Smile Direct Club - My Journal - Newport Beach, CA

Ok, so it looks like from all of the reviews I've been reading, a lot of people posting are super excited to share the beginning of their journey, but it's rare that anyone finishes and tells us how it turned out! So I'm determined to start this journey and log my review all the way through to completion - anyone reading this hold me to it, ok?

So I'm a bit delayed as I'm already on Day 5 of Tray One, but I'll start from the beginning.

I came across this service as a sponsored ad on Pinterest believe it or not. I had been wanting Invisalign for a long time after already having braces and my teeth have shifted when my wisdom teeth grew in. My teeth used to be beautiful but sadly I stopped wearing my retainer when they came off 19 years ago, and they started shifting about 10 years ago. So here we are, crooked and in desperate need of an inexpensive solution as my insurance doesn't cover adult orthodontia. Enter SDC from stage left. So exciting.

I jumped on the concept of removing the middle man (the in person dentist who of course would take a cut, increasing the cost), and decided to try it out. first are the pictures, which are awkward to take. Little did I know that in the impressions kit they were sending they give you Smile Stretcher so you can get a more accurate view, but I was a little eager so I worked it out without one and required sons interesting leaning and bending to get the right angles. I sent them through and they were accepted right away. They then sent me the link to order my impressions kit.

I found a coupon online for 50% off the impressions kit, and received it within days. The shipping was so fast. I actually was pretty bad and sat on making them and sending them back for weeks. I kept receiving these adorable reminder emails from them (you have to admit their marketing is on point), and they even went as far as to call and leave a few reminder voice mails (pre-recorded). So I finally opened the kit and read the entire direction kit from cover to cover (again, their content writers are so incredibly clever, it's hard not to want to!), and I'm telling you, it's WORTH THE READ. You are incredibly prepared when you dive in because you kind of have to know exactly what to do if you want to get them done right. Unlike others, mine were accepted on the first go, probably because I nerded out on the manual and read everything. A note of advice: Slowly position the impression trays over your teeth before you press down, and DO NOT adjust them in any way once you've begun pressing down. No lifting them back up, pushing them from one side to another. Once you press down, that's it. Otherwise, you end up with tray misplacement and a multiple track marks. You need one good solid impression, and the only way you can do that is to press down firmly and be sure the putty is hitting the back of your gums and firmly against your molars. Don't bite down either, just press and hold with your thumbs like it says. Also, the drool is REAL. So get the towel ready. I also had my stop watch going on my phone and some music because 3:30 for each tray gets boring pretty quickly. This is the point in time where a dance party as you stare at yourself in the mirror is perfectly acceptable.

Next, they don't really give you a way to send them back besides just tossing them in the box, so I put them in a ziplock - tops in one, and bottoms in another. Then off they go. They received them quickly, confirming via email, but they did make me wait awhile for the 3D diagram - maybe 10 days? But they sent an email half way through saying they needed a few extra days and to hang tight. No problem, SDC, no problem. They then sent this cool video showing my teeth transformation. Love it, looks like I'll be on a 13 tray, 26 week plan. Find by me. At this point I paid for my plan which was $1700, plus $250 upfront - but of course, I found a coupon for $100 off, so I applied that, paid for my initial payment, and they got to work on my impressions. They just arrived this past Saturday which was March 11th.

So far? Not bad. The first day was awkward. The snapped right in, but I noticed these little flaps on the inside of both top and bottom near my tongue (I assume for easy removal), but they have been RUBBING for days now, causing a few cuts to the sides of my tongue, which is never fun. But that's really the worst of it. There's a dull ache in my teeth, but nothing really noticeable or that uncomfortable, maybe because I had braces before. I can feel some throbbing when I remove the trays to eat, but it actually tones down when I put them back in. So it's actually been manageable to achieve the 22 hours a day deal. The first couple of days - a little uncomfortable just getting used to having something fastened to your teeth, but here we are on Day 5 and they're fine. Not noticeable at all. They do make my lips incredibly dry and chapped (you can see in the pictures), so drink lots of water and use the little lip balm tub they send. Be prepared not to want to talk for a few days because of the awkwardness and how lispy you sound (my fiancé I'm sure enjoyed the peace and quiet!). Other than that, I guess we'll see!

I'll post again soon! Half way done with Tray One!

So these were realllllllly tight going in, but surprisingly they didn't hurt, just a dull ache similar to the first time through. I took someone's advice on here who had suggested waiting until bed to switch them out, and taking some ibuprofen if necessary. I had a couple of life changing rents take place during this two week period, so I went without them on those two days since there was so much grazing and would have been too difficult to manage. As a result, I shifted my schedule by two days. One thing I'm learning is that these trays start to get realllllly grimy after a few days of just rinsing as they suggest, which is pretty gross. So I researched how to clean them well, and surprisingly a great trick is to rinse them with anti-bacterial soap to remove the build up. I tried toothpaste and a toothbrush at first, but it was leaving a residue. I also tried baking soda and vinegar which was OK but the soap seems to be working the best! Just be sure to rinse fully unless you want soapy mouth. ;) I'm starting to look forward to the days leading up to the tray switch, just to get a nice fresh set in and because I can feel the trays getting looser as the two weeks elapse. So that's a good thing! I also like that you can't see them at all, especially in pictures. It's so great and my teeth actually look bigger and shinier with them in (in a good way!) I'll be switching out this set tonight, moving onto week five, tray three!! Will report back soon. :)

So I wanted to update on Tray Three, but there really wasn't anything exciting to say! I went a couple of days at the beginning with some pain, but nothing beyond the regular pain I have for the first 48 hours when I switch to any new tray. I DID get some weird blisters on the bottom right side gum line next to my inner cheek. Not sure what that was about, but beyond that it was relatively uneventful. When I switched to Tray Four (the one I'm currently on now), WOAH. I had some SEVERE pain the first few days, especially on my bottom front where my biggest problem area is. The teeth didn't ache below the gums like they do with a regular tooth ache; this was a throbbing that existed in the top of the teeth down into the walls and out into the neighboring teeth, obviously a tension ache from the pressure that was being applied. I was miserable. BUT it didn't last longer than three days or so. If you can just get past the initial throbbing on any Tray, your teeth find a way to get comfortable and the pain subsides. The other strange thing I noticed with this Tray and the last is that the gums behind my wisdom teeth on both sides of the bottom have separated from the teeth for a couple of days. This space was created where the tooth would separate from the back wall of my mouth and it was horrible! Any contact with food or water was terribly painful - I'm not sure why this happened, maybe because of the teeth moving, but it occurred on one side first for a few days, and then the other side after I changed trays. Luckily it only lasted a period of time and then closed up in both instances, so it's no longer a concern. The funny thing I've started to enjoy is that after a period of time wearing these alingers, they just start to become part of your face. I know that sounds weird, but I don't even notice them anymore! You know how sometimes you're frantically looking for something and realize it's either in your hand, or if it's glasses, they're on your head? I did that yesterday. "Oh no, I forgot to put my aligners in before leaving the house! Oh wait, they're in my mouth..." haha it's a great feeling after the first couple weeks of uncomfortableness and the cuts in my mouth. I'll be changing to Tray Five on Tuesday, so will post again soon. Here are some new photos; hopefully you can see some changes. :)