My First Week: "The Experience"

Day One: Got my Invisalign "installed" at 9:00 am. Day has gone on as usual. I went to Target to get some travel oral hygiene supplies and a little pouch to keep everything. I have a toothbrush, tooth paste, flossers, mouthwash and the second baggie of rubberbands. My speech isn't that bad at all! And I don't have the crazy increase in saliva production that other people have written about. And the rubberbands aren't as restricting as they thought they would be. Although, I am afraid to yawn with them in - what if this thing snaps and slingshots across the room?! Maybe everyone was right - maybe this will be a breeze! Day Two: What the actual hell? This is uncomfortable. My top aligner still won't fit all the way down, so I have been chewing on my Chewie this morning. I miss chewing on gum and this is a very poor substitute. The little ridge that sticks out of my top aligner on my top front teeth is cutting into my lip. I called the office and they said I could file it down with a nail file, but couldn't trim the ridge off. It actually made my lip bleed and my lip is actually a little swollen. My lisp is WAY worse and super noticeable. The Invisalign itself is significantly more noticeable when I smile. Hardly "invisible" at all. I took them out to eat a salad for lunch - my teeth kind of hurt, so hard foods are hard to chew (screw you, croutons). Also, food is getting stuck in my teeth VERY bad because of the attachments. To the point where I need to bee-line to the bathroom to brush these chompers before I talk to ANYONE. Gross. Thank goodness for close bathrooms and orajel. Day Three: I probably should have had a consultation with an orthodontist about regular braces before I committed to invisalign. If a regular orthodontist told me I would need regular braces for 6 months instead of a full year of invisalign, I might have done it. Especially if I knew how this would bother my eating and speech and cause this much discomfort. And be this noticeable. Maybe I am still in the "getting used to it" phase, but I am pretty unhappy with this. My top lip still hurts from this ridge. Day Four: My lip hurts. My tongue hurts (there are a couple of spots, despite filing, behind my bottom teeth that rub into my tongue when I talk). My teeth hurt. I guess that's a sign that they have moved a little? I can't eat hard foods comfortably. And I can't eat anything you have to bit into (burgers, burritos, sandwiches, pretty much all of the best foods) because food gets stuck in my front teeth pretty badly because of the attachments. I think I may just be a candidate for the invisalign diet after all. I even weighed myself on Day 1 to see if it works. I am also tired of brushing my teeth all the time, so I have passed up quite a few snacks throughout the day. And I couldn't comfortably eat chips from Chipotle because the crunchiness hurt my teeth. EFF THIS. Day Five: I will have to limit my talking. I'm a talker, so it will be a bit of a change. But holy guacamole am I salivating a lot. Drinking water has helped - it helps me be less spitty and also makes my lip/tongue feel better. And I haven't had any soda since this started because I am afraid to trap all that sugar against my teeth. Day Six: Wore these things for a loooooooong time today. I actually forgot about them (first time ever) and drank some of an iced white mocha from starbucks with them in. Boyfriend pointed it out and I freaked out! These things are noticeable enough - I definitely don't want to discolor them! We ended up eating a big lunch pretty late in the day, so we didn't eat dinner. Which landed me more time with my aligners in. Day Seven: My lip and tongue aren't bothering me quite as much. I feel like I am talking better. I transition to my next set of aligners in one week. I am hoping that transition day isn't as uncomfortable as it was with the initial aligner. If it isn't, I plan on asking my dentist if I am a candidate to start changing aligners every 10 days instead of every 14. If I am, I will reduce my invisalign treatment time by almost 14 weeks. Meaning I will be done in mid/late January instead of early April, which would make me very, very happy.

My first week: "installation"

I don't really know what to call it, so I am going to stick with calling it "The Day My Invisalign Was Installed." Almost like getting a new sink installed in your kitchen.

Prior to doing my research, I thought Invisalign was just a series of clear retainers that slowly adjusted the position of your teeth. You get a new set every couple of weeks for a while and boom! done.

Nope. Turns out, it's a little more complicated than that.

So yes, you do wear clear acrylic retainers and upgrade them every two weeks (or 10 days if your dentist/orthodontist says it's okay). BUT they attach these little tooth colored "attachments" to your teeth to help the mechanism of movement. I also had to get two metal "buttons" attached to my teeth for my rubberbands. All of these things - attachments, buttons, rubberbands - make your Invisalign more noticeable.

