

To Livid,
I would love an update on you and your teeth. I am 33, should be 8 weeks away from the end of treatment but my ortho has been very dodgy in answering my questions. My molars don't touch, which is very annoying, and he commented that we may need to extend treatment also. I purposely chose the dates of treatment so it would be done before my weddding, plus I am moving out of state and not sure how that will work as far as follow-up appts.
Last week he "slenderized" several teeth, both with the diamond-sandpaper thing and his own motorized drill-type thing. Now I have a gap where there was not one or did not need to be.
I am disappointed that Invisalign was not as accurate as planned.
Please write and let me know your progress.
csw

[Livid]

Hi Attitude --

I never did get an explanation for the change in fit. They blamed me and my doctor b/c I was wearing the trays for 10 days rather than 14 in an attempt to shorten my initial treatment, which was supposed to be 30 months. She claimed she had gotten permission from them for me to wear them 10 days. Their literature says "10-14 days." They claim they never allow that. You are constantly stuck between your doctor and Invisalign and they both protect each other.

I should have been done by 4/05. Now, I am looking at 11/05. BUT -- last month, the trays started to not fit again. So now they are making me new ones. The back and forth has already taken a month and my orthodontist just said ok to the clinchek on Wednesday. She wants to add elastics to them to speed up the process or just put me in invisible braces. I don't want either. But we can get no explanation from Invisalign as to why this keeps happening. With each time, they also compromise my treatment plan, giving me LESS perfection than my doctor originally ordered. Invisalign will not talk to me, only to my doctor -- she is their customer is their response. I am about ready to go to a different orthodontist for another opinion and possibly hire a lawyer. I am almost in these 2 years now and I am stuck because of the spaces in my teeth.

As to your situation -- I have read elsewhere on here about that shaving. My orthodontist does not believe in that b/c she feels the teeth will not fit properly if you do it -- I wouldn't allow it anyway. What I do notice is that so far my back teeth haven't totally closed together so that when I eat, I always must floss. This is annoying as I never got food stuck between my teeth before. She assures me the space will close, but I'm not confident. I am going to start contacting some state agencies -- consumer affairs, better business bureau and dental regulators. I have had it. My mouth is always sore and I am back to wearing them for the full 14 days -- still they stopped fitting and still no explanation.

Also -- if you move out of state, I believe you can call Invisalign to transfer your case to a new orthodontist there. They offered to change my orthodontist the first time these didn't fit. Hope you don't have to have them on for your wedding!!! But that was my additional concern. My bottom teeth only required about 15 trays initially. I finished them up last July. But I didn't think they looked straight, so she took impressions. I thought I would get a few extra trays and wound up with 13 -- that's 6 more months to "tweak" my bottom. So what if I need "tweaking" on the top after being in them for 3 years? It's ridiculous. Let me know how your situation turns out. You are the only one who responded about delays. Thanks.

[brwneyez9]

