Straighten up & Smile Right

(Last Updated On: February 28, 2012)

This is the first in a series of posts I will be writing as a member of Invisalign’s Mom Advisory Board. I’m excited to be a member of this board and hope that by sharing my own, and my daughter’s experience with Invisalign and Invisalign teen, I’ll help some other parents and teens as they look into their own treatment.

But first… I wrote a post last week about summer camp.

It started off with a choice I made almost 3 decades ago. Straight teeth, or summer camp.

At the time, summer camp seemed like a once in a lifetime proposition. Lucky for me, the chance to get braces isn’t a once in a lifetime deal. It’s never too late.

My time has come. I’m finally going to have straight teeth!   I won’t be doing this alone. The word is still out on summer camp for my own (almost) 12 year old daughter. In the meantime we’ve begun our journey to straighter teeth with Invisalign, together. This is something to smile about.

For years my slightly crooked smile has just been something I figured I’d always have. But it is enough to make me smile closed mouth in almost every photo I’ve had taken since the 6th grade.

I’m probably a little giddier than is cool, but I’ll admit it anyways. I can’t wait to have straight teeth!

Nobody in my childhood family had braces so I really had no frame of reference for what brace “system” would work the best. My oldest daughter has traditional metal braces and until recently I wasn’t aware that for most cases, Invisalign is a viable alternative. In fact I’d asked my dentist once, years ago, if I might be able to do something about my teeth with Invisalign and he’d steered me away.

But in the last few years, Invisalign has advanced significantly and the number of highly skilled practitioners has increased. Invisalign can now be used to treat most of the same situations as traditional braces.

My 12 year was almost more up on the situation than me. After seeing her sister suffer with cuts and sores in her mouth she was lobbying for Invisalign before her first Orthodontic eval even occurred. She brought up the fact that she’d be able to smile for her Bat Mitzvah pictures. But only if she didn’t have a mouthful of metal.

As a member of Invisalign’s Mom Advisory Board I got to tour the company’s HQ and visit the lab where testing and development occurs. I learned a great deal about the process and will be sharing my experience with you as I go through treatment.

I’ll be receiving my first set of aligners in about 6-8 weeks. Prior to getting them I’ve chosen to wear a retainer expander for month to address a very narrow palate. This will shorten my overall treatment time somewhat significantly (by about 8 months) or I would have skipped it. The retainer kind of sucks, if I am being honest. It makes me speak with a lisp. My family thinks it’s adorable. Me, not so much.  My mouth aches a little from the retainer but it’s more annoying than unbearable.  I’ll be so glad when it’s time to move on. Bring on the Invisalign!

My daughter will be starting in six months when she’s lost her final baby teeth and has addressed an impacted tooth that needs some surgical intervention. She will have to wear traditional braces on her top teeth during this time in order to “pull down” an impacted tooth. She’s not thrilled about this part of her treatment. Ever since the braces were put on, she remarks daily that she cannot wait to get to the Invisalign “phase” of her treatment.

We’ve had a lot of questions about why we are bothering to switch to Invisalign since she has the braces on, on top, already.

The answer is that her treatment will be far less invasive overall with the switch to Invisalign. It won’t take much longer and she will be so much happier going through it. We’re just sad that she had one of the rare conditions (a completely impacted tooth – it’s growing sideways and not emerged) that Invisalign alone could not address.

I really appreciate the benefits of Invisalign over traditional braces, even more so because my oldest has to deal daily with the inconvenience of her braces for the last year and a half. It’s so much easier to floss and clean your teeth when you can simply take your device out of your mouth. No misery from cuts and canker sores.  No broken brackets and far fewer trips to the chair.

And possibly above and beyond all that… at least to a teenaged girl (or semi vain blogger) no brace face.When it’s time for a special occasion photo, the Invisalign can come off.

Incidentally, Invisalign’s teen program comes compliance “dots” molded into the aligners so they know when it’s time to change to the next one (and you know they have been wearing their aligners).

If she wasn’t in the final homestretch with her traditional metal braces, I’m sure my oldest would demand a switch to Invisalign immediately as well.

Disclosure: I have been compensated as a member of the Invisalign Mom Advisory Board but as usual, all opinions are my own. I’m glad to have the opportunity to share my experience and my results while undergoing this process. I know firsthand how tough it is to make these big decisions with/for your kids. I’m telling it like it is. Like always.