Invisalign

[Carebear]

Dear Sjogren's friends,

I have had a mess of a mouth my whole life (I am in my early 60s), and as I've aged my teeth get more overcrowded and my bite gets worse. I am an oddity in the Sjogren's world though because I have lots of saliva and I have good oral health.  I'm very lucky.

I started seeing a new dentist in August, and asked about straightening.my teeth.  After a long discussion and back and forth planning, I started on my first invisalign tray in October. 

I just want to share with everyone my success story. Fourteen weeks into the process I see an limprovement already. I stare at my teeth every single day wondering "who is that?".  It's become my new hobby!

I'm not saying it's a piece of cake though. There is no more impulse eating or drinking. It's planned out. You have to do a lot of flossing and brushing, and the trays should be in 22 hours daily for maximum affect.

The way I see it, I have the cleanest teeth around and I will hopefully have 20 or 30 years with a beautiful smile!

[irish]

Glad you are having good luck with this. My grandkids may have used this also after they put in the many months with the braces. Everybody has braces of some type these days. Glad you also have saliva. Irish

[SunshineDaydream]

Congratulations and lucky you for having saliva and being eligible for Invisalign!

My teeth shifted after having braces and my dentist said based on where by teeth are located and would need to be moved, I was not a good candidate for Invisalign. Good thing I was only seeking it for purposed of appearance and not function.

Enjoy your new smile!

[Liz D.]

That's awesome, Carebear.  My husband had them and although you do have to be disciplined, Invisalign is well worth it.  His teeth are beautiful now (as mine rot out of my head!). It only took him a little bit over a year to straighten out his teeth.  Amazing difference.  Definitely stick it out.

Liz D.

[Carebear]

I know from the number of trays that have been ordered that I have at least another year of this, and then an added four weeks with a retainer. My granddaughter started with her braces two months before me so we have much in common!  We commiserate about our inability to speak clearly, but I'm not a teen. Just an old lady who doesn't often have to interact this others often.

I decided that with so much out of my control these days, I just wanted to do something positive for myself that didn't involve doctors, tests or medical procedures.

And yes, I luckily have no dryness in my mouth. I am reminded of that every time I spit when I talk, thanks to the elastic bands I wear!

[Carebear]

Oh, and an interesting "side affect" of straighten my teeth and my jaw.  I have been experiencing far fewer migraines, and they are less severe when I do have one. This in spite of the crazy weather swings were have been having here.

I spoke with my dentist about this. The more I get to know him, the more he amazes me.  He used to be a registered nurse, working in pediatric intensive care. Interesting background.  His office is very much modeled after an IC unit. I love it.

I digressed. Since entering dentistry, he has researched and worked on many methods to assist his patients who have migraines. It was explained to me that back when I was an adolescent, the way to deal with overcrowding teeth was simply to pull some out, so they removed four of my permanent teeth. I did not have braces. Long term, this causes the remaining teeth and the jaw to move. The result for most people, is migraines.

My migraines began in my 20s. They grew increasingly worse for the next 30 years. The only relief has been chiropractic and acupuncture treatment on my jaw and neck. Interesting.

So having a beautiful smile some day AND fewer migraines!  I am very lucky.