dun dun dun dunnnnnn...invisalign!
that's right folks. this lady got invisalign. as you can probably tell, my teeth are awful. well, they're fine, they are just not in the correct spots. i have wanted to get braces foreverrrrrr since i was a kid. but finances were tight and my folks just couldn't. and then when i began working and supporting myself, i never really had the extra money either. i could probably have done it if i didn't have a car or have to pay rent or have doctor and dentist bills. and i also had some dental work that had to be sorted out before i could get braces. but you know, priorities. so anyway, hubby and i have talked about it for a long time, too. it probably would have been easier before we had kids, but i also had other things going on then and it just didn't seem the best time. but now it's myyyyyy turnnnnn! haha.
my plan was to interview 3 or so orthodontists and then choose the one i liked the best and had the best pricing, etc. but when i started contacting ortho's i realized that they were scheduling consults 2 months out. jeez! i set an appointment with one right down the street about 5 minutes away called Chan Orthodontics. i actually had to wait like 4 weeks to get an appointment. they did some X-rays, took pictures, and then i met with the dentist and the office manager. they talked to me about pricing and the ortho talked to me about treatment plan. i asked a bunch of questions and felt good about everything. i was going to schedule some more consults but it kind of seemed like a waste of time since i would have to wait another month or two to see someone else. the price seemed reasonable and comparable to other people. and the thing i liked is that this office charges the same for a 2 year treatment plan whether you get regular braces or invisalign (ceramic braces are more though). i had initially just assumed i would get regular braces because i also assumed that invisalign would cost more and wouldn't work on my teeth. but the ortho assured me that it would work. actually, he said in the past he didn't recommend invisalign over metal braces but the technology has gotten so advanced over the past years that invisalign works just as well or even faster in some cases. of course, there are situations where metal braces are going to work over invisalign, but it's pretty good now. i discussed the differences between metal braces and invisalign and the pros/cons of each. by the end of the appointment i was asking, "why wouldn't i go with invisalign"?
after consulting with hubby, we decided to go with it. i had another appointment a few days later so they could take impressions of my teeth. except instead of taking impressions the old way with goopy rubbery stuff they do it digitally with a wand that takes a 3D (4D even?) "impression" of your teeth. it is kind of like a 3D ultrasound. very cool and high tech. then they submit that to invisalign and work with them to make a treatment plan.
my ortho said i would need about 2 years, that i would have attachments, buttons and elastics. i'll explain all that in a bit. it takes about 6 weeks for your trays to be manufactured. so 6 weeks later, which was just a few days ago, i went in to get my invisalign!
because of my personality i googled invisalign that entire 6 weeks. i read stuff on their website, dentists' websites, personal blogs, vlogs on youtube, all kinds of stuff. it was highly educating and interesting. so i felt fairly prepared for my appointment. when i got there the dental assistant started working right away on attaching the "attachments" to my teeth. these are basically tooth colored, enamel like bumps that get cemented onto certain teeth so that the invisalign trays have something to grip onto and really move the teeth effectively. they are used when a tooth needs to be rotated, pushed, pulled certain directions. most people end up with attachments. i think i've seen people with 8 or 10. i got 18. haha. the process is painless and pretty quick; they just prep your teeth by applying some sort of cleansing gel, then rinse with water, then dry, then apply the bonding material, and then they have a template invisalign tray that they apply the enamel like stuff into and then press onto your teeth and shoot with a blue light to cure. that's it.
then the assistant attached 2 "buttons" on my second to last set of molars on the bottom. this is for the elastics i will wear at some point. that's right, i will have elastics just like a 13 year old teenager. i guess this is to fix my bite. by the appearance of the trays, they will hook onto my upper canines from my lower molars. i don't have to wear them yet. actually, i don't know when i will have to wear them. once the ortho inserted the invisalign onto my teeth and checked everything out, they gave me 3 months worth of trays. so i assume there will be no changes until then.
i went home and i felt fine. i noticed some pressure on my teeth but not even that bad. the worst of it was some rough spots that were cutting the inside of my mouth. i just took an emery board and filed them down until they weren't so sharp on my mouth. it wasn't that bad. until dinnertime. my teeth felt very tender. and those sharp bits on my trays were really cutting into certain spots in my mouth. everytime i took my trays out to eat, i would file down those sharp spots.
by the next morning, my teeth were INCREDIBLY tender. it's not pain so much as just really sensitive to touch and pressure. really sore. i took the trays out to eat breakfast. very tender teeth! it wasn't so bad by the time i was done with breakfast though. the rest of the day my teeth continued to be pretty tender.
i am now on day 4 and my teeth still are a little tender and sore, but not as bad as they were the first and second days. since i change my trays every week i imagine that my teeth will be in an almost constant state of tenderness which will vary on a scale relative to when i change the trays. welcome to the next year!
that's the other thing. i have 42 trays that i change every week unless my teeth aren't moving the way they should. so that's just under a year of really moving my teeth into place. after that i will be in the refinement period, which is where i will still wear trays all day every day but instead of rapidly moving all my teeth they will be targeted to a few specific areas, like if one tooth isn't moving the way it was supposed to or closing any gaps, etc. i have a feeling that i may be done before the 2 years, but we'll see. what do i know about this, haha.
overall i am really excited to be on this process! it seems a little annoying right now, but i'm sure i will get more used to it and i will be motivated by the improvements i see in my teeth and my bite.
i may write a couple more posts about invisalign, and i'll be updating every now and then, mostly so i can see my own progress. kind of like my pregnancy posts!
