My Invisalign Blog

My Invisalign Braces Experience

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • HOME
  • INVISALIGN FAQ
  • PRIVACY POLICY
  • ABOUT ME
  • CONTACT

How They Remove Invisalign Attachments Or Buttons…

March 22, 2010 by admin 31 Comments

Looking for advice on how to remove your Invisalign trays? Click here

This week was another milestone in my treatment as it was time to remove my Invisalign attachments or buttons. I have now reached 30/34 on my first run of lower Invisalign braces (only 4 more to go!) and set 9/9 of my first run of Invisalign refinements on my upper arch- in other words, the first run of my upper refinements are now finished! To mark this momentous occasion I had a long appointment with my orthodontist to evaluate how my upper teeth are now looking, and also, joy of joy, to remove my upper Invisalign attachments.

For those of you as yet unfamiliar with all the details of Invisalign, attachments are small tooth coloured blobs of material that are glued or cemented onto teeth during Invisalign treatment. Their purpose is to provide additional “grip” for the aligners so that more difficult or complex tooth movements are possible. They can be used on any number of teeth, depending on the preferences of your Invisalign provider and what movements the teeth need to make. Some lucky people have none, some have a large number, I have 5. You can see some of mine in the picture below:

how to remove invisalign attachments

My orthodontist decides to Remove Invisalign Attachments

Throughout my treatment, whilst I haven’t enjoyed having attachments exactly, I have easily tolerated them to the point that not only didn’t I feel them in my mouth any more, I didn’t see them when I looked in the mirror either. So I was fairly relaxed about having them removed- I was happy to do it, but I wasn’t yearning for it exactly. In fact, given that they have been solidly attached to my teeth for the last 15 months and have endured all manner of brushing, tugging and scraping and still stayed resolutely attached, I was afraid that getting them off might be a minor ordeal.

So it was with a certain amount of trepidation that let I let my orthodontist lower me back in his dentist’s chair, one hand adjusting his medical face mask, the other brandishing a large, sinister looking dentist’s drill. My fear wasn’t allayed by him telling me, with only a little relish in his voice, that this was going to be noisy.

I don’t know whether you have ever had any fillings, but my teeth are riddled with them. So I am pretty familiar with the feeling of the dentist’s drill and the vibrations that go through your head as they buzz and scrape noisily through your teeth. This was what I was expecting with the removal of my attachments.

I am relieved and excited to report however, that it is really not that bad. Yes, there is a little of the same sensation of vibration as the attachment is drilled, but because it is on the outside of your tooth and the drill is not contacting with any of your tooth’s own structure, the vibrations do not travel through your head in the same way. Also, the removal of each attachment seemed to take no more that 15-20 seconds of drilling, compared to the 30 minutes to an hour that I have endured with some of my larger fillings, so although there was some vibration it had barely started before it finished. After the initial drilling was completed, my orthodontist switched to a smaller polisher and ran it across the tooth’s surface where the attachment had been, just to remove any last traces of the cement- and it was finished! The whole process of removing my attachments was over in less than five minutes start to finish.

As my orthodontist adjusted my chair back into the upright position and told me to rinse my mouth I was so surprised that it was over that I told him “well THAT was remarkably painless” to which he looked at me bemused, and replied “Well what did you expect?”
I didn’t really like to run him through the scenarios that had been coursing through my head prior to my appointment – if you google remove Invisalign attachments very little shows up, so I had filled in the details myself.

The attachments removed and my teeth in all their naked glory we were able to get onto the important business of discussing how my teeth look. Removing the attachments has altered the way they appear (see pics below) but hasn’t changed how I feel about what needs to be done. I told him all of my concerns (explained with pictures in my previous post about set 29 before and after pictures) about how the front tooth needed to rotate a little more and how I think the molars have been thrown into shadow.

He listened patiently, had a very thorough examination of my teeth from every angle, and then told me that he could see what I was talking about, that he agreed that my arch could be widened a little more by moving out my molars, and that we could look at it in the next refinement. He did caution that as my teeth have already moved so much that there was a limit to what could be done whilst still keeping my teeth in the jaw bone, but that he would do his best. One of the things (other than experience) that I think is so important to look for in an orthodontist is their willingness to listen to your opinion. I think I have been very, very fortunate with mine that not only is he willing to listen, he will happily rethink his approach if you tell him that you would prefer to do it another way.

how to remove invisalign attachments

Close Up No Attachments

Within my Invisalign contract I have the original run of aligners included, plus three runs of refinements. I have used one refinement correcting my upper arch whilst the bottoms were still completing their first run, so my orthodontist and I agreed that we would wait until I have finished my lower arch first run of aligners before we start the next set of refinements. That means that both arches can be tackled simultaneously in the same series of refinements. In the meantime, over the next eight weeks I will be wearing my upper aligner only at night whilst wearing the lower one for the usual 22 (ahem) hours a day for the next 10 weeks. According to my orthodontist this is the best compromise between keeping the upper aligner intact and still wearable whilst not letting my teeth relapse too much until the next series of aligners. All in all I am thrilled with how my teeth are now looking and excited to get them finished off. Roll on 10 weeks time.

