Invisalign and My Preteen: Our Invisalign Treatment Journey

by | Nov 17, 2017 | Lucy, Parenting/Family, Sponsored, Video

*I have joined the Invisalign Mom’s Panel. My daughter’s treatment has been provided in trade for our honest review. This is our story.

Our Invisalign Treatment Journey

I write our story because orthodontics with kids is a family affair. 

We all have to be together on what treatment is chosen… no matter what straightening option a family chooses, there is responsibility on the part of the child, and the parents.

A little background on my family… I had standard braces as an adult, my son is currently wrapping up his treatment with traditional braces, and my husband is currently in the middle of his own Invisalign treatment.

So when our dentist told us it was time to seriously consider treatment for Lucy due to a pretty solid overbite, we didn’t have a lot of research to do. But we did have to sit down and outline the options for Lucy.

The pros for traditional braces: when they are in they are in. Good or bad or otherwise – they are IN. The cons? When they are in  they are in, the brackets and their tearing off the inside of the mouth, the look… and of course the cleaning.

Some Invisalign treatment pros: they are nearly invisible, they don’t tear-up the insides of the mouth, aligner removal permits easy brushing and cleaning, the treatment time is often shorter than with traditional braces, and they stay on through the cheeriest of cheers, kicks, and cartwheels!

Take the Smile Assessment here!

Invisalign stays in for the cheeriest of cheers!

The one con that made me nervous is that they are not fastened in for the duration of treatment. A concern I had was keeping track of aligners when removed for meal times.

There was one big pro I didn’t think about, that I HAVE to share here – I didn’t realize how FAST and easy it is to get started with Invisalign treatment. I took Lucy in for her consultation, where we were told Invisalign treatment would be a good fit for her needs. Lucy was worried she’d have to do one of those icky impressions, but instead they used a tool that scanned her mouth and gave us a 3D visual to view on the monitor. The scan showed us her bite now, and what it will look like at the end of treatment.

Invisalign Outcome Simulator

Pretty slick you guys!

And just under a month after that initial visit, we were back in to get her aligners!

When my son got his braces, he was in that chair with that mouth guard holding his mouth wide open for a long while. The first couple of days were tough too.

On the flip side with Lucy, we were in and out in under a half hour. She sat in the chair. Chatted with the doctor… we asked any questions we had, and we were off. Yes, her teeth hurt for a couple of days, but not the skin inside her mouth. 

Getting traditional braces vs. Invisalign

Moving teeth will be uncomfortable no matter what, but the Invisalign treatment eliminates at least one of the potential pain points when it comes to correcting teeth – that tender cheek skin inside the mouth!

We are three weeks into her treatment and it has been going even better than I expected! Lucy is so excited by the thought of a shorter treatment; she is awesome at keeping her aligners in. She’s not misplaced her aligners, and has done an outstanding job at brushing and keeping her aligners clean too. She is excited for treatment because her teeth have been bothering her for a long time… she feels hopeful and can’t wait to see the end result. 

Invisalign Aligners

Curious about treatment for you or someone in your family? You can locate a doctor near you by using this hand-dandy Doctor Finder here!

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