Dr. Cara begins her Invsialign Treatment!

When the Dentist is the Invisalign Patient

I, Dr. Cara, have decided to do Invisalign!

Dr. Cara before she got braces the first time

I’m sure most would say my teeth look great, but part of the job description of a dentist is to be picky.  I had braces twice as a child. I was the first one in my fifth grade class to get braces, which I certainly needed – my teeth entered the room before I did (here I am right before I got braces). Even though I was meticulous about wearing my retainers, I needed a second round of braces in high school. I remember crying the entire time Dr. Boisvert cemented the brackets back onto my teeth. I will admit I mysteriously lost my retainers during my college years, and I only noticed that my teeth had begun to move once I was in dental school and took impressions of my own teeth. Seeing my own dental models spurred me to have retainers made to keep my teeth from further relapsing.

Dr. Cara's Invisalign ClinCheck

Through the years the rotations of my maxillary (top) lateral incisors have always bothered me, as has my one bottom tooth that is not lined up. I thought about doing Invisalign, but did not want to pay the fee for a full treatment to just correct a few minor issues (that’s right! dentists have to pay too!). So, when Invisalign announced Express 5 treatment, I decided to give it a try. Express 5 is meant for patients who only need to correct a few minor issues which can be done using 5 or less aligners (each aligner, which you wear for 2 weeks, moves your teeth a small amount; you then switch to the next aligner which you wear for 2 weeks and so on until everything is straight and aligned). Since the number of aligners is less, so is the cost of treatment. Here is my Invisalign ClinCheck which shows you my teeth before and the projected end result. Circled are the teeth that will be moving.

Dr. Cara doing her own dentistry

This was the perfect opportunity for me to finally perfect my smile. The added benefit was that I could experience Invisalign for myself so as to better relate to my patients who have and will go through the treatment. My team was only so happy to subject me to the Invisalign records of dental impressions and photos. It turns out I’m a better dentist than patient. Prior to delivery of the first aligners, Dr. William Lund needed to put an Invisalign button on one tooth. Buttons are white filling attachments on teeth which allow the aligners to grip onto a more challenging tooth to move it more efficiently (they are buffed off once treatment is completed). I kept interrupting and laughing which was testing Dr. William’s patience which is hard to do. I elected to do the interproximal reduction (IPR) myself – this is when you use strips of thin sandpaper to create small spaces between teeth to allow them to move. Doing dentistry on yourself is interesting to say the least. After the buttons and IPR were done, I popped in the aligners and was on my way.

My first impressions of wearing the aligners are:

1. You can hardly see them at all - my husband didn't even notice.
2. It's a little strange having the plastic on your teeth, but you get used to it quickly.
3. You lisp slightly at first - within one day my speech was almost back to normal, and patients did not notice.
4. Taking the aligners in and out is easy - it's great being able to brush my teeth and eat normally.
5. Invisalign is nowhere as annoying as traditional braces which ache and cut up your lips and tongue - there was one area on the bottom aligner I needed to smooth out where a rough edge was cutting my tongue.
6. The button on my front tooth is hardly noticeable - it is aggravating my lip slightly, but I expect that to subside.
7. My snacking has decreased since it is a nuisance to take the aligners out to eat.

Dr. Cara with her aligners in

I’ll report back to how I’m doing in a few days!
Dr. Cara