Since January of this year, I’ve had braces. The invisible kind.
I’ve had crowding on my lower teeth all my life and then earlier this year noticed the uppers were becoming more misaligned as well, and that was that. I have an orthodontist friend at Good Shepherd and while I usually don’t mix church and personal business, this was too easy not to do.
I don’t wear them on Sunday morning for preaching (see #2 below), but almost every other day of the week, I have them on the prescribed twenty-two hours a day.
Here are five things I’ve learned about Invisalign Treamtent:
1. It works. And quickly. Only seven months in, I could quit today and be happy with the results. I won’t, mind you, but I could. Each week brings a new mold to my teeth, and each new mold brings them closer and closer to orthodontic nirvana.
2. It gives you a slight lisp. This is the funniest part — those early weeks and months didn’t impact my speech so much. Over the last few weeks . . . well, I have to think on my feet to avoid all the words with multiple “s” in them.
3. It puts an end to snacking. Eating while in Invisalign treatment is an ordeal. You have to remove the molds, wash them with soap (using toothpaste on them clouds them up, making them less invisible), store them while you race through a meal, brush your teeth well after eating because you don’t want to put the molds on over stray food bits (bleh), and then put them back on. And you have to go through the same process whether it’s a steak dinner or a mid-afternoon Nutrageous. So it’s been bon voyage to the snacks. Yes, I’ve lost weight. (Invisalign + Ab Roller!)
4. It can make you fish through a public garbage can. Back in May, Julie and I stopped for a quick lunch while on the way home from Chapel Hill. I had forgotten my container, so simply placed them on a napkin on our table. Bad move. That napkin found its way into the trash with all its non-Invisalign-holding napkin friends when we cleared the table, and I had to spend several anxious and smelly minutes fishing it back out.
5. It’s not over when it’s over. Even when the treatment ends (probably in early to mid 2016), I will still wear a retainer at night to make sure my teeth don’t creep back to their original disobedience. There is some kind of theological/religious/preaching point in that, I’m sure, but I’ll let you reach those conclusions yourself.