I’ve been a pretty delinquent blogger for the last few weeks, although I chalk it up to a lot of things going on with the holidays and the back to school frenzy. There are a lot of exciting things on the horizon for our family, including a new furry family member (my Christmas present from Zack… introduction blog to come soon), attempting potty training with Margot now that she is 3 and seeming to get the idea, and prepping for her PAW Patrol birthday party later this month.
But in the true nature of celebrating a new year and starting a new adventure, one of the biggest personal lifestyle changes began this past week when I started Invisalign.
I had braces for about 18 months over the course of my sophomore and junior years of high school. Prior to braces, I had an expanding retainer and boy was that the devil. Despite those tortures, I wasn’t the best at my aftercare routine, and stopped wearing my retainers within that first year of having my braces off.
Over the years, my teeth really shifted around. The lower teeth were getting crooked in some areas, while some of my upper teeth started to angle outward. My teeth are so large on the top that you can only see about six of them when I smile, so all of this shifting on the top was what got me thinking about a solution.
My dentist, Dr. Kristina Palmer in Lansing, brought up Invisalign a couple of years ago to address the shifting she was noticing with my teeth. Finally this past November, I decided to think about it more seriously. My friend Andrea has been having wonderful results with her Invisalign this past year, so it has been really helpful to see a real-life example of how well it works (and also what a lifestyle change it is… more on that later).
Dr. Palmer’s office had an Invisalign special in December that included free retainers at the end of the treatment. The timing also worked out that Zack was able to set money aside in an HSA for this year that would go toward the cost of my treatment.
Because my case isn’t very severe, the cost of my Invisalign treatment was on the lower end of the spectrum. Our insurance is covering $1,500, and we designated $2,000 in the HSA for the rest of the cost. I’ve heard that longer/more extensive Invisalign treatments can cost closer to $5,000, so it obviously all depends on insurance, length of treatment, etc.
At my December appointment, my teeth were photographed and also scanned with a special camera that would assist the lab in making trays to perfectly fit my teeth. This process was so much better than the gooey gross molds they had to take when I had an expander and retainers back in high school. And this past Thursday, I went back to get my first sets of trays.
This visit included having Invisalign attachments, or buttons, put on some of my teeth. These little attachments are tooth-colored and placed strategically on certain teeth to help the trays attach to the teeth more securely, while also adding a bit of pressure to help the teeth move more effectively. This process was pretty quick and painless, particularly because I have only about six or seven of them on the top row and two on the bottom row.
Then it was time to put in my first set of trays. The trays popped in pretty easily (like riding a bike), and I could tell right away that talking with them was going to take some getting used to. The trays didn’t very super tightly, but I knew from my research that my teeth were going to feel sore in the early days of wearing the trays.
At this first appointment, I also received three additional sets of trays. For my treatment, I have to wear a set of trays for two weeks before moving on to the next set in the series. In eight weeks, I’ll go back to my dentist’s office for a follow-up to see how the aligners are doing and get my next sets of trays. Each set is in its own bag and labeled, so it’s very easy to keep track of them. On my current treatment plan, there will be 15 sets of trays, so 30 weeks total. It’s possible that there will be additional trays ordered after the 30 weeks, depending on any refinements or adjustments that might be needed.
I’m only on my second full day of wearing them, and boy have I been sore. I still distinctly remember the day I got regular braces and also each appointment where they were tightened, and the utter agony that followed for days after. One of the biggest differences between these Invisalign trays and regular braces is that my mouth and tongue aren’t being cut up by the metal brackets. I read that you can file your Invisalign trays if there are some rough edges, but so far they haven’t hurt in that way.
My tooth soreness was the worst on Friday, the first full day. I’ve been taking Tylenol to help, and drinking cold water, but nothing has really helped alleviate that pain. There is a lot of relief when I’m able to take the aligners out, but unfortunately they need to be in place for 22 hours a day.
Yep, you read that correctly. 22 hours a day. Here’s where the lifestyle changes come into play. You can’t eat with the aligners in, and you can only drink water while wearing them. After you take them out to eat something, you have to brush and floss your teeth before getting them right back onto your teeth. That means you have to be very intentional about what you’re eating and when. And that means my snacking habits have completely changed in just three days.
The process of taking out the trays, cleaning them, eating, brushing and flossing my teeth, and putting them back in is such a pain in the butt that it’s only worth doing it for regular meals. At least, so far. I mean, the hygienist at Dr. Palmer’s office said a patient lost 30 pounds, and I can totally see why and how that happened.
The tooth pain has also steered me toward softer foods this week, although I will say that being able to take the trays out relieves a lot of that pressure that is always there with regular braces. Biting into foods hasn’t been too painful, but I’m avoiding crunchy things like pita chips just in case.
I’m trying to remind myself that the soreness will subside (at least until the next set of trays) and the pain means my teeth are on the move toward better alignment. I also feel really fortunate to have the chance to do Invisalign, so I don’t want to complain too much.
I’ll be sure to post updates in the coming months with progress photos, stories, and any tips I end up discovering along the way. So far, the biggest tips I’ve learned from my friend Andrea and Reddit threads are to swap out for the new trays at nighttime to hopefully sleep through the initial soreness, having toothbrushes and floss easily on hand (I have some in the bathroom on our main level so I can clean my teeth right after eating in the kitchen), and never putting the trays in a napkin.
I look forward to sharing more of my Invisalign journey with you this year!
