Let me tell you a little story. There once was a little girl with very crooked teeth. She was shy and embarrassed. She would practice smiling with her lips closed so no one would see her deformed mouth.
Her mother took pity on the little girl and had her fitted for braces even though she had to scrimp and save to pay for them. They were ugly metal braces complete with the sexy headgear apparatus that she thankfully only had to wear at night in the privacy of her own room. The braces hurt and caused mouth sores, and to top it all off, she had to have three teeth pulled to allow for her teeth to line up properly. But the little girl was happy that she no longer had to smile with her lips closed.
Three years later the braces came off, and she was fitted with a retainer. Finally she enjoyed smiling again, and her self confidence returned. But she was not very cooperative about wearing the retainer, and over the years, her teeth began to pine for their old positions and started to move.
By the time she was into her thirties, she began to notice crooked teeth in pictures and the old adolescent self-consciousness over her smile returned. She even started to consider returning to braces to correct her delinquent teeth, but knowing that her children were nearing the age of orthodontia, she assumed their teeth would have to take priority.
One day she took her 8-year-old son to the orthodontist for an initial consultation, and she was informed that her son had not exchanged enough teeth to qualify for braces. The orthodontist advised her to wait a few years to treat his teeth, but he took one look at her crooked smile and pronounced with confidence (and perhaps a bit of glee as he imagined sunning himself on the white sands of a Caribbean beach with the proceeds):
“You, however, are an excellent candidate for Invisalign.”
Within a few weeks, she had impressions made of her teeth and received her first set of plastic aligners.
That was 2 years ago, and I’m sure you’re not surprised to hear that the girl in the story is me. My teeth are almost straight again, and the difference between my Invisalign experience and my experience wearing traditional metal brackets when I was an adolescent is night and day. I can’t imagine living through metal and bands again when Invisalign is a viable option. In fact, I’m quite confident I never would have bothered to straighten my teeth as an adult if I hadn’t had this option.
There are so many benefits to Invisalign over regular braces. For one thing, they’re hardly noticeable; in fact, people are always surprised to hear that I’m wearing them.
You take the aligners out to eat, so you never have to worry about the hygiene issues and tooth discoloration that come along with the metal brackets, and you can eat popcorn till your heart’s content.
If you have a special event, you can leave the aligners at home. Otherwise you do have to try to wear them 20-22 hours a day, and I can’t say that they’re never bothersome, but compared to the alternative they’re a breeze.
You change aligners about every two weeks, and they are designed to incrementally move your teeth to the desired position. They are only tight and painful for a day or two after you switch to the next set of trays, and then they slip in and out with ease.
You’re probably wondering why the heck I’m telling you about this. Well… I just so happened to spend the past few days in New York City at an Invisalign for Teens blogger outreach event. Invisalign is dipping its big toe into the social media pool, and they are reaching out to moms with their message about how far Invisalign has come in the past 10 years. Of course I was intrigued because I use the product and I have three kids that are rapidly approaching the age for orthodontia. Even though I’m personally acquainted with the process, I had a lot of misconceptions about Invisalign that you may have too.
For instance, Invisalign is not just for adults. Nowadays teens are wearing them successfully. And they aren’t just for minor cases or cosmetic situations. There are all kinds of complex issues that can be treated with Invisalign. It is also not much, if any more expensive than regular metal brackets, and it’s just as eligible to be covered by insurance.
Unfortunately not all orthodontists are qualified to fit a patient with Invisalign, but the website provides a list of preferred providers based on their experience with the product. Doctors do not pay to be on this list; they are only included when they have met the requirements set by the company so it’s a great place to start if you’re looking for a reputable orthodontist to consult.
I was not asked to blog about the event, but I’m such a huge fan of the product and people are always so intrigued when they find out that I wear them that I thought I’d share.
The best part of these events is always hanging out with my girls and getting some me time.
After we got the informational portion of the event out of the way, we enjoyed some cocktails and pampering (it doesn’t get much better than THAT.) Then we went out to see the sights of NYC. I forgot my good camera, but my Palm Pre didn’t do a bad job of capturing our view from the observation deck on Top of the Rock. That’s the Empire State Building out there in the distance, in case you didn’t know.
Several of the other ladies on the trip had fabulous cameras and were snapping pictures left and right, so I’m waiting till they get theirs uploaded and then I’ll “borrow” a few and post them to share. I’m sure they won’t mind…
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You could be talking about me
Except, I had perfectly straight teeth growing up. Then in my twenties.. my wisdom teeth came in (still haven’t gotten them pulled) and now.. I hate my smile. I practice and try to remember to smile with my mouth closed and I get really self conscious.
*sigh*
I applaud companies dipping their toes into social media! Glad y’all had so much fun!
Yeah, I think wisdom teeth is partly why my teeth got so bad so fast. I also had them out right before I got my Invisalign.