Look no upper attachments- shame about the molars in shadow and the ugly crown at the front that needs replacing though…

Filed Under: attachments, invisalign, invisalign aligners, invisalign attachments, Invisalign before, invisalign before and after, Uncategorized Tagged With: attachments, braces pictures, clincheck, invisalign, invisalign before and after, invisalign braces, invisalign photos, invisalign pictures, invisalign prices, invisalign refinements, invisalign removal, invisible braces, refinements, removing invisalign

Invisalign Before And After Pictures : Set 29

March 10, 2010 by admin 8 Comments

For the last week or so I have been wearing set 9 of my Invisalign upper refinements – the last set! I’m thrilled to report that not only have my teeth improved over these nine sets, they have improved in all the places that didn’t improve with the first run of 17 aligners. The molar on the right hand side which was out of line and too long has now moved into place perfectly. The front left tooth that was still twisted and out of line is 99% straight now- although I would like to get that last 1% corrected too as it is a front tooth. One thing I’m not sure of is whether at this point that is still an orthodontic issue or something that will be fixed by getting my new crown on the tooth next to it (yes, the ugly old crown on the front left tooth is still hanging in there, and still horribly discolored – see pics below)

However, having corrected those problems another one has arisen. My upper left molars now look to be in shadow compared to the front teeth. In fact they looked substantially better at set 23 of my Invisalign than they do now. I’m not sure whether this is because my eye tooth has moved outwards during my refinements and thrown them into shadow (you can see that it was programmed to move out on the refinements clincheck) or because the molars need to move out more. I notice that on the clincheck the front few teeth move out, but the molars don’t move with them, hence the problem. I mentioned this to my orthodontist at my last appointment and he hummed and haaahd and was a little noncommittal, however I am certain I want to fix this. I know that I said that I didn’t want perfect teeth, but it turns out that I am not as laissez faire as I first imagined and I do want them more perfect than this! Judging by how things have gone so far, and how well my Invisalign have worked up to this point,  I imagine that it would be a very simple refinement to get them where I want them,

In another week or so I have a long appointment with my orthodontist where we will remove the upper attachments (joy!) look at my upper teeth and decide what to do with them. He seems quite keen on leaving them as they are- I am much, much less keen on that idea! Fortunately he is the kind of orthodontist that really seems to take your opinions into account, so I’ll report back after my appointment as to what we decide.

My lower teeth are now on set 29 and I am thrilled with how they are progressing. If you look at my original pre Invisalign pictures below you can see that they were really, really straggly, for want of a better word. They are not perfect yet by a long way; but they are so, so much better.

Anyway, I’ll leave you with the pictures and let you judge for yourself. Please feel free to leave a comment letting me know what you think. Clicking the “leave a comment” link at the bottom of this page will take you to the comments form. As always, thanks for reading.

Before Invisalign:
15.8.08 from camera teeth before Invisalign

After 29 sets of Invisalign braces on my lower arch and 17 original plus 9 refinements sets on my upper arch. See how much the bottom teeth have improved:

Invisalign before and after pictures - teeth set 29 tilt

Invisalign before and after pictures – teeth set 29 tilt

This picture below shows how the left side upper molars are thrown into shadow behind the eye teeth now. In both pictures and in person those teeth almost look “missing” now:

Invisalign before and after pictures - teeth set 29 tilt smile teeth set 29

Invisalign before and after pictures – set 29

Whereas in this picture below taken at set 23, before the eye tooth moved outwards, the molars looked much, much better and were visible when I smiled.

Invisalign before and after pictures - teeth nov 09 set 23

Invisalign before and after pictures – teeth set 29

I will be taking a copy of these images to show my orthodontist and see what he says- Watch this space!

Filed Under: aligners, clincheck videos, invisalign aligners, invisalign before after, invisalign before and after, invisalign before and after pictures, invisalign braces, invisalign clincheck videos Tagged With: braces pictures, clincheck, invisalign, invisalign before and after, invisalign braces, invisalign clincheck, Invisalign orthodontist, invisalign photos, invisalign pictures, invisalign refinements, invisible braces, refinements

Set 26 Invisalign Braces – Happy New Year!

