The middle of my Invisalign journey

Truthfully though, this hasn’t been the worst time in the world to go through Invisalign. I even chuckled to myself when I watched Busy Philipps lament that she hadn’t started an Invisalign treatment during quarantine. Considering that we can’t go out to bars and restaurants or to others’ houses, the whole routine of bringing a toothbrush and floss everywhere I go, discreetly taking out my trays, brushing after eating, isn’t even necessary anymore. Feeling self conscious about smiling in photos during all of the events we had planned for these past few months? Not a worry now.

One of the biggest lifestyle changes of Invisalign has been the reduction of mindless snacking and drinking. That certainly made a difference pre-quarantine, but it has made a big difference while we’re stuck at home. I imagine that I would be snacking non-stop at home if I could, but it’s just not worth taking out the trays and brushing/flossing my teeth every time I’m craving a pretzel or a second cup of coffee. Just kidding, that second cup of coffee has usually been worth it.

The only concern I had early on in quarantine was whether or not I’d be able to get the second half of my trays from my dentist’s office. Ideally, I’d be going in every eight weeks to have my progress checked and pick up the next few sets of aligners. Thankfully, when it was clear that the office would need to remain closed, I emailed my dentist and she kindly shipped me all the rest of my trays.

As far as my progress goes, it’s pretty wild to compare early photos to now. My case wasn’t a severe one, but even so I can see a dramatic difference in my teeth, particularly on the bottom row. The lateral incisors that were creeping over the canines have been pulled back, while the lateral incisors on the top row are tilting back into their proper position.

Here are some before and during photos, along with a few things I’ve learned or realized during this process with Invisalign.

Beyond being self conscious about wearing and speaking with the trays, as you can tell I have a lot of discoloration on my teeth now. As a coffee and red wine drinker, it was inevitable that I would stain the attachments or “buttons” that were glued onto my teeth to make the trays click in better. Even though I’m brushing my teeth four or five times a day with a whitening toothpaste, more than I ever have in my entire life, the yellowing is an unfortunate side effect of this process.

I’m pretty confident that once the attachments and glue are scraped off my teeth and I get a proper cleaning at the dentist, they’ll be looking much better. My dentist also offered to send me home with a whitening treatment when this process is over.

It’s also very easy for the trays themselves to get a little rough looking during the two weeks. I bought a box of this retainer cleaner from Amazon, and the cleaning tablets have really helped with keeping the trays fresh.

Another thing I’ve learned is that the changes will be very subtle with each tray change. Some new trays barely hurt at all, while others put a lot of pressure on certain teeth to move into a new position. I always put in my new set of trays the night before, so that much of that sore feeling would happen while I was asleep.

I’ve made sure to take several photos throughout the process so that I can really see the difference Invisalign is making in my smile. One of my favorite things is to take out the first set of trays and compare them to the trays I’m currently wearing. To imagine that my teeth once looked like they did with those trays is pretty wild.

I’m excited to see how things are going to be looking over the next 10 weeks. If it’s possible that my Invisalign journey will be ending just after or right as things are slowly getting back on track with the world, that would be lovely timing.

I’ll post again when I’m at the end of Invisalign and into the maintenance phase. In the meantime, if you have any questions about my experience or are wondering if you should try Invisalign, send me a note!