Susan Solo – Photographer | Traveler | Adventurer

Tag: Invisalign

Invisalign Update

So, I’ve kind of been putting this post off for a few reasons, but it’s been a full year since I finished my Invisalign treatment and I did originally say that I’d post an update so here it is! This is seriously way too many photos of me in one post, but alas, it’s the only way to show you my teeth. (Lady Gaga song, anyone?)

Reason #1 for the delay – I still had a couple of things to do post-treatment, including having my final retainers made, so it didn’t feel like I was officially done. Ever since I finished treatment I’ve been wearing the last set of aligners at night when I go to sleep, which is how I’ll wear the retainers as well. (I think I have to wear them at night for life?! Sigh.) And once I have my final retainers, I can do some at-home whitening with prescription whitening gel, so I thought I’d just do the follow-up post after that. Long story short, I had to have some other dental work done before my final retainers could be made and life got in the way, so I’m only just now getting around to finalizing things. Also, reason #2 – I don’t really like talking about my teeth (or my flair). Annnd…I realized I’d have to post before-and-after photos, and that means people will be staring at my teeth, and the images might even show up in a Google search related to Invisalign. So that’s weird!

Lastly, reason #3 – I haven’t taken any official “after” photos. I think photographers are pretty bad about having their photos taken. I keep meaning to do an updated headshot/portrait, but I haven’t made it a priority, which is awful considering how often I encourage other people to have their photos taken! Do as I say, not as I do, right? I don’t even have many travel snapshots or iPhone selfies from the last several months for some reason. Oh right, because I’m always the one behind the camera. I need to be better about stepping in front of the lens more often I guess. But I promised an update, and maybe it’ll be helpful to anyone considering Invisalign, so here goes. I’ll start with some photos of me before I started wearing Invisalign, although none of these were taken with the intent of being official before photos.

BEFORE

I didn’t have a super dramatic case to begin with, but from a health perspective my bite was pretty misaligned to the point where it would eventually cause problems and I wanted to be proactive about that. And to be honest I was really starting to dislike photos of myself, especially if the photo was taken from a certain angle. Eek! As much as I don’t really want you to inspect too closely, here are two photos where I felt like my smile was wonky, especially the one on the left (where the camera flash made my hair look like tinsel for some reason). You can see the sides of my upper teeth leaning in, my top teeth didn’t line up over my bottom teeth, I had a pretty significant overbite when viewed from the side, and one of my two front teeth stuck out more than the others.

DURING

Next, these are some iPhone snapshots of me during treatment, about a year into wearing the aligners. I did start to feel better about how my smile looked in photos (except for the attachment “buttons” glued on my teeth). The first one on the left below even shows how my aligners looked while wearing them, including the tiny rubber bands that attached from top to bottom. Those things hurt, but they really pulled my overbite back into place. I didn’t wear the bands in public, only at home and overnight.

AFTER

And finally, these last two photos are images taken after being completely done with Invisalign, attachments removed and all. I promise to try to have a headshot done that shows a better close-up of my smile, but in the meantime hopefully you’ll get the idea. I think the first photo shows my new smile pretty clearly. (Ha – I just realized Chris might be subjected to having his face posted in Google images under an Invisalign search since he’s in a lot of my photos! He has a great smile though, so no harm done.) My overbite is hugely improved, the sides don’t lean in as much, and my two front teeth are pretty much in alignment.

Oh and just for fun, here are the computer models of my teeth so you can see where I started and where I was projected to end up, and I think we were able to get pretty close. If you look at the left-hand photo for the uppers, you can see that one front tooth that wanted to hang out in front of the others. I hated that!

As for how I feel post-treatment, I’m pretty darn happy with the results! Do I think my teeth are absolutely perfect? Nah, but that’s totally okay with me. I feel like the alignment is maybe at 90-95%, and the improvement over the before feels so much better to me. I have debated continuing orthodontic treatment to try and correct that last 5-10%, but I’ve decided it’s probably only noticeable to me. And anyway, I’m finally starting to realize that there are some things that just make me ME and there’s no need to try to fix everything. I’m just happy that my bite is properly aligned now which will alleviate future dental health issues, and as a huge bonus I feel like my smile looks better in photos. I would still recommend Invisalign to anyone interested in correcting the alignment of their teeth as long as they understand the discipline required to keep the aligners in 20 or so hours a day AND that Invisalign might not get you to 100% perfect (this was my expectation after doing my research and reading Invisalign patient reviews). For more info about the process, see my original post here. And definitely let me know if you have any questions about Invisalign! I’d absolutely be happy to help. Happy smiling! Smiling’s my favorite. 🙂

May 12, 2014
2013 in Review

Happy New Year! *confetti* I hope you had a wonderful holiday season and are enjoying a peaceful start to the new year. I’m so excited for what’s coming up in 2014, but I also love to look back on the year behind and reflect on the highlights:

Snowboarding at Snowshoe, WV · Completing my Invisalign treatment (official photo from the orthodontist’s office!) · Celebrating the birth of Coelle’s baby girl · Photographing a few lovely weddings and getting a photo published in the Washington Post · Taking a guitar class · Traveling to breathtaking Tortola and Virgin Gorda · Meeting up with Casey in Orlando, FL to visit Universal/The Wizarding World of Harry Potter · Seeing awesome concerts including The Killers and Depeche Mode · Starting my yoga practice · Traveling to Puerto Rico and hiking in El Yunque · Cheering on the Caps at several games · Working on house projects including a bathroom mini-makeover · Visiting my family in Colorado and skiing for the first time in 20 years!