January 11, 2010 by admin 12 Comments

I intended to follow the old English saying “start as you mean to go on” this year with my Invisalign Braces. So far, not so good.

In fact, not only did I pass midnight on New Year’s Eve without my braces in my mouth, I woke up with them on my bedside table on January the first. Not a great start.

This is actually a first for me. Although I am generally pretty poor in complying with the 22 hours a day Invisalign requirement (I average more like 20ish I think) I have never, ever left my aligners out overnight before! In fact, I’ve never even come close. Whilst I confess that I had consumed rather more alcohol than I might normally and that might have had something to do with it I am still amazed that I managed to go to bed and sleep the whole night (well, OK 1am to 9am!) without realising that something was missing. It took me less than 30 seconds to work out that my aligners weren’t in when I woke up, and a quick glance at my bedside table confirmed what I had suspected. Nonetheless despite my pounding head and the waves of nausea that let me know that I had drunk more than I have in many, many years I was still surprised that I had been drunk enough to forget my braces. I had thought that I was on autopilot these days when it comes to putting them in before bed. Obviously not!

I visited my orthodontist this week for my regular six weekly appointment and in a fit of raging guilt told him that I had a confession to make. He stood there, eyebrows raised expectantly with an expression I haven’t seen anybody wear since I left school, whilst I nervously weighed up whether or not to admit the whole sorry truth. However, I needn’t have worried. After admitting that I had left my braces out for a whole night he did nothing but snort, give a dismissive guffaw and tell me “That’s not a confession!” Apparently the girl in before me had left hers out for several days over Christmas and had to go back two aligners just to get them back in her mouth. So I picked the right time to confess I guess!

Despite me being so remiss all seems to be going reasonably well. I had 9 upper refinements (on top of my original 17 aligners) which consisted of 6 refinements and 3 over-corrections. I have now completed my first 6 refinements and I think there is still a little way to go before my teeth are absolutely finished on the top. My orthodontist told me that this is fairly standard; in fact most people who need refinements need to use the over-corrections. Over-corrections are given by Invisalign because those particular teeth proved stubborn to move the first time around and apparently they then usually remain resistant throughout treatment. For this reason he has told me to wear my next two upper over-corrections and he will then review my teeth again to see whether we are satisfied with the final positioning.

My bottom arch is now on aligner 26/34 and whilst I can see great progress my orthodontist is not convinced that there will be sufficient room after another 8 aligners to get my bottom wonky tooth (which you can see here on my clincheck) in to place. I am cautiously hopeful that he is wrong, but we shall see. If there isn’t enough room by number 34 we will have to do refinements (additional aligners) for the bottom row too. Funnily enough on my clincheck it always looked like there would be plenty of room long before the end and as my teeth seem to be tracking perfectly I am surprised that there isn’t. As my orthodontist has told me repeatedly the clincheck is only a guide, not gospel. Having read numerous other patients Invisalign stories I know that that is the truth. It seems that it doesn’t pay to get too wedded to the final result that the clincheck shows, it’s a useful estimate but nothing more.

There is no massive progress since the last Invisalign pictures that I posted ( you can see the highlights in the sidebar on the right) so I won’t post more now, but I’ll take more after these two over-correction uppers so you can give me your verdict on my upper arch. I think that I could do with a little more widening of my molars, but maybe the over-corrections will take care of that, we shall see. In the meantime I intend to try and make up for the misdemeanours of New Year’s Eve by being especially compliant in January. We shall see how long that lasts! At the very least I am happy that one year into treatment I am still loving my Invisalign.. Watch this space!

Filed Under: Invisalign updates Tagged With: adult braces, aligners, clincheck, invisalign, invisalign braces, invisalign compliance, Invisalign orthodontist, invisalign photos, invisalign pictures, invisalign refinements, invisible braces, orthodontist, over-corrections, overcorrections, refinements

Invisalign Braces Set 23 – Update With Pictures

November 23, 2009 by admin 4 Comments

I know, I know, I’ve been a bit slow with the updates lately. I have no real excuse other than a serious bout of the flu. I’m in the southern hemisphere (i.e it’s summer here) and I have had both the swine flu and seasonal flu vaccinations (fortunately we have a large stockpile of swine flu vaccination here, it’s available free and on demand) but somehow I still managed to succumb to a 2 week bout of illness. Yuck. I managed to keep my aligners in for most of it, although there were a couple of days where I simply couldn’t function without a lozenge in my mouth as my throat was so raw and painful to swallow; so on those days I’m afraid I was a little remiss.

Throat lozenges and Invisalign don’t mix!

Fortunately I’m now back on form and back on track with my Invisalign, so I promise I’ll try and update more regularly.

