invisalign

Almost 5 years ago, I went to the orthodontist for a consultation about my teeth.  I was one of the lucky few that never had braces as a teenager, but my front two teeth were starting to shift and it was freaking me out.  I worried that maybe my wisdom teeth were somehow crowding out my other teeth, but I was told that I had plenty of room for my wisdom teeth (all 5 of them), but that teeth just shift with age.  I qualified for the "quick" version of Invisalign that would take less than 6 months, but I wasn't really excited about the price tag.  I decided that my teeth were probably fine, and had retainers made to stop my teeth from shifting.  Well, I wasn't good at wearing the retainers because it made my teeth ache all night, and for someone who's already a mouth breather, it made my mouth so dry.  In short, I didn't wear them, and I continued to dislike the shifting front teeth and bit of crowding on the bottom.

In January of this year, I told Kevin that I really wanted to do the Invisalign because I noticed the front teeth in pictures and it bothered me.  He was totally supportive, so I went for another consultation with an LDS orthodontist that my friend is working with.  I was impressed with him and his office, but the price tag was nearly double what the first guy quoted me 5 years ago.  I really didn't think I needed to be spending that type of money on my slightly imperfect teeth, but I was disappointed.  I decided to call the office I visited 5 years ago, and went back in for another consultation.  It has since changed its name to iKids, but they were willing to work with an adult :)  Their price quote was almost comparable to the one from 2013, and half that of the LDS guy, so I went for it.

It took about a month for the trays to arrive, and I have been wearing them for 2 weeks now.  It was WAY harder than I thought to adjust to wearing them, but I think i'll survive over the next 16 or so weeks.  You only remove the clear aligners to eat and brush your teeth, so you're wearing them 22 plus hours each day.  Each set of aligners is worn for one week, then you switch to the next set with the new position.  My teeth were pretty sore for the first few days of each aligner set, and it was really difficult to take them on and off, so that made eating a bit of a chore.  Oh, and they put little "buttons", or glue dots on 8 of my teeth which help with the positioning and movement of my teeth.  You can't see them because they're the same color as my teeth, but they feel like crusted food, which makes eating just weird.

For a gum chewer like myself, this was also a big adjustment. I started using something called 4ever mints, and drink SO much water to keep my mouth from feeling dry.

I'm also still getting used to talking with them in, so I didn't even wear them when I spoke in church last Sunday!  I'm excited for the results, so I'm trying to be patient with the process.