There are two reasons that you would need refinement. If you where not compliant meaning you didn't where your trays 22 hours a day since the day you started. The other way is that you probably had adjustments that you where having done(some patients don't have to have these adjustments)it you missed the appointment and didn't have the adjustment done when you where suppose to that is very important. Or the dentist wasn't aggresive enough with his adjusting when it was time to do it.Meaning when he did it he didn't adjust enough off the teeth to make enough room for the next tray room for the teeth to move like they needed too even through they may have fit.My husband is going through refinement too. Other than the fact that now treatment is longer(his being due to not wearing them like he should) there shouldn't be anything else that bothers you. I could be wrong but you should be paying for this new treatment. At least that is the way it worked at the office we go to. We get the first refinement free and then if for any reason it needs to be done again then we get charged.As far as treatment goes. I have worked with invisaglin and i have only heard 14 days no shorter. You don't want to move things to fast that could cause alot of problems later for you. One the fact that you are not happy with them now because they are not straght enough for you. Plus you have to remember when you move teeth you have to move the root of the tooth. You have to be careful with that. The faster you move that the more chance of root reabsorbing. You don't want that. I have seen patients that had that with the metal braces and one way for that to happen is moving the teeth to fast. That can be bad the roots become shorter and then you don't have as much tooth structure as you once had in the done and that is not good for your teeth. The more support in the bone the more stable your teeth will be.Those gaps that you get with the adjustments are normal and the teeth will eventally move to close that up. These are just some thoughts and suggestions to help you guys out. I don't know everything that is happening and maybe you should get a second oppion. As far as transfering treatment shop around and make sure you get someone you are really happy with. I had a friend that started treatment at one office and was really happy. Her husband got a job in FL and they had to move. She flew home for a few months to have the treatment coutined(until she found a dentist in FL to take over). You have to find a invisalign certified dentist to transfer you case to. Remember the new dentist is going to charge you to take over your case. I know my friend paid $4,000 for her treatment. Then since she had to tranfer her case she had to pay another $2,000 for the new dentist to take it over. A new dentist isn't going to take if over with out charging you. They are not going to do the rest of the treatment for free. Right now your charge at your current dentist covers his time, material and the adjustments. I am sure the new dentist will base it on how long you have left. Good luck to you all.I hope i have answered some questions for you. I wish you guys the best. I am not try to stick up for invisalign. I sometime myself am not sure that i agree with the treatment. I wanted to do it when my husband is done. I had metal braces, but failed to wear my retainers. I am not sure that i agree with the adjustments shaving off some of the tooth. My husband loves them and is really happy (even though we have to start over it's due to him not wearing them like he should)with the results he has gotten so far.

[Livid]

Well, thanks for your reply. I have had no refinements or adjustments to my teeth. I have read that many dentists do that shaving of the teeth, but it is not a good idea because the teeth cannot and will not fit properly when they are finally moved to where they are supposed to be. As far as being compliant, I am. I am an older person, not a child. I didn't want to be in these any longer than I needed to. Also, if the reason they weren't fitting properly any longer was b/c of not wearing them long enough, then I would imagine that keeping the first ill-fitting tray in an extra week or two would have adjusted for this. As far as the 10 days -- yes, I have heard about moving the teeth too quickly; however, Invisalign's own "informed consent" literature (which I also did not get until AFTER I already had my Invisaligns) specifically states that patients wear the trays from 10-14 days. That is where we got the idea. Finally -- I did not sign up for 30 months of Invisalign -- my orthodontist had told me 18 months, not to say the 37 or longer I am now going to be in them. Therefore, I absolutely refuse to pay for extra time/treatments. Invisalign evaluated my case and said they could do the job in 30 months. I simply cannot wear these any longer than I have been. But b/c of the point you make, I am going to start keeping a log of my wearing time. The problem with this whole situation is that you are caught between a physician and a product manufacturer. I want people to know what can and does happen; how they each blame each other; how there is little you can do about it and how just as you did -- Invisalign and your doctor always have an out -- YOUR noncompliance or your individual case of teeth not moving the way they predicted. Once these things are on your teeth, spaces begin to open between them. If things go wrong, as in my case, YOU are the one with the problem. And your only solution is to keep ever increasing the amount of time you stay in the Invisaligns or to go to traditional braces of some type -- the very situation you attempted to avoid by getting Invisaligns in the first place. Additionally, I believe that any company that keeps you waiting 6-8 weeks when their product fails you (thus adding an additional 2 months to your time right there) or a company that refuses to stand behind their product with you and do something as small as let a professional get on and explain your situation to you and attempt to rectify it -- shouldn't even be in business. This is purely a money-making proposition both for Invisalign and for the orthodontists. There is very little work or apparent liability for them if it doesn't work. It's all up to YOU and your teeth. I think it's pure BS. My orthodontist never did anything more to me than watch me put in my next tray and listen that it "clicked" on. She works only 2 days a week and these are not even full-time days. I have seen her "roster" of Invisalign patients and for someone who works that amount of hours, it is obscene.