A little over 2 years ago, my foray into the world of braces and oral pain began. I am here to tell you that yesterday, my braces were removed. I didn’t have braces in the traditional sense because I was fitted with Invisalign aligners. Part of that process, though, involved the installation of tons of knobs and buttons and bumps on my teeth so the aligners could grab onto something. So, I had knobs and bumps and stuff removed yesterday and my teeth are straight!
Growing up as a boy with a brother who liked to fight (it was mutual), my teeth were a wreck. I had chips and dings in my teeth, both top and bottom. After grinding all of the extra stuff off of my teeth, they ground my teeth too. I no longer have chipped or uneven teeth! Although those chips were hard won, I am happy to be free from their unhappy appearance. I have to tell you though, it was a lot more fun getting those chips than having them ground away. Holy cow was that awful!
Before Invisalign
After Invisalign…cheesy grin at no extra charge
So, I was fitted for retainers and now I will spend 4 months wearing them 24/7. If all goes well with that, I will wear them only at night after that period. I am pretty pleased with how all of this went down. I would do it again if I had to go back in time. What I wouldn’t do, however, is use Invisalign. I would get the regular old fashioned braces and be done with it. Mainly, I like the cool colored rubber bands. Actually, either way you can see stuff in your mouth. Invisalign aligners are not invisible and I needed to wear rubber bands anyhow in order to move my teeth and bite around. With the bands, Invisalign aligners are a ton more work every time you eat or drink anything besides water. No thanks. Hopefully I will never know though.
Woo-hoo! Whip up the caramel apples! Pop the corn!
Time to take the new chompers for a test ride!
Congratulations 🙂
If you hadn’t clarified by stating that you had knobs and bumps on your teeth, I was going to protest that you didn’t get your braces “off”. The commercials make invisalign looks like a piece of cake compared with the metal brackets. I had the those as an adult, and I felt like a complete dork for two years. Great teeth, but a dork. Your cheesy grin looks great. Don’t forget that retainer!!
I wore braces for four and a half years. I understand what you went through. I was supposed to wear a retainer every night too and that went well for a couple years but it got out of adjustment, broke and was just down right disgusting and I eventually pitched it. I haven’t worn it for almost two decades now and my teeth moved a bit but are still in pretty good arrangement. I don’t miss the retainer. Also, I went for a little surface bonding treatment to cap some of my teeth. Amazing how a good set of teeth improves the smile!
My recommendation is to find out what it would take to get a permanent retainer put in, instead of the removable ones. My teeth continued to move despite wearing my retainers 24/7 for 9 months and every night for another 2 years. The dentist said they would shift a little and not worry about it (since it was supposed to be fine at that point). While my teeth aren’t nearly as crooked as they started out, I wish I’d gotten the permanent retainer and still had straight teeth 10 years later. >.<
Wow! You teeth look wonderful. Keep up the good work.
Holy cats Warren, those 2 years went by really fast for ME!!!!!
Just look at them sparkling BEAUTIES!
It’s been a year since the end of Mousey’s teeth confinement, and she still sometimes says how happy she is to bite an apple, or eat caramel.
Congratulations, looking good!
Congratulations! They look perfect!
They look great Warren! I wore braces 3 different times. I’ll never do that again. I just got a new retainer for my teeth after not wearing one for 7 years. My teeth are moving big time! Here’s my tip of the day! Always wear your retainers at night for the rest of your life! I’ll send you my bill for that one! lol