Mar 10
5
Invisalign for perfect middle-age teeth?
A few years ago, I was “relaxing” in the dentist’s chair, waiting for my annual check up. Surrounding me in the exam room were portraits of beautiful people with award-winning smiles. The common factor of course, with these people, was their straight teeth. Perfect, white teeth. As I lie there, I begin to wonder if I, in my middle age, could ever have a smile that looked like that.
The dentist came in after a short wait (probably calculated!) and told me that yes, I could have straight teeth, and that the way to achieve that movie-star look was through Invisalign. He explained that I would wear a series of “invisible” aligners for two weeks at a time, and within about a year, I, too could be a portrait on his wall. This would only set me back about $4500, easily payable in 2 payments.
I thought about it for about two weeks, and with the encouragement of my better half, made an appointment to start the process. My dentist took some very flattering photos me – he pulled back my lips with some sort of device so as to expose all my teeth and gums in one photo. Then, I got to make impressions of my teeth with some a tray that didn’t really fit the shape of my mouth and just about poked a hole in my upper palate. He said he’d call me in two weeks with the first set of aligners were ready.
At the first fitting, my dentist pasted “buttons” on about 8 of my teeth, which I wore for the duration of my treatment. The buttons were rough, and my lips didn’t really fit over them smoothly. The first aligner tray snapped over the buttons, and was fairly comfortable.
I had 24 sets of aligners, and after I had worn them all (essentially painlessly), my bottom teeth were still not straight. I got about 4 more refiners (for free!) for my bottom teeth. After about a year, I really felt like my top teeth weren’t as picture-perfect as I had imagined, so I got 8 “refiners” for my upper teeth. These cost me about $300.
The best part about my Invisalign treatment is that the trays come out easily and I remove them for all social situations. The buttons do protrude slightly, but I never had a friend scrutinize my teeth and say “What are those things on your teeth?” So, I really don’t think that anyone besides my family and close friends even knew I was going though the tooth-straightening experience.
I’m almost done with Invisalign and am still not completely pleased. There’s just that one stubborn tooth up top that won’t cooperate! Generally speaking, though, I feel like my teeth look much better than they did before I started. I probably won’t be one of the “success stories” on my dentist’s wall, but now, at age 51, I don’t mind smiling for the camera anymore!
Guest author: Amy Bannerman
