On February 26th, I began using Invisalign Express to straighten my teeth. Since I was in junior high, I have wanted my teeth to be straightened. However, since braces cost lots of money, my parents told me that I would have to wait until we saw where my teeth would end up, all because my oldest brother's teeth, who were wonky when he was young, miraculously came together perfectly without any help whatsoever. So, I was denied.
In high school, my teeth had not straightened out, but I was in high school...who wants metal train tracks in high school? Duh, not me anyway. Plus, my parents still refused/could not afford to buy me braces...so, I figured I would just wait it out until I could afford to do clear metal braces when I got older.
In the mean time, I went through periods where I wouldn't smile with my teeth in pictures, and I got REALLY good at tilting my head "just so" so that the spaces in between my teeth were not as noticeable...this also required me to maneuver myself in pictures to make sure my "best side" was always facing the camera, which I also got pretty good at. However, I still always hated my teeth. Sure, I would forget about them from time to time, and then WHAM! Sure enough, a picture would come my way where I looked legitimately happy (a candid shot), but I looked like a doofus with bucked, spaced out teeth. What could I do about it, though? I still didn't have enough money to get braces.
Eventually, my younger-but-still-older-than-me brother, who is in the entertainment industry AND has very similar teeth (neither of us had the perfect teeth our oldest brother had), saved his money and at age 30 began Invisalign. Needless to say, I was VERY interested in his treatment. I asked all sorts of questions throughout, and after a year and half of Invisalign (and $6,000.00 paid) his teeth look GREAT!
His success with teeth very similar to mine motivated me to get a free Invisalign consultation with a local orthodontist (Dr. Stephen Sherman) recommended by my dentist (Dr. Patrica Fernandez). I knew I could not yet afford the treatment, but what the heck, a free consultation wouldn't hurt...
At the consultation I found out that I was definitely a candidate for Invisalign, possibly even Invisalign Express (10 trays upper and lower). Dr. Sherman told me that the most, the cost of treatment would $4,500 if I needed more than 10 trays (regular Invisalign) and if I did not pay all at once. It would be less if I paid all at once AND if I only needed 10 trays or less (Invisalign Express).
I politely asked both of parents (who are divorced) if they would help me get Invisalign to straighten my teeth. My father said no (the economy an all), but thankfully, my beautiful, wonderful mother said yes! She said she would find a way to pay for all of it because she knew how I always wanted it since I was young, and she felt that parents are supposed to pay for stuff like that (even though they are not SUPPOSED to pay for braces).
After crying and freaking out, I immediately made an appointment to get things rolling...maybe in October of '08. They had to take molds of my teeth, which my brother told me would be an excruciating experience, but not for me! Sure, it wasn't comfortable, but I never felt the urge to gag or felt like my teeth were going to rip out. I did have to have my bottom teeth molded twice because the girl doing the molds did not like the first mold. When I was finished, she said it would take about 4-8 weeks to get my trays in...
Two and half MONTHS later, I get a call from Dr. Sherman's office says that I needed to come in to get my top teeth molded again. I guess after the office sent my molds in, my ortho could not agree on a plan with the Invisalign people, so he thought I should come in and redo my top mold. Well, I did.
About two weeks later, my trays were in! I came in the very next day (February 26, 2009) to pick them up and view my ClinCheck (my dentist said I could not see it until I paid...some Invisaligners don't like that, but I trust my ortho...thus far). First thing my ortho did was put 8 buttons/attachments on my teeth!!!! Geez, I knew about attachments, but my brother, whose teeth were a little worse than mine, only needed two attachments on his bottom, side teeth. I ended up with 6 on the top (four on my very front teeth, two on the side teeth) and 2 on the bottom teeth were my brother had his. I was quite shocked, but too late now! Before I left, my ortho made sure that I could take them off and put them back on again -- that was difficult. I really did feel like I was going to rip my teeth out. The hygienist even felt sorry for me saying, "Aw, you have so many buttons." Yes, thanks. They were about to let me leave, but I asked to the ClinCheck. I viewed it very quickly. I was still in shock about the attachments, so I didn't pay much attention. I will make sure to ask to see it again from all angles next time I go in though. Before I left, I was given two sets of trays and told to wear each set (10u/10l) three weeks.
The first day was rough. I thought I would be so excited to finally have my Invisalign. Instead, I kind of felt depressed. That was probably because of the attachments. Sure, the trays were somewhat difficult to take out, but the attachments were so noticeable, or so I thought. Over the next few days, I gradually got used to them. The front attachments scratched my mouth a little one day, but that healed quickly and has never happened again. Other than that, I have pretty much gotten used to them and the way the look. My boyfriend says that he doesn't notice them at all, which made me feel better. I live with his parents, so I did not tell his mother that I had them, and she did not notice at all until about three weeks went by and I told her about them. All in all, I'm OK with the attachments and having them would not have been a deal-breaker for me had I known that I would them on my front teeth beforehand anyway. Mine are all the exact color of my teeth and are only noticeable if someone is VERY close to me and staring at my teeth.
Well, there you have it.
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