My invisalign experience

Taken by Curtis Childs.

Like most pre-teens do, I counted down the days until I got my braces off. The hope of every visit was crushed when my orthodontist would say “just a few more weeks”.  It came to my sophomore year of high school and, well, not to sound dramatic but I was tired of his shit. Homecoming was in a few days and I was determined to have them off for the infamous “hoco pics”. Priorities right? My 15-year-old self thought she knew better than her well-educated orthodontist and insisted that they come off. Somehow, I was able to convince him. 
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Fast forward 6 years (of not wearing my retainer- lets be real who ends up wearing those things) and my teeth were getting noticeable worse. They weren’t crooked, and still looked great from the front, but from a side angle they projected outward and it started to bother me, especially in photos. It wasn’t something I was necessarily insecure about (yet) but I knew if I didn’t do something about it, they would get progressively worse.

Before Invisalign. Taken by Lucien Sirois.

So I looked into Invisalign. Considering my boyfriends mom is the manager of a dental office, I knew I had a team of professionals that I could trust on my side. The process was supposed to take about six months but ended up taking longer due to my time in LA. ​
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I am in no way here to give you professional dental advice, I'm just sharing my personal experience with the treatment. ​Here are the top questions I have gotten about my Invisalign experience:

1. How does it work?

• A lot of people assume that Invisalign is attached to your teeth but that is far from the case. You pick up 4-6 sets of "trays" every time you visit your dentist or orthodontist and swap them out at the beginning of each week. So ideally you are only wearing the same tray for 1 full week then you are onto the next one.

2. Does it hurt?

• Not really. The only time the trays ever feel somewhat uncomfortable or painful is when you first put the new tray in. That discomfort usually goes away within the hour (it did for me at least). If you are good about wearing them for the majority of the day, they really shouldn’t hurt at all. It’s when you don’t wear them that they will cause the most discomfort once putting them back in.

3. How often do you have to wear it?

• Ideally, it should be worn for most of the day and definitely overnight. It should only be taken out to eat or drink liquid other than water. If you are thinking about getting them, be discipline with yourself. After all, it isn’t cheap and you want to get what you’re paying for!

4. Does it give you a lisp?

• At first yes. It feels kind of odd but I promise the more you talk with it in, the better your speech will adjust. It'll still be slightly noticeable, especially to those who know you well, but you wont sound like Stacey Dillsen from Zoey 101. (if you don't get that reference you're too young.)

5. How noticeable is it?

• This depends on your specific treatment. For mine, I had to get little cement like pieces called attachments, this made mine more noticeable. I usually took my trays out before going to events or gatherings that I would be meeting people at or do a lot of networking/talking. Not because I couldn't speak with them in, but with the attachments on my teeth, and the Invisalign tray on top of it, it is definitely more noticeable.  

 

Attachments seen in photo. Taken by Shane Rad.

All in all, I’m SO happy with my results and I have to thank the awesome team over at Advanced Dental Care of Pembroke Pines, FL for their incredible service.

​If you are thinking about investing in Invisalign and it won't break the bank, I'd say go for it! A smile you are confident about from every angle is priceless! And if it means you will smile more often, hell- who doesn’t want that?
 
Let me know if guys have any other questions and I will reply down in the comments below.

Love, Liv.