75 Days Left - Ann Arbor, MI

I'd had crooked teeth as long as I can remember. In elementary school, my parents wanted me to get braces. I would have been one of the first in my class though, and I didn't want to be the uncool one. My mom tried bribery, threats, and finally chipped away at my self-esteem to convince me to get them. In hindsight, probably wasn't the best way to show my independence. By the time that I wanted them, the line had been drawn in the sand and I never got them fixed mainly to prove a point -- I could still be beautiful and successful regardless of my teeth.

This past spring, I turned 30. I graduated from an Ivy League school, got my masters, bought a house, and have a great career as a CPA. I think I prove my point. And, now I can get invisalign solely for me.

I had a consultation in March, and had my impressions done at that appointment. They also went over the financing with me (they allowed me to make monthly payments with no interest), explained the process, and I signed on the dotted line.

When my aligners arrived, I had 22 in total for both the top and bottom. The first 4 on the bottom didn't actually do anything to move my teeth, but they made trays up so that they wouldn't move in the wrong way in the mean time.

When I got my second tray, I got 9 attachment buttons applied. Thankfully, they're all on the sides, so not too visable when I smile. Being honest, the night that I got them was the only night that I regretted my decision. I threw myself a pity party, was convinced that I'd never get my trays out easily again, and took a couple Advil PMs to go to sleep for the evening. The next morning, my teeth had moved enough that I could get the trays out without too much trouble. [On a side note, apparently your teeth do the most moving in the first 10 hours of a new set of trays; if you put them in at night, it's a lot easier since they've largely moved to their new spots and the trays aren't as tight.]

Now, I'm on my 17th tray with 11 more weeks to go. At my last appointment, we started talking about some other things that I could do when I'm done (like bonding and whitening) to give me a million dollar smile. Already, I can see a huge difference in my smile. I love how my teeth look these days and find myself smiling a lot more than I did.