My bumpy teeth, and the wonders of Aligner Chewies

My first two weeks (i.e. first aligner) of Invisalign braces has thus far been a seeming success. I have noticed small tooth movements (mostly by virtue of having noticeably more space between certain teeth when I floss) and have gotten mostly accustomed to wearing the aligners. I suspect they will continue to get more comfortable, but also that I will continue to have some mild mouth discomfort here and there. Throughout these two weeks, different parts of my mouth have gone through different courses of adjustment. My mouth has experienced a low level of irritation in one place or another most of the time (it’s tingly when I drink wine). Certain teeth go through stages of aching here and there (though sometimes because I’m grinding them–working on getting rid of that sudden habit). One side of my tongue became suddenly sore at the beginning of week two, who knows why? But certainly nothing that would have deterred me from my course. Overall, it’s been more comfortable than I expected.

Aligner with Attachment WellsNext up, however, things are going to change. Aligner #2 is my first bumpy aligner.

While “bumpy” isn’t the technical name for it, that’s pretty much the best way to describe it. So, what’s all this bumpiness about? Lo so many years ago when Invisalign was first invented, it could only be used on fairly straightforward and simple cases. With time came innovation, and the introduction of the dreaded “attachments.” Attachments are clear (in my case) or tooth-colored bumps that are place strategically on one’s teeth so that the aligners can achieve more challenging tooth movements that would not be possible from the aligners alone. As a consequence the aligners must have “wells” into which the attachment bumps will fit making them, essentially, bumpy as well. Bumpy teeth, bumpy aligners… this part of Invisalign is so “dreaded” because it’s what makes the process less than completely invisible.

I must say, I wasn’t particularly pleased to learn that I would be getting attachments on my top eye teeth. When I told my doctor initially that I wanted to opt out of attachments on my visible top teeth, my orthodontist apparently did not seem to think that eye teeth were included in that statement, but rather only my front four teeth. Alas, from what I read online, many orthodontists are reluctant to divulge the full extent of attachment usage unless specifically pressed. I thought I had done all the necessary research and asked all the right questions, but even I wasn’t specific enough… if you’re thinking of getting Invisalign and concerned about the attachments, my advice is to ask your orthodontist exactly which front teeth (point to them one-by-one, if you must) will need them and exactly how many you will need altogether.

Now, I’m still not going to get my attachments on for another three weeks, but my second aligner has the “bumps” or wells, indicating where the attachments will be. I do have to give my orthodonist a lot of credit for stepping me up slowly into the process. The first aligner had no bumps, allowing my initial transition to be as invisible as possible. Now, I’ll have the first preview of what attachments will be like, visually and comfort-wise (at least when the aligners are on) before actually getting them placed on my teeth.

Upon putting my second aligner in, I was surprised at how much tighter it was than the first aligner had become over the two weeks. This is good, of course, as it means that the first aligner successfully wrangled my teeth. I also put the second aligners in before bed (rather than getting them in the orthodontist’s office in the morning and leaving them in for work), which works out significantly better. I felt a new tightness and pressure, certainly, but no pain until the next day when I took them out. And then, much less so than when I took them out and put them back in at lunch on my very first day of getting the aligners.

Aligner ComparisonNow for the bumps… I can’t feel or see the bottom ones, really, at all unless I peel my lower lip back to look at them or run my tongue over them. The top ones I can feel more consciously when I open and close my lips. As for visibility, they are less obvious than I feared, but more visible than I had hoped. The one on my top right eye tooth is particularly annoying because it’s on the front side of the tooth (the one on my top left eye tooth is situated toward the back). The one on the front of my right eye tooth is also, as far as I can tell, the largest attachment. I’m not thrilled about it, but I figure I’ll live with it for three weeks (since I have to) and see how it plays (i.e. whether people notice, whether I can live with it) and talk to my orthodontist about whether I can opt out of that attachment. Now, the problem with opting out at this stage is that I’ll still have the bump. The aligner bump alone is less noticeable than the attachment plus bump, and it will be more comfortable and attractive when my aligner is off (which I’m allowed to do for an average of 4 hours a day) not to have it, but I would still have to deal with the bump when my aligners are on. There is an option to get the aligners re-made without the bump, and while my orthodontist won’t charge extra money for that, it will cost me another five weeks in treatment time to get a new set made. Decisions, decisions….

In the meantime, one of the highlights of my treatment so far has been the Aligner Chewies. Since discovering them for the first time two weeks ago when I received them in the startup packet from the orthodontist, I’ve done a bit of research on them. Apparently, since they aren’t actually made or endorsed by Invisalign, a lot of Invisalign providers don’t know about them or don’t use them. Some Invisalign users have them, but forget to use them or disregard them. I would recommend any Invisalign user look into them, if you don’t already have them, or start using them more if you do, but have heretofore neglected them.

Aligner ChewiesI cannot say enough good things about the chewies. The purpose of these chewies is to help the aligner get seated better on the teeth. Sometimes when teeth are a little stubborn in adjusting to a new aligner, chewies can help get it to fit. In addition to these basic chewie functions, I’ve found they do me a world of good. I chew them every time after a put my aligners in. I find they just make the aligner fit better and make it worlds more comfortable. In that first week when I was still getting used to the aligner, chewies made it feel less like it was “on” my teeth, and more like it was my teeth (not totally, of course, but more than otherwise). When I put a new aligner in and my teeth are sore, the chewies help ease the pain. Now, I’m not saying they are an analgesic; when your teeth hurt, it hurts to chew them, but afterward the aligner sits better and the pain dissipates faster. I don’t know about anyone else, but I’m a mouth-fidgeter. My tongue still goes exploring over the bumps and edges of the new aligner, but no where near as badly as the first week. When my tongue was scraped up from over-fidgeting that first week, and my patience had run thin with this new, strange plastic thing in my mouth, the chewies keep my mouth occupied and my mind distracted for that crucial hour or two extra before it was truly a good time to remove them.

Finally, I have found the chewies peculiarly useful for a problem unrelated to Invisalign. As my close friends, family and foes know (okay, maybe not the foes), I am mildly narcoleptic. When I’m comfortable, warm, well-fed and watching TV and/or reading a book, I am not long for consciousness. This becomes particularly annoying in the evenings when I want to watch, maybe, two episodes of a TV show, rather than one and a half (the other half being slept through). Most of the time, when I’m working on a chewie, I don’t get sleepy, or at least it doesn’t creep up on me without my realizing until I wake up on the couch at 5am. The chewie keep me awake until the end of a second episode, or the end of a current chapter, when reading.

As a consequence of this recreational chewie usage, I do end up chewing a lot more than recommended. I’ve already pretty much pulverized one of the original chewies I got two weeks ago. I checked with my orthodontist’s office and they assured me that I cannot over-use the chewies, except in that they will make my jaw sore if I chew too much (already been there), so I feel confident in my overuse of chewies and recommend frequent use of chewies to any Invisalign patient.