It's been 3 years since I first started my Invisalign journey with Carolina Braces which is interesting since I was told my Invisalign Express treatment would only take 14 WEEKS (maybe a few more if refinement trays were needed). In reality, I was actively undergoing treatment for 14+ months. Although my teeth were not where I wanted them to be, I had lost all confidence that they could fix my teeth as promised and I could tell I was no longer a priority. So while my teeth were not where I wanted them to be, I went along with ending treatment after that set of trays and get the retainer. Very much a "good enough" kind of situation. Things were fine while I continued to wear my night retainer during the day out of habit, but as I transitioned to just night time wear (as intended), the teeth that were not completely straight would begin to push on each other as the day progressed causing slight pain in a few areas.
I made an appointment a few months back to have it checked out and the doctor performed a "quick fix" on the large top front tooth that was pressing on the tooth below it, saying that if it didn't work, we might have to order a few new trays. I was willing to give this a try even if it was obvious it would not fix the problem. The smaller tooth beside the large one is still rotated slightly in front of it due to not being fixed during treatment, and it's pushing the large tooth backwards into the tooth on the bottom. At my most recent follow-up, he wanted to perform the same "fix' on the same tooth even though I told him I was 1,000% positive it was the large one. The small tooth was never the one pressing on the bottom tooth - why would we have shaved it down? It's the large tooth that has a prominent curve to it which is visibly touching the lower tooth. In any case, for someone who's never gone against what they've said before, I could tell he didn't believe me and could care less. Without discussing anything further, they shipped me over to the treatment coordinator to try to pry more money out of me for yet another quick "fix" that is clearly not going to fix anything.
The entire purpose for getting Invisalign in the first place was to keep other teeth from pressing and/or tapping on my two bottom front teeth as they have a chance of breaking. Here I am though, many, many appointments later (time off from work/time in car/gas money)and many dollars short from the cost of treatment and I'm exactly where I started.
The worst thing is that I've been a good sport throughout this process and I've worn everything as instructed, which is clear given the fact that ALL of my trays have fit correctly at each appointment. I never complained that it was taking longer than anticipated (by a lot). I didn't complain when I took time off work to pick up new trays only to have them realize (after putting attachments on my teeth) they mistakenly ordered them based on my first set of xrays, thus having to take all the attachments back off and have me wait more weeks for the correct trays to come in. I didn't complain that my teeth were not completely straight after treatment. And I didn't complain about him trying a "quick fix" rather than just committing to a few new trays to actually fix things.
It's extremely frustrating to have put my care in their hands only to be treated like a plague over the past year or so. Smiles were no longer a thing, I was shuffled among 3 different orthodontists, I barely had 2 mins with the doctor at any one visit, and no one (including the treatment coordinator) cared at my most recent visit that I was visibly upset over not being listened to at all. My teeth still need to be fixed and now I'll have to start all over elsewhere. read more