My experience with Invisalign
This past summer my kids went in for a consultation with the orthodontist for braces, and while I was there I considered fixing a tooth that was bothering me. After having my last child 2 years ago, I noticed my teeth started to shift a little and it caused my upper lateral incisor tooth to become slightly crooked. Most people never noticed, but it bothered me. So, I had a consult and decided to go ahead with Invisalign. For the most part, I liked it and am happy with the results, but there were a few surprises along the way. If you have thought about trying this for yourself, here are my thoughts after just having been through the process myself.
1. They aren’t exactly invisible. I didn’t know there would be anchors attached to my teeth, which are the same color as my tooth without the aligners in. They are not that noticeable on their own, but once you have the aligner in, to me, it looked like braces. I had 11 anchors total, several of which went across my front teeth. It wasn’t only the appearance that bothered me, but the process in adhering them to my teeth that I had anxiety about. I am not a good patient in the dentist chair, and my teeth are SUPER sensitive. Luckily, the assistant who applied them, was so nice and super careful. During removal, my orthodontist did that job…I had to meditate my way through that part. I wasn’t an easy patient.
2. You are given a certain number of trays based on what you are having fixed. I was lucky and only needed 10 trays, so my total treatment time would be 3 months. I didn’t even ask in the consult the expected time it could last, but some people can wear these for over a year or more.
3. For the first couple hours of wearing my first tray, I was completely surprised how much it didn’t bother me at all. I assumed it would be that way throughout the entire process…wrong!!! The next day, the plastic was irritating to the tongue and inside of my mouth causing some soreness and cuts. They gave me wax, but I decided not to use it; I wanted my mouth to just get used to it. The irritation only lasted about 2-3 days.
4. The aligners need to be worn most of the day. I read online at least 22 hours, but my orthodontist told me 18-20 hours a day. I wore them all the time, taking them out only to eat and brush my teeth. I had occasions where I didn’t wear them if I attended an event. But, I wanted them to work properly, so I wore them constantly.
5. I had several moments I wanted to take them out and never put them back in. It is hard to adjust to talking and saying certain words. For me, it was anything with an “S”. I do presentations often at work, and I found myself sometimes spitting randomly, no joke!! I had a couple of embarrassing moments, but I just went on with it. Trust me it gets easier.
6. Luckily, I don’t wear lipstick, but that would not work with the Invisalign. I did wear lipstick a few times, but I used a LipSense brand, which doesn’t stain.
7. I purchased a whitener through my orthodontist office that I could use during Invisalign process, and it will even work with my retainer trays for future whitening.
8. Keeping the trays clean was a pain. They are clean and beautiful for about 2 days, and then start to get kind of cloudy looking. I brushed them after every meal, and that was OK when I had to wear each tray for only a week. If you need to wear each tray for 2 weeks, I suggest getting a cleaner to soak them in. Now that I have my retainer, I should have just bought the solution anyway because I will need it to keep my retainer clean.
9. Oh, and that is the next thing. Once it is all over with you will have to wear the retainer every night…Forever!!
On the day, I got the Invisalign anchors removed, my orthodontist also smoothed out the edges on all my teeth, and that part just completed the whole final product for me. I am happy because that tooth that was causing me the problems, was no longer hitting the bottom tooth, and the appearance of my smile was so much nicer. I recommend getting this done. It is a quick & permanent solution to correcting any details of your smile you want to fix. If you have any questions, email me at getrichinhealth@gmail.com