Just this morning I began my 20 week adventure with Invisalign. My eight year old daughter had just gotten her metal braces two weeks before. Due to some dramatic gum recession her orthodontist recommended braces immediately.

{why she needed braces}

To support her I decided to also get braces, only a little different. Every single one of my children is going to need braces. My nine year old has an over-bite and a cross-bite. My eight year old…you saw the photo. My five year old has over crowding. My three year old has an under-bite. I’m sure the rest will need braces as well. Already my first three have glasses.

{daughter and I with our braces/aligners on}

Not only is my eight year old in braces now but she will need to be in them again when she loses all her baby teeth {probably in about five years}. I’m hoping she’ll be eligible for the Invisalign because so far, for me, it’s been wonderful! Our dentist, Dr. Christopher Phelps of Carolinas Dental Center, has been very helpful throughout the entire process.

{Dr. Christopher Phelps}

I want to give you a run down of how Invisalign works, because honestly, I didn’t know when I began. They begin by taking molds of your teeth, top and bottom. Just trust me, it’s not the most attractive thing in the world, hehe.

Then the molds are sent off to be made into your new clear Invisalign aligners.

You will get a chance to come in a couple weeks later to view a video that explains Invisalign and also to see how your teeth will change over the amount of time you need to wear the aligners. I’ll be sharing a clip from my personal video next month.

I came in a week or two later and received my first aligner. I wore it for one week to get my mouth used to it and then returned, this morning, to have the finishing touches done. This is the part that I hadn’t heard about before beginning the process so I’m assuming you haven’t heard of this either. And just so you know, not everyone needs this done. Each Invisalign is specific to each person. I need little attachment like things put on some of my teeth. These are going to help the aligners to pull the teeth in certain directions. After those were applied Dr. Phelps had to shave .2 cm off of my front bottom teeth due to over crowding. That was…interesting. Like having a jackhammer in your mouth. It didn’t hurt but was very shaky. And that was it! I put in my aligner and was given two more aligners. One I trade out and wear in two weeks and then two weeks after that I trade it out with my third set and wear that for two weeks. This will continue until my 20 weeks are up. As I said, everyone is different so what may take my 20 weeks may take somebody else more or less time.

{if you look close you can see the few clear attachments they had to put on but generally you can’t see them}

When all is said and done you keep your very last mold as your ‘retainer’ and wear it every night for, well, the rest of your life. Otherwise your teeth will naturally try to go back to their original positions. So I guess had I continued to wear my retainer at night from when I was a teenager I wouldn’t be doing this right now. But I’m very thankful for the opportunity to support my children while they’re going through the same thing.

The Invisalign is, obviously, a change and tricky to get used to. For example, we were at the grocery store and my husband handed me a cheese sample. Well, I couldn’t try it unless I wanted to risk my pride and pull two clear pieces of saliva covered plastic out of my mouth. Yeah, not worth it. In fact, the majority of people will lose 5-10lbs during the duration of the Invisalign process. And I can totally see why! You have to decide if a snack is worth removing your aligners and brushing your teeth afterward. So far I haven’t found a snack worthy of that extra time. BUT I do notice I’m drinking way more water than before! And that’s a good thing.

The best part of Invisalign is nobody can see it! Unless they are all up in your face it’s very difficult to see. So for teenagers this is a wonderful choice. Or I guess especially for adults, right?

Keep watching here as I will be updating my Invisalign adventure throughout the next five months.

And if you’re looking for a dentist in the Charlotte, NC area I highly recommend Dr. Phelps from Carolinas Dental Center! If you come in as a new patient during the month of September 2012 you’ll receive a free car wash and detailing during your appointment! How sweet is that?! Go get them pearly whites shined up!

Blessings!