if there's anything i am sensitive about as far as my appearance goes, it is my teeth. it has always been my teeth. i am relatively comfortable with my body now, in my age, haha, but not my teeth. i have always felt self-conscious about my teeth and often don't smile naturally. so this is super exciting for me. that being said, i want to show progression pictures, but not super in detail and up close. that being said, here we are on the first day:
my plan was to interview 3 or so orthodontists and then choose the one i liked the best and had the best pricing, etc. but when i started contacting ortho's i realized that they were scheduling consults 2 months out. jeez! i set an appointment with one right down the street about 5 minutes away called Chan Orthodontics. i actually had to wait like 4 weeks to get an appointment. they did some X-rays, took pictures, and then i met with the dentist and the office manager. they talked to me about pricing and the ortho talked to me about treatment plan. i asked a bunch of questions and felt good about everything. i was going to schedule some more consults but it kind of seemed like a waste of time since i would have to wait another month or two to see someone else. the price seemed reasonable and comparable to other people. and the thing i liked is that this office charges the same for a 2 year treatment plan whether you get regular braces or invisalign (ceramic braces are more though). i had initially just assumed i would get regular braces because i also assumed that invisalign would cost more and wouldn't work on my teeth. but the ortho assured me that it would work. actually, he said in the past he didn't recommend invisalign over metal braces but the technology has gotten so advanced over the past years that invisalign works just as well or even faster in some cases. of course, there are situations where metal braces are going to work over invisalign, but it's pretty good now. i discussed the differences between metal braces and invisalign and the pros/cons of each. by the end of the appointment i was asking, "why wouldn't i go with invisalign"?
after consulting with hubby, we decided to go with it. i had another appointment a few days later so they could take impressions of my teeth. except instead of taking impressions the old way with goopy rubbery stuff they do it digitally with a wand that takes a 3D (4D even?) "impression" of your teeth. it is kind of like a 3D ultrasound. very cool and high tech. then they submit that to invisalign and work with them to make a treatment plan.
my ortho said i would need about 2 years, that i would have attachments, buttons and elastics. i'll explain all that in a bit. it takes about 6 weeks for your trays to be manufactured. so 6 weeks later, which was just a few days ago, i went in to get my invisalign!
because of my personality i googled invisalign that entire 6 weeks. i read stuff on their website, dentists' websites, personal blogs, vlogs on youtube, all kinds of stuff. it was highly educating and interesting. so i felt fairly prepared for my appointment. when i got there the dental assistant started working right away on attaching the "attachments" to my teeth. these are basically tooth colored, enamel like bumps that get cemented onto certain teeth so that the invisalign trays have something to grip onto and really move the teeth effectively. they are used when a tooth needs to be rotated, pushed, pulled certain directions. most people end up with attachments. i think i've seen people with 8 or 10. i got 18. haha. the process is painless and pretty quick; they just prep your teeth by applying some sort of cleansing gel, then rinse with water, then dry, then apply the bonding material, and then they have a template invisalign tray that they apply the enamel like stuff into and then press onto your teeth and shoot with a blue light to cure. that's it.
then the assistant attached 2 "buttons" on my second to last set of molars on the bottom. this is for the elastics i will wear at some point. that's right, i will have elastics just like a 13 year old teenager. i guess this is to fix my bite. by the appearance of the trays, they will hook onto my upper canines from my lower molars. i don't have to wear them yet. actually, i don't know when i will have to wear them. once the ortho inserted the invisalign onto my teeth and checked everything out, they gave me 3 months worth of trays. so i assume there will be no changes until then.
i went home and i felt fine. i noticed some pressure on my teeth but not even that bad. the worst of it was some rough spots that were cutting the inside of my mouth. i just took an emery board and filed them down until they weren't so sharp on my mouth. it wasn't that bad. until dinnertime. my teeth felt very tender. and those sharp bits on my trays were really cutting into certain spots in my mouth. everytime i took my trays out to eat, i would file down those sharp spots.
by the next morning, my teeth were INCREDIBLY tender. it's not pain so much as just really sensitive to touch and pressure. really sore. i took the trays out to eat breakfast. very tender teeth! it wasn't so bad by the time i was done with breakfast though. the rest of the day my teeth continued to be pretty tender.
i am now on day 4 and my teeth still are a little tender and sore, but not as bad as they were the first and second days. since i change my trays every week i imagine that my teeth will be in an almost constant state of tenderness which will vary on a scale relative to when i change the trays. welcome to the next year!
that's the other thing. i have 42 trays that i change every week unless my teeth aren't moving the way they should. so that's just under a year of really moving my teeth into place. after that i will be in the refinement period, which is where i will still wear trays all day every day but instead of rapidly moving all my teeth they will be targeted to a few specific areas, like if one tooth isn't moving the way it was supposed to or closing any gaps, etc. i have a feeling that i may be done before the 2 years, but we'll see. what do i know about this, haha.
overall i am really excited to be on this process! it seems a little annoying right now, but i'm sure i will get more used to it and i will be motivated by the improvements i see in my teeth and my bite.
i may write a couple more posts about invisalign, and i'll be updating every now and then, mostly so i can see my own progress. kind of like my pregnancy posts!
if there's anything i am sensitive about as far as my appearance goes, it is my teeth. it has always been my teeth. i am relatively comfortable with my body now, in my age, haha, but not my teeth. i have always felt self-conscious about my teeth and often don't smile naturally. so this is super exciting for me. that being said, i want to show progression pictures, but not super in detail and up close. that being said, here we are on the first day:
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| the two photos above were right after i got home from the ortho. at this close of a distance you can see the attachments on my teeth, there are no attachments on the top front two teeth and the bottom 4 front teeth, but they are on alllll the other teeth. i guess i'm thankful that they are not on the front teeth, at least for now. looking at the trays for the 11th week it looks like i have some on the front upper teeth. |
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| and these two photos are from day 2. obviously no difference, haha, but maybe a little better perspective based on the distance you would normally be from my person, they look pretty unnoticeable |
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