So at the appointment, my Invisalign guy attached the attachments and metal buttons using some sort of cement to my teeth. He polished them down so they weren't cutting into my mouth. He then showed me how to pop the aligners in and out and how to properly attach the rubberbands. We went over the care and maintenance of my Invisalign, which has been consistent over every blog I've read:

1. Wear them 22 hours a day, if you can. The more you wear them, the more effective they are. For me, I also have to wear my rubberbands 22 hours a day.
2. Brush and floss your teeth after you eat anything.
3. Only drink water when they are in. Other fluids can stain your aligners.
4. If you drink something while your aligners are out, make sure you at least rinse with water. Otherwise, the sugar and bacteria gets trapped by the aligners and you are more prone to cavities.
5. If an attachment or button pops off, try to keep it and call the office so they can get it back on ASAP.
6. Clean the aligners with mild soap and warm (not hot) water. Don't brush them with toothpaste, it is too abrasive and can discolor the aligners.



Invisalign has not in any way paid for or sponsored my treatment. I am paying for it 100% myself. All of the thoughts and opinions about my Invisalign process are my own.

How I Decided on Invisalign

In February 2017, I went to the dentist for a routine checkup and cleaning. The hygienist mentioned Invisalign as an option to correct the crowding I have in my front lower teeth. She said she had recently completed her own Invisalign treatment and was really happy with both the process and the results. I asked some questions and told her I would think about it. I also talked to the receptionist about it - she was still going through her invisalign treatment and spoke very highly of it. Prior to them discussing it with me at the dentist, I had read Keiko Lynn's blogposts about her treatment experience. I had seen the commercials. After the dentist mentioned it and I got a quote for the cost of treatment, I did some more research. Searching for invisalign on instagram yields a lot of results from all over the world! People post progress pictures all of the time! At the end of February, I decided to go for it. I made an appointment and had the 3-D imaging done. Most impressive is the planned "after" of my bottom teeth:

*Please excuse the less than professional quality of this photo. I literally took a picture of the screen in the office.* What I knew: I knew I would have to get attachments (I'll explain those later) attached to my teeth to help move them. I knew my treatment would take about a year. I knew it was going to cost me almost $5,000 (my dentist's office was running a special at the time, so I saved $1000 on my treatment). At the end of it all, I would have straight chompers, an easier time flossing because the crowded area would be gone, and possibly my TMJ issues would be improved (this would not be a guarantee, but the Invisalign will help adjust my bite, which may in turn affect my TMJ). I knew I would have to brush and floss my teeth after every time I ate. I knew I would have to carry around my little retainer case and a little bag (a purse inside my purse) for a toothbrush and other dental hygiene necessities. What I thought: I thought was going to be a little uncomfortable for a day or two. I thought it wouldn't be very noticeable. I thought I would have a slight lisp/speech impediment for a day or two. I would be able to continue to eat or drink whatever I wanted without the restrictions that come along with traditional braces. Why did I think these things? Because this is what I was told by people who experienced Invisalign. The rest of the blog is what *actually* happened with my Invisalign experience. I decided to write about this because most of the blogs I read about first-hand Invisalign experiences were written by people who had complementary Invisalign treatments. And my experience seems to be a little different than those, not as uhhhhhhh, complimentary, I suppose. By no means do I want to discourage anyone from following their dental dreams and getting straight, attractive teeth. But I feel it only fair for people to know what they might run into along the way. Again, Invisalign has not in any way paid for or sponsored my treatment. I am paying for it 100% myself. All of the thoughts and opinions about my Invisalign process are my own.

About Me

Because no new blog would be complete without a token "About Me" post.

My name is Rachel. I'm a thirty-something year old nurse in Missouri. That is my friend Milhouse. We shared some laughs and snapped this picture in Orlando last fall when I was on vacation with my boyfriend. You can't see them in this photo really well, but I have some crooked teeth. Oh, and Invisalign has not in any way paid for or sponsored my treatment. I am paying for it 100% myself. All of the thoughts and opinions about my Invisalign process are my own.