#plastic braces

1.  The first set sucks, but it gets better. - My dentist made an assumption that his nurses/hygienists/someone-not-him was going to tell me in advance what was involved.  So I show up for mysterious attachment day and when I left, I sat in my car and cried for 30 minutes.  My mouth hurt, it felt like there was so much plastic in my mouth, my mouth hurt, there were all these weird white bits all over my teeth for the plastic to snap on to, my mouth hurt, I had a lisp, and, oh yeah, my mouth hurt.  It didn’t help that I was also about two weeks from the bar exam...  So, expect it to hurt.  Expect it to be difficult to figure out how having Invisalign factors into your daily routines.  But also expect it to get better.  You’re going to figure out what works for you.  You’re going to figure out how to take them out and put them back in.  You’re going to remember to start carrying your toothbrush with you to random places.  And most of all, your teeth are going to get better.   Remember, you’re doing this for you.

2.  Wait until night time and take a pain reliever when switching to a new set of aligners.  Your dentist most likely told you to and I’m going to reiterate it.  Sleep through the discomfort :D  I take a couple of advil, wait a few minutes, and then put in the new set of aligners.  The first couple of days of a new set of aligners will be uncomfortable because of the force being exerted on your teeth.  But as your teeth settle into the new arrangement (and are reinforced by the aligners), it will get better.

3.  However you take out and put in your aligners, make it a routine and do it the same way each time so that it becomes muscle memory.  It sounds weird, but having a defined process helped me.  That was the most frustrating thing the first couple of weeks.  Everyone seemed to assume that I knew how to work the pick thingy (i don’t use the pick thingy) or that I would just know how to pry plastic out of my mouth without ripping out my teeth.  It will take some trial and error based on your situation, but you will find what is easiest for you.  Everyone’s situation is different.  How you take them out will depend on how many attachments you have and where they are.  Watching teenagers on youtube stick their fingers in their mouth and pop them out like nothing will just make you angry (especially when you zoom in and you realize that little monster only has like three freakin’ attachments while you have fifteen...).

4.  Taking out/putting on aligners will tug on your teeth and might twinge, but it should NOT be sharp pain.  If there’s a sharp stabby pain when you take off or put on your aligners, call your dentist.  They can check that the attachments are in the right place and also on the progress of your treatment.  They can also help you figure out if you’re not doing something right in putting them in or removing them.

5.  Your tongue will feel weird, but, again, there should be NO sharp pain.  I have had a couple sets of aligners where it felt like something was slicing my tongue in half.  And when I looked at the underside of my tongue, I was quite alarmed to see red angry spots where something was, indeed, cutting my tongue.  The first time it happened, I took my aligners and compared them to the previous ones - where it was hurting my tongue, there was this tiny extra lip of plastic along the edge.  They just weren’t cut close enough when they were cast.  I took a fingernail file and filed down that bit of plastic so that it wasn’t so sharp, then washed it off to get any plastic dust off.  It felt SO MUCH BETTER.  I did it to the second set that did that also.  If you’re not comfortable doing that on your own, go see your dentist.  You do not need to have your tongue cut open for two weeks.  Your dentist can help you.

Your dentist can also help with whatever happened to your tongue and recommend what to do.  I used Listerine to numb, soothe, and help keep the area clean (but don’t use Listerine with the aligners in).

6.  Try your best to keep in the aligners for the full recommended 22 hours.  I’m usually pretty close to 22, but life happens.  I’ve been caught occasionally in a meeting right after lunch with no time to go brush teeth and put the aligners back in for another hour.  The benefit of doing getting as close to 22 as you can is being able to stay on target for your treatment plan.  Outside of uncontrollable circumstances, you will be tempted to leave them out for whatever reason.  Just ask yourself if that reason is worth adding more time onto your treatment plan.  I had 32 aligners to get through.  I’m on set 17 now and I’m right on target to be done in 30 weeks.  I will be done in 30 weeks,  dammit.

7.  Brush your aligners in the morning when you brush your teeth.  If you aren’t regularly cleaning your aligners, you’re going to have crazy dragon breath.  A good time to do it is after you brush your teeth in the morning, just put a little more toothpaste on the brush and get to it on the aligners.  I have one of those sonic care electric toothbrushes.  I put it on its lowest setting and brush the outside and insides of the aligners.

Your dentist might also give you little tablets to use to clean your aligners kind of like dentures.  I do this usually at the halfway point during the two week set and then still brush the aligners most mornings.

8.  Brush/floss after meals before putting your aligners back in.  In addition to just being a hygienic thing to do, it will also make you feel better because things are clean.  But thespoot! There was that study that said flossing doesn’t really improve dental health! Ok, but you know what’s really really frustrating?  Having something stuck in your teeth, knowing it’s there, feeling it’s there, but under a thick layer of plastic so that no matter how your tongue attacks it, you can’t get at it.  That’s really really frustrating.  Floss, dammit.

9.  Use your chewies to seat the aligners.  Your jaw might be sore, especially if you’re at the beginning of a new set of aligners, but chewing on that bit of rubbery stuff helps seat the aligners and make sure all the attachments are snapped in.  Everything will be less sore if the aligners fit right to begin with.  If you forget your chewies, a thick rolled up bit of paper towel will do in a pinch.

10.  There is a lifestyle change as part of using the aligners.  You’re going to be brushing your teeth more often.  You’re going to be the person you used to make fun of who brushes their teeth at work (though that might just have been me lol).  You aren’t going to snack between meals as much, if at all.  You aren’t going to drink hot coffee as much, if at all (so far, my desire for hot coffee has not outweighed my desire to avoid taking out aligners haha).  You’ll probably cut down on cokes (you can drink them with the aligners in, but it might stain the plastic).  These are all healthy changes, but it can be overwhelming if you weren’t expecting it.  It can be even more overwhelming if you were already in the middle of something that was a big deal (...like studying for the bar exam).  When you work out the treatment plan with your dentist, take these things into account and really think through if now is the right time.

And that random “advice” I found on my travels about not eating at parties? Bull.  Just plan ahead.  Take your carrying case with you.  Excuse yourself to the bathroom, pop out the aligners, go eat your food.  And when you’re done munching? Excuse yourself to the bathroom, pop back in the aligners.  My little carrying case fits in my pocket - I don’t carry a purse.  So that’s part of the lifestyle change too - remembering to plan ahead for when you’re likely to need to take out and put in aligners.  Having to wrap your aligners in a paper towel because you forgot your case leads to a nerve-wracking stretch of time where you obsessively hold on to that little package lest someone accidentally throws it away lol.