Brace-Off, or, The End of a Journey

It's finally happened. After 11 months and some change, my teeth are Invisalign-free (except for the 3 months of retainers ahead of me).

My cheeks hurt from how much smiling I've been doing.

Thanks for following my Invisalign journey.  I have to say, it was really hard on my confidence to have "braces" for nearly a year as a grown-up.  It was like being that awkward kid in school all over again.  But you know what? It was worth every dollar I spent, every day of plastic trays, every visit to the orthodontist.

I know my teeth weren't all that crazy before, but I was always extremely self-conscious about them - to the point of only smiling on one side, or only allowing my face to be photographed at a particular angle, or hating-to-my-core all photos that showed my snaggle tooth.

But before you think, "sweet mercy, this lady is VAIN!" there were also dental health reasons for me getting my teeth straightened.  Flossing the crowded teeth was always a challenge.  The open bite put a lot of pressure on my back teeth, which caused jaw problems.  It was hard to chew or bite into certain foods.  It really had become necessary.

Anyhow, it's done now.  I think it was a worthwhile investment.  My smile is still crooked, and I still have jaw damage from years of clenching, but I feel like I can smile wide for the first time in my 30-something years on this earth. What a relief!

The Final Countdown

You know what I just realized?  I have four more weeks of Invisalign as of today.

Four.

More.

Weeks.

Well, maybe a little extra, because they have to confirm my teeth are straight and then order retainers.  But officially? Four weeks.  Plus three months of retainers, but the brackets come off and my teeth get whitened first.

Isn't that a nice bit of good news (for me) at the New Year?

I'll give an official before and after once I get the brackets off, but for now, here's what my teeth are doing.

By the way, I'm growing my bangs out so I no longer look like a 12 year-old.

It's really amazing how these past ten months have flown by since I got Invisalign.  As I mentioned earlier this week, it's been an exercise in humility.  I took a huge risk getting orthodontia as a grown woman in her 30s, and I'll be honest, it was a huge blow to my confidence. Not only is it hard to feel attractive with a mouth full of plastic, I also always feel very conspicuous, even though most people didn't notice.  When they did, they were surprised because they already thought my teeth were straight. All those years I was self conscious about my teeth, no one thought they were as funky as I did.  Isn't that how it goes?

The strangest thing, though, is that I didn't notice a difference until a few weeks ago.  It's like they were crooked, crooked, crooked, and then BAM! Straight.  What's up with that?  Not that I'm complaining.  My hope is that they'll be straighter still in a month's time, at which point you'll get another update! Lucky you!

Halfway There!

Today marks the halfway point in my adult-braces adventure.  That is, if you don't include the three months of retainers, which I don't (right now).  I use "adventure" lightly, since it's really not very exciting, although trying to figure out how to discreetly remove my "teef" in public places can sometimes cause a stir - mostly because I'm not the least bit discreet and the darn things make a loud suction cup noise plus a click when I pop them out.  It's pretty gross.

But anyways, time really flies when you're having fun wearing plastic trays in your mouth all the live-long day, am I right?

Looking at my teeth with my first trays and my teeth now, side by side, I don't see a whole heck of a lot of difference, but it makes me feel better to think there is one.

Also, I really need to get my eyebrows done.

I feel like my smile is a little less "shark teeth" and more "bunny teeth."

My favorite part about going to the orthodontist is how they always ask if I'm faithful to wearing the trays 22 hours a day.  I always want to say, "no, I'm a 30+ year-old woman who is paying for this out of my own hard-earned money, but I'm really irresponsible and I only wear the trays when I feel like it."  But I always just smile and say yes, even if it's probably closer to 20 hours a day that I wear them, but they don't need to know that.

5.5 months down, 5.5 (plus 3) to go. Fingers crossed I'll have straight teeth when it's over.

Of Teeth and Tomatoes

I survived my first weekend with Invisalign.  I feel like a freak.  The "invisible buttons" they put on my teeth look and feel as big as braces to me.  And also, no one can understand me when I talk, so that's pretty cool.

But there's no going back now.  This is my life for the next year.  Repeating myself constantly and trying to hide the giant plastic Lego-sized brackets on my teeth.

Overall, they're not so bad, though.  I can take them out to eat and sing (thank goodness, since I have a performance coming up).  And since they are such a pain to take in and out, I don't eat unless I absolutely need to.

Best diet ever.

And I will say that most everyone who has come in contact with me has been kind enough to pretend not to notice the lisp and the spitting and the glare coming off my plastic grill.  I have good friends.

In other news, I planted a tomato plant today, with the help of my good friend Anne and her three beautiful children, who delighted in having their hands in the dirt almost as much as I did.  

I've never planted anything before in my entire life. 

And yet somehow, on Day 2 of Orthodontiapalooza (which is what I've decided to call the festival of shame that is the straightening of my teeth), I found myself at Home Depot buying bare root nectarine and peach trees and tomato plants and a gardenia, along with mulch and soil and pots, as if I had a clue what to do with any of those things.   Thankfully, the aforementioned Anne was there to guide me and keep me from fainting from all the excitement (although that might have been low blood sugar, since I didn't eat lunch because I couldn't get the stupid trays out of my mouth).

But I took the first steps toward having a garden.  Invisalign aside, I feel pretty grown up right about now.

Ugly Betty image source unknown.

Shark Teeth

sources unknown (my bad)

Courtesy of my camera phone

via

(making a pirate face at El Morro in San Juan, Puerto Rico)

In case you haven't guessed, I'm getting Invisalign.  This week, in fact.  As much as I'm not looking forward to having a mouth full of plastic like a teenage girl, I am looking forward to getting my janky teeth fixed (yes, I said "janky").  And I only have to wear them for a year.

The funny thing is that every single person I've told about the forthcoming teeth-straightening adventure has said, "What? But your teeth are straight!"  I must disguise the fang and the crooked jaw pretty well then.  But in any case, the photo above reveals that, no, they are not straight.  It also reveals that I need to bust open that Rembrandt whitening kit I just bought.  And reveals a tiny speck of pepper from lunch, but oh well, I'm not retaking the picture.

I also have quite an open bite (my front teeth do not touch), which makes eating artichokes nigh unto impossible.

And I love artichokes.

It's really for the sake of artichokes that I am getting Invisalign.

That's all I've got for now, ye faithful trio of readers.  There's more to come, I'd imagine, on the Invisalign front, posts like, "My Teeth Hurt So Bad I Can Only Eat Yogurt," and "Invisalign Is The Best Diet Ever," and "Three More Months Till Artichokes!" and "Dear Lord, Where Is All My Money? Oh Yeah, It's In the Form of Plastic Teeth-Shaped Molds In My Mouth."

And maybe an artichoke recipe or two.