26 Year Old with Crossbite - New York, NY

So I have a problem...I Google too much, I worry too much. I'm only on (full) day 2 of tray 1. I understand that my mouth will be sore, some teeth will hurt as expected with any orthodontic treatment. But all I keep thinking about is how these little plastic things are totally going to screw so many aspects of my life up. I've been getting conflicting opinions on drinking with the aligners in (some say just water, others say it's fine in moderation, some say use straws). I honestly don't drink much but water throughout the day, but I enjoy a cup of coffee in the morning and I also enjoy iced coffee and iced tea especially during the summer time, which is now. I know I can have these things with my trays out but I feel as though I have to rush everything now to say in the time constraints. I no longer snack, which honestly, I don't mind dropping some weight as I've been dieting for several months now. But I found myself eating a TON more than I typically would at dinnertime, simply because I knew I couldn't snack.

This is going to be at least a 20+ month process, which is so depressing to me. I was going into this thinking, oh maybe it'll be 18 months at the most. I read reviews of people complaining that they have 25 trays and I'm over thinking I have 44! And on both sets of teeth, not just bottom or top. I'm contemplating now as most do, about whether I should of opted for the ceramic braces. The reaction to the invisaligns so far is that everyone says oh you can't really seem them. But the attachments on my two "fang" teeth make them must more noticeable when I open my mouth wide.

Cleaning (trays and teeth) is a whole other issue. I was told not to use toothpaste on the trays, so I keep a separate toothbrush and rinse them with warm water and give them a quick scrub. I also have brushed and flossed after every meal. I bought some retainer brite tablets but have heard conflicting theories on these as well.

Can someone please tell me I'm just being crazy and that it all gets better? I don't even want to begin to think about eating in public for the first time, as the thought of sticking my hand in my mouth in front of a stranger sounds pretty unpleasant. Oh and don't get me started on the fact that I read you can't swim with them in?! What!! One thing I was looking forward to was hanging out in my pool this summer. Are these things really the life/fun killers that I am currently viewing them as? Or did I make the right decision? I know my bite needed to be fixed, I put it off for way too long but am wondering if regular braces would of been better as they allow me to eat and drink anything whenever I want.

Help please!!!

Woops had a grammar error!

I have none since I was a teen that I needed to correct my bite. I have a posterior crossbite on one of my front teeth and an anterior crossbite on my left side. I didn't correct them as a teen for pure vanity and I regret that decision all the time (parents' insurance would of covered most, I'd have no teeth worries now.) After years of putting It off, I finally decided I had to fix it. The tooth in the front is slightly mobile, due to the constant trauma of my crooked bite. Unfortunately there aren't many choices for orthodontists in my area; I go to a cosmetic dentist for my regular dental work and he offers them but since he at first told me they wouldn't work for me then 6 months later said they would, it left me not too confident in him. The ortho consult was free and he said yes you'd be eligible, he said treatment time 1 1/2 - 2 years. They presented me with the payment options and ceramic braces were only $500 cheaper so I went for the Invisalign. They set up my appointment for a few weeks later; of course I freaked out and googled everything relentlessly.

I went to my appointment to get the impressions taken. While everyone is the office is very friendly, I never really feel that they answer all my questions but I decided to continue on anyway. They finished up with all of that in about 30 minutes and setup my appointment to get the trays in 6 weeks.

For those 6 weeks, I researched daily (to the annoyance of my boyfriend) and just pictured how much my life would change. So after enjoying a vacation in Hershey during Memorial weekend, I decided I was ready for them.

My appointment was today, June 4th. I went out for a big birthday dinner with my boyfriend last night and ate a big cheeseburger in anticipation of not eating those for a while! My appointment was at 3 pm and I got maybe an hour of sleep the night before. I couldn't concentrate one bit at work the entire day. I went to the appointment, the assistant brought me in and started right away on attachments. I have more than anticipated; 5 on the top and 8 on the bottom. I'm lucky that none are on my front 8 teeth but I do have two on my "fang" teeth that are quite noticeable (no one else has seen them yet, so maybe they aren't as bad as I think). The process of the attachments wasn't painful, just annoying. Annoying in that my mouth became incredibly dry and the taste was unpleasant but was comparable to a filling. The orthodontist came after she was done placing them and filed them down. This again, was not a big deal. After he was done, he did some slight "shaving" (I believe it's IPR?) and that was not bad at all. Then finally, she had me look in a mirror and try taking them out. I started at the bottom, I knew these would be more troublesome due to my bite issues and more attachments. After a brief 10 seconds of freaking out that I couldn't get it, they came off. Then to my top, these were much easier. I was actually stunned at how easy it seemed.

She asked if I had any questions; I asked about drinking (besides water) with them in and I wasn't very confident in the answer she gave me. I also asked about treatment time since they never said (I peeked at the number of trays and freaked a bit). She said between 20-30 months; much longer than I wanted to hear but I guess they've been bad for almost 27 years so what's 2 years to fix? After that, I was ready to just get out of there. They sent me home with two cases and three trays (no chewies :( ) and scheduled an appointment in 6 weeks. I realized when I got home there was no "clincheck" video and was disappointed when I called them that they don't do this. Is this weird?

RIght now, I'm on the couch and honestly, there is a very, very slight dull ache but besides that I'm feeling ok. It feels weird obviously and the edges are a little sharp (they didn't mention any of that) so I'll just take it as it comes.

So happy for a site like this because people can commiserate with me. I have plenty of friends who had metal braces as teens and they say you just deal with it. My boyfriend has beautiful straight teeth that I've always been envious of, so it'll be nice to have those someday. That's all for now I guess, I'm going to try to take them out to eat some birthday cake at my boyfriend's mom's house.