As you can see from the pictures there are no massive revelations at this point in my treatment, but things are slowly moving into place. I am now on 3/9 of my upper refinements and on 23/34 of my lower aligners.

As you can see from the first picture the movement of my crown has now caused a very ugly black line along my gumline next to the crown. Fortunately, my aligners actually mask this to a great extent so it isn’t nearly so noticeable when they are in, but it is, nonetheless, a bit ugly. The profile view of that crown is improving (see third picture) but still isn’t nearly perfect as the front tooth still needs to move back into place a little more. I have six aligners to go, so we’ll see what happens. I’m still really looking forward to getting the crown replaced (although already having nightmares about the actual procedure!) I know that the cosmetic dentist also said that he needs to raise my gumline above that tooth, which I’m trying not to even think about at this point for fear of never going back to another dental appointment again. If you have had a gum raising procedure and can offer any kind words of encouragement, please, please do. Frankly, I’m terrified!

My upper refinements as mentioned in a previous post are focusing on two areas, my front right tooth that needs rotating and the molar that is too long and not in position on the left side (right side in these pictures). I was told that my nine refinements are really six aligners and three over-corrections; if my teeth look done after the first six trays we can stop. Something I have been wondering about is, what happens if one area looks perfect after six aligners and the other doesn’t? Do I have to over-correct one area to get a finished result on the other? I’ll ask my orthodontist at the next appointment and let you know.

My bottom arch isn’t looking too different from straight on but I am happy to report that a real gap is opening up inside my mouth for my stray tooth to move into (see my clincheck). I can also see that the bottom arch looks less “witchy” when viewed from the front. One of the things that I disliked so much about my teeth pre treatment is that the the bottom row were both very visible when I talked and also very pointed and crooked, giving me a look that could easily scare small children! (see my sidebar for the before pictures) This far into the treatment I am happy to report that they are becoming much more uniform and whilst not straight, will no longer qualify me for a walk on part in The Wizard of Oz.
teeth nov 09 set 23side view set 23bad side set 23
As ever I would love to hear your comments on my treatment. Feel free to click on the “comments” link below and let me know your thoughts on how things are going.

Filed Under: Invisalign blog, Invisalign blogs, invisalign pictures, Invisalign updates Tagged With: adult braces, aligners, braces pictures, flu, invisalign, invisalign before and after, invisalign braces, invisalign compliance, invisalign photos, invisalign pictures, invisalign refinements, invisible braces, raising gumline, wizard of oz

Pictures Wearing Invisalign Braces

January 3, 2009 by admin 2 Comments

I just wanted to show you some pictures wearing Invisalign braces so you can see what they look like in. Bear in mind that these pictures are VERY close up, they don’t look nearly as noticeable from a social distance.

Also, I have a confession to make. Vanity has got the better of me and I have pressed the enhance button on my photo editing software for the second pic. What that does is make the teeth look a little whiter. Sorry, but they looked so diabolically yellow before that it was either a case of pressing that little button or not posting the picture!! Luckily my treatment plan involves whitening, but I haven’t started on that yet. I’m reserving that as tonight’s little drama…

Pictures Wearing Invisalign Braces

Pictures Wearing Invisalign Braces – my teeth before attachments were added

Pictures Wearing Invisalign Braces Before attachments

Pictures Wearing Invisalign Braces Before Attachments were added

Importantly, as you can see they do fit very closely to my teeth. However, as you can also see, they do make my teeth look much shinier and in some respects larger than normal. Those small grey patches that are in the photos don’t really look like that in real life, they are clear- it’s just air pockets that have photographed badly I think.

These photos were taken before my attachments were added. This is important because I really do think that the attachments or buttons really add to how visible they are on the tooth. Although attachments are tooth coloured they obviously stick out from the tooth. I don’t have any on my front teeth, mine will be at the side. This is something to bear in mind if you will have attachments.

Although I definitely don’t think Invisalign are truly invisible, I do think compared to metal braces, or even white ceramic braces that they are a LOT less visible. Of course, they are also removable which makes a huge difference if you have something that you are desperately keen not to be wearing braces for.

Filed Under: Invisalign blog, Invisalign blogs, invisalign pictures, invisalign whitening, invisilign Tagged With: bleaching, bleaching with invisalign, braces, braces pictures, invisalign, invisalign braces, invisalign photos, invisalign pictures, whitening

Next Page »

About Me

Ex model, mother, English & Australian. 2 daughters, 1 dog, 2 cats, 2 rabbits, a horribly expensive beauty habit and an obsession with straight teeth.

Invisalign Products On Amazon.

As Featured In:

Some Of My Tv Commercials


Copyright © 2021 · Dynamik Website Builder on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in