Get those suckers pulled! It’s not as bad as you think it is.. and they give you great pain killers! You can get pain killers that wont effect your daily routine but will take care of the pain. And the swelling is normally minimal and lasts only a day. The numbness lasts longer than the swelling.
My son is wearing metal braces right now, unfortunately it was a matter of cost. If the price difference weren’t so big I would definitely try Invisalign for him.
I have never had braces, but in my “old age” I think now my teeth are getting crooked, and I might consider Invisalign for myself. I think it’s from grinding my teeth.
One thing we learned is that orthodontists who do not want to mess with Invisalign will price them a lot higher than traditional braces, even though that’s not necessary. Orthos that do a lot of them often price them competitively b/c they enjoy working with them and have learned how to make the process more efficient with practice.
Oh, and a perk is that if you grind, wearing the invisalign at night protects your teeth from that! (And once you have invisalign, you’re supposed to wear them forever and ever at nighttime to keep your teeth in place, so it’s a permanent solution to the grinding problem.)
I didn’t need braces as a child- they always said that my teeth would fix themselves when my wisdom teeth were pulled (?). anyway that happened years ago and there’s still not enough room for my bottom teeth. My top teeth are great but my bottom front teeth definitely need work. Fortunately, I naturally smile with my top teeth so it’s not so obvious. But I’m really interested in trying invisalign to get those bottom teeth fixed.
There are a few ladies at the office that have used Invisalign and LOVED it too! If I had to get braces now, I would go this route.
I’ve often wondered how those work. It seems my son is not a candidate for them although I don’t think his teeth are that bad. This is the year for him to visit someone about it though.
From what they told us, the only thing that can’t be done YET with invisalign is bringing a tooth down if it’s too high. But most everything else can be done with it, IF you get an orthodontist who is skilled with it. You may want to check the website for recommendations. I was thrilled to see my orthodontist is on their preferred list.
*sigh* I wish Invisalign had worked properly for me. I had the ugly metal braces in high school and Invisalign when I was 26. Only they didn’t fix the main problem (two teeth that really liked their slightly-out-of-place positions and a misaligned jaw….oh, and I never quit wearing my retainers from high school!!) The third time around, I went with the porcelain/ceramic braces (the clear ones) and so far, so good! The clear braces worked for me because as an adult, and the person paying for said braces, I took GREAT care of them.
I just wish that the Invisalign had worked enough that I didn’t have to spend the extra thousands on my teeth. I do love hearing my orthodontist tell me what a great job I’ve done keeping my teeth and retainers (and before, braces) looking great.
I wish I had kept wearing my retainer.. it no longer fits. My teeth are relatively still straight, but they were “You-used-to-wear-braces-didnt-you?”-straight. I was a 3-yearer too. I’d get bored in class in 6th grade and pop off brackets so I could go home.
When they first put them on my teeth I had 2 bottom teeth that were growing in 3/4 backwards.
What a fun trip! Thanks for encouraging me to sign up and to go (and to stay an extra night!) So many incredible ladies in one room.
I have a friend who had VERY crooked teeth and after invisalign they are just lovely and straight. I’ve never had braces, but have some tooth issues I wish I didn’t have
….I’ve looked into invisalign and would love to have it, but it’s just a budget issue now. 
Oh well, I’ve come this far in life smiling, I suppose I can make the rest of the way, lol.
I had regular braces as an adult, and I’m so glad I did. I needed them really, really bad. I could probably use the Invisalign now to fix my Ihatetheretainter problems, but meh, I can live with it.
This comes at a PERFECT time for me. I just recently began (like last week) mentioning braces for myself to my husband. I saw a commercial for Invisalign and was wondering about it. Thanks for this post and I wish they could have given you some kind of discount for your readers or something like that. !!
It was a blast hanging out with you this weekend, and no…I do not have any of my pics loaded. I know, I know…
I just finished my Invisalign last fall, and I agree – If I hadn’t had that option, I never would have fixed my teeth.
We were thinking of letting our son get Invisalign when he needs braces next year (he’ll be 11)… did they talk about kids that young, or was it mainly geared towards teens?
They actually said that kids should see an orthodontist by the time they are 8 years old b/c a lot of things can be corrected early, like making room for teeth to come in and such things. And invisalign CAN be used on younger kids as long as all their adult teeth have come out, and of course that varies kid per kid. So it’s definitely something to consider.
I really appreciate this post! I have a teen who is almost 16 and we’re just to the point now where we can go the braces route. I was curious about the Invisalign because I feel bad we weren’t able to get them earlier and I truly didn’t want her self-conscious in her Senior pictures if she had to wear braces. Definitely going to check this out and see what we can do to get her started!
This was a very interesting post because I have a similar story. I had a braces for 2ish years in my early teens, then was fitted with a retainer, and…wasn’t very responsible about wearing it. Now, my teeth aren’t nearly as straight as I’d like them to be. In fact, they’re pretty crooked on the bottom. Invisalign sounds like the perfect solution…{except the cost…it IS pricey}.