Straight Talk on Straight Teeth: Why I Wish I Had Used Invisalign

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I would like to thank Invisalign for sponsoring this post; however all thoughts and opinions are 100% my own.

 

This is a story about a girl, well a woman, a young woman, that ended up getting braces in college, about a year out of High School. Now this young lady didn’t exactly want braces, but she didn’t want crooked teeth either. What does one do? Well, she picks the lesser of two evils – the braces that will be on short term rather than living with crooked teeth for the rest of her life. That doesn’t mean that those days of wearing braces were happy go lucky though.

 

Now I’ll be the first to admit, my teeth were not horrible – I had a slight under bite and one canine that sort of stuck out a smidge. I probably could have lived without braces but my bite was off just enough that my dentist did not disagree that braces would be helpful.  I was going to share with you, but I have zero pictures of me that I can locate from when I had my braces on. It’s a bit hazy, but since I was in my early 20’s when this all happened so I’m thinking it was because I was much too embarrassed to show them off (because we all know 20 year old ladies can be pretty vain.) I do remember not smiling for about a year which is about how long I had to wear those bad boys. For the life of me I can’t remember why I was so picky about the color of rubber bands I got every time I went in to have them adjusted, because it wasn’t like I was going to be showing them off to anyone…at least not on purpose.

 

 

 

As an adult, I remember not loving the idea of traditional braces, but Invisalign wasn’t an option yet at that point in time…at least not a readily available option in the dental marketplace. (Yes, I realize I just dated myself.) Had Invisalign been available then, that year of my life could have been entirely different and probably a much more positive memory.  Today, Invisalign has evolved so much that treatment can actually be used successfully on some pretty serious conditions, including cross bites and other conditions that are much more severe than my slight under bite and feisty canine (which seemed truly horrendous to me at the time).

 

What Is Invisalign?

Invisalign is a clear, plastic aligner that allows you to eliminate those wire brackets, glue and rubber bands. You also do not have to have your braces “tightened” every few weeks (which would have been nice because boy was that painful!). Instead you just swap out for new, custom designed aligners every couple of weeks, that tell your teeth where to go. What’s even more amazing is that Invisalign is now available in a Teen product as well. It is designed specifically for the still growing mouths of younger patients. This is going to be an amazing resource when it comes time for my own kiddos or nieces and nephews to start making decisions about treatment if they need it. Could you imagine being a teen and actually able to take your “braces” out to eat dinner, for prom photos, or even sports practice? Holy cow have we come a long way!

 

 

Now I’m not saying there’s no place in the world for traditional braces, because there certainly are cases where that is the best solution. All I’m saying is that now there are other alternatives with Invisalign and just looking into what is available may make life a little easier for some of you that end up having to have orthodontic treatment. If you’re interested in finding out more about Invisalign and how it may work for you and your family, follow them on Twitter, Facebook, take the Invisalign Smile Assessment, or check out their doctor locator and find the dentist closest to you  to schedule a consultation.

 

Also, make sure you enter the Straight Talk sweepstakes which runs through September 30^th, 2014 for a chance to win a free Invisalign treatment! How cool would that be?!

 

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