Not pictured are the lowlights of 2013 – wouldn’t that be a weird collage? It would include minor snowboarding injuries, Chris’s broken hand from softball, and my jaw surgery where one side of my face puffed up to the size of a grapefruit. But I’d always rather focus on the positives!

Chris and I have some really amazing plans for 2014 including learning to scuba dive (eep!), traveling to West Virginia, Grand Cayman, Iceland, and Colorado, and some house projects to keep us busy in between trips. I can’t wait to share some photos, and to hear about your own adventures! Hope your year is happy, healthy, and everything else you want it to be. 🙂

January 3, 2014
Invisalign Anniversary!

It’s my one-year Invisalign anniversary! Happy anniversary to my now-straighter teeth. I thought I’d post an update here and a review of the treatment so far, in case anyone is thinking about doing Invisalign, too.

First of all, let’s talk about the reasons why I decided on Invisalign. My teeth weren’t terribly misaligned from an aesthetic standpoint, at least not compared to some of the amazing before-and-after cases on the Invisalign website. One of my front teeth was crowded behind the others a little, and my back teeth were starting to tilt inward a bit. I had a fairly major over-jet though, and that bothered me from a profile perspective. Also, the misalignment was starting to cause some wear on my teeth, so the decision to undergo treatment was not only for my appearance but for the health of my teeth as well. My fantastic dentist referred me to an amazing orthodontist, who recommended Invisalign over traditional braces, though he said both would work for me and it was a matter of my own preference. I decided on Invisalign because I liked that I’d be able to take them out for special occasions, pictures, and situations where I’d be speaking in front of an audience. Invisalign requires fewer visits to the office, so there’s a time/convenience factor. I also liked the idea that the aligners were clear and therefore discrete. More on that in a moment.

My treatment plan was designed for approximately 18 months, so I have about 5-6 months to go. However, depending on how my teeth track in this set of aligners, there’s always the possibility of an additional refinement period. A refinement period is another set of aligners to make additional adjustments after the initial set(s) of aligners are complete. After a year, I’m pretty used to the routine, but I’m also looking forward to being done. My least favorite thing is not being able to just relax after a nice meal or if I’m eating popcorn while watching a movie. I have to hop up immediately after I finish eating to brush my teeth and put the aligners back in. My second least favorite thing is that my set of aligners did not turn out to be as discrete as others (though I know it can be even worse, so I’m really not complaining). I am required to wear auxiliaries, or small rubber bands that hook from the top-front teeth to the bottom-back teeth to correct my overbite. Plus I do have several of the attachments, which are small tooth-colored buttons that are glued to the teeth to help the aligners fit better and in some cases to create specific movements for each tooth. They aren’t on my very front teeth, but they are on the sides and visible when I smile. Sometimes I am self-conscious of them, although people have said they aren’t noticeable unless I point it out. I don’t wear the elastics in public because those are definitely noticeable, but thankfully my progress doesn’t seem to be affected by not wearing the elastics 24/7. And I think the aligners only make me a tiny bit lispy. When I sing in the car it’s pretty terrible, but just in normal conversation I don’t have too much trouble.

Other things to note: yes, it’s a little painful sometimes. The aligners, just like traditional metal braces, are designed to put a constant amount of pressure on your teeth, so of course there is some discomfort. It usually lasts the first few days of a new set of aligners and then you have several days where the teeth have already moved and now they are just being held in place. But the discomfort is not unbearable. I had regular braces when I was in elementary school, and I remember the tightening adjustments being more painful than the Invisalign. I got those braces off when I was eleven and I did not wear my retainer, (what eleven year-old has the discipline to wear a retainer?!) so here I am again.

Would I recommend Invisalign? At this point I’d say absolutely YES! The progress so far is amazing, and I’m really happy with it. It has been super convenient, and I do love the fact that I can take them out when I need to. However, I would NOT recommend Invisalign if you don’t have the discipline to keep them in for the minimum amount of time each day, or if you feel like brushing your teeth 4-5 times a day would be inconvenient or embarrassing in public. I’ve brushed my teeth at the office, in restaurants, at the movie theater, in the car (safely, while stuck in traffic or parked), and even at the Verizon Center during a Capitals game! I constantly have a stockpile of dental supplies, especially in travel form, so that I can brush anywhere.

I’ll post another update and before/after pictures when I’m all done, but if you have any questions in the meantime, please feel free to comment or email me! I’d be happy to chat with you about it, and if you’re local to the Northern Virginia area, I have THE most amazing orthodontist and I can’t recommend him enough!

November 16, 2012