Invisalign

Here's a post about my experience with braces and Invisalign. I couldn't wait to get braces when I was in middle school (I had them in 7th and 8th grade). Although I was young, I felt self-conscious about having crooked teeth, and I always made a conscious effort to to smile without showing my teeth. After getting my braces off, I wore my retainer for several years, but then I got lazy and I quit wearing it... BIG mistake! You would think that I would've been more diligent with wearing my retainer after I finally had the straight teeth I'd wanted for so many years, but I was ignorant to the fact that teeth will move. My teeth did just that, and my retainer stopped fitting. That's being a dumb kid for you. ;-)

Fast-forward a decade. When I was in my mid-20's, I really wanted to get my teeth fixed, because they weren't as straight as I wanted them to be, and as I knew they could be. However, as much as I wanted perfectly straight teeth again, did I really want to go through hassle and expense of getting braces again? I wasn't sure I wanted to get traditional braces again, but I did like the idea of Invisalign, which are a series of clear aligners/retainers that you wear all the time (except when eating and brushing). I wouldn't go to just any orthodontist, either. Being very disabled and in a wheelchair, I knew that would make things trickier. Not impossible, but I just envisioned things being awkward, so I only felt comfortable going to someone I already knew.

Around 2005, I met Rich McDermott at church after he and his family moved to the area. He was a brand-new orthodontist and had just gotten his first job after finishing his schooling/training. Rich was always so kind to me whenever he would see me, even if it had been a few years since our last encounter. Around 2015, Rich opened his own practice about 10-12 minutes from where I live. I thought, "Okay, I'm comfortable with Rich, his office is nice and close, so if I can get Mom on board, I'm going to do this!" (I already have so many doctors that I have to see on a routine basis, and I didn't know how my mom would feel about adding more appointments to our life, but she fully supported me in pursuing this.) I went to a consultation at Rich's office in April 2016 and I did all of the preliminary paperwork, pictures, etc, including getting digital impressions of my teeth. I was told that the whole process would take about 18–24 months.

I started wearing my aligners on June 1, 2016. I went in to the office for an appointment every 6 to 8 weeks, and Rich would check my progress, and I would receive the next three or four sets of aligners. I was very compliant with wearing my aligners, and I wore them religiously. Because of this, I was able to expedite the process by switching to the next set of aligners after only 10 days (and then seven days), instead wearing each set for 14 days. I went through 52 pairs of aligners, each one straightening my teeth a little more. I finished with my last pair in January 2018. Then I got my retainer, which I had to wear day and night for six months. Now I just wear it at night, and you better believe I'm going to keep wearing it this time around... FOR LIFE!! For anyone out there with braces (or who have children in braces), make sure you/they don't slack on your retainer wearing!

I'm really happy with my results, and I'm so glad I did it. Dr. McDermott's office was close, bright and cheery, and his staff was extremely friendly. I never had to wait more than a couple minutes for my appointment, either, which I really appreciated.

Here are my official before and after photos of my teeth: 

As I said, my teeth before Invisalign weren't all that bad, especially compared to some people's, but my teeth had definitely moved over the years.

Here are two pictures from before Invisalign, and two pictures after: 

Rich and me: