My Past Year With Invisalign

Warning: You’re about to see a lot of photos of my mouth

I had braces for 11 months in middle school. Just like most teens, I failed to wear my retainer after getting my braces removed. Over the next ten years, my teeth shifted and were no longer centered in my mouth.

As my teeth shifted, I developed a gap on my left side, what I called my “bad side.” It was effecting my day to day. My breaking point was when I hated my wedding photos. That’s when I knew it was time to do something.

So, I began Invisalign.

The First Month

My changes were minimal but still required 9 months of Invisalign (or so I thought — it ended up being more like 13 months). I was stunned by how truly invisible the aligners were. No one knew I was wearing them (or at least they didn’t tell me they knew).

The pain from the aligners is different for everyone. My first week was a little rough, similar to getting braces for the first time, but Advil did the trick. I held myself to a strict schedule, trying my best to hit the 22 hours of recommended wear a day. I brushed my teeth after every meal and flossed regularly. My teeth never looked better. I was on my way to a straight smile!

Three Months

My first two months were great. Then, I got my pesky tooth attachments. Tooth attachments are little bumps the orthodontist attaches to your teeth to give your aligners something to hold on to. They’re tooth colored and strategically placed on your problem areas (right in front for the world to see).

After getting my attachments I was devastated. I started smiling with my teeth closed, I covered my mouth with my hand while laughing and did everything I could to hide the monstrous bumps across my beautiful teeth.

I would say the bumps were the worst part of Invisalign.

Five Months

At this point, I was comfortable with my Invisalign trays. I had a great system in place. I put a new tray on every Monday night before going to bed and woke up not noticing the minimal pain that came with a tighter set.

Note: the orthodontist instructed me to start a new set once a week, this may not be the standard for other plans.

I did notice my aligners getting foggy by the end of the week and was thrilled to start a new set each time. If I had a big event going on that weekend, I’d soak my aligners in 50% water and 50% white vinegar.

Five months in and the tooth attachments still bothered me. They weren’t as noticeable from a distance, as you can see in the photo above, so that was nice.

I started to get more confident in photos. Normally, I would tilt my head a bit to make my misaligned teeth less obvious, by month five I was smiling straight on and found myself forgetting which side was my “bad side.”

I did notice that my teeth were less white than when I started, but I was a pretty regular Crest Whitestrips user before Invisalign. I was worried that I would end up with strange looking teeth if I used the Whitestrips with my tooth attachments in place so I held off until they were removed.

Seven Months

At seven months, my Invisalign journey felt like an eternity. Just a few months to go; I felt like I couldn’t remember a time when I didn’t have Invisalign.

I met another Invisalign patient and we bonded over our frustrations. Her boyfriend assured both of us that the only time he noticed the “bumps” on our teeth was when he was close-up and staring at our mouths. At this point, no one had asked what “those things on my teeth” were.

The end was near. I could see a more drastic change in my teeth.

Nine Months

At nine months I went in for one of my last few appointments. There were a few small corrections still to be made – a slight shift here, a little gap there. My orthodontist wanted my smile to be perfect, and wouldn’t settle for pretty good. I was now looking at about 12-13 months with Invisalign total. Hey, for a lifelong beautiful smile – I’ll take it!

Eleven Months

At eleven months, my bumpy attachments were removed and something surprising happened…not a single person noticed that they were gone. Not even my husband! I had to point out to him that my front teeth were no longer bumpy.

I guess my grandpa was right when he said, “People are far too concerned with themselves to worry about you.”

Thirteen Months

After thirteen long months with Invisalign I was given the OK to switch to a retainer — one that I will wear every. single. night. forever. Hey, I’ll take it! It’s better than a 3rd trip to the orthodontist!

Here’s the final before and afters:

Conclusion – My Thoughts On Invisalign

All in all, I’m very happy with my results and would recommend Invisalign to anyone who wants to straighten their teeth discreetly. If you have minimal changes, you may be eligible for Invisalign Lite, which will only take about 7 months. Read more about the variations of Invisalign here.

Pros of Invisalign

1. Quick – About one year to a straighter smile
2. Invisible from a distance
3. Flexibility – Removable trays make it easy to eat/drink/brush your teeth
4. Accurate – the trays are designed off of real 3D imagery of your entire mouth
5. Independent – I was given several months of trays at a time, and only had to go into the orthodontist every few months

Cons of Invisalign

1. The bumpy attachments were very obvious on my teeth, making me self-conscious for a good 10 months
2. The trays get foggy after 5 days or so, and cleaning them is a little inconvenient
3. The price is high, but comparable to that of traditional braces.

 

Thanks for reading,

Emma