Our family dentist has already told us to get ready for braces. Dr Shah showed the X-Rays in Darius’ last office visit and I saw it for myself. Darius’ permanent teeth are gonna come in crooked. Add to that his adorably adorable baby-tooth smile isn’t gap-y enough to handle adult teeth. And yes, for the record, “gap-y” is totally a real technical dental word. I know because in the seventh grade I said I wanted to be a dentist, so I’m an expert.*
Lucky for us, we have a few years before we have to find a great orthodontist, make any decisions on treatment or pay through the nose for our son to have a great, straight smile. I mean, the kid hasn’t even lost his first tooth yet. But as I cry a little watching my baby go off to Kindergarten, I know that these next few years will fly by and before I know it, I’ll be asking for a payment plan for my son’s braces.
When I was invited to the Invisalign Mom Blogger Straight Talk event, I jumped at the chance to learn more about our options. Neville and I were both lucky enough to be born with straight teeth. So this is uncharted territory. My brother, Ryan, wore his traditional “train-track” braces for EIGHT years (yes, he was a tough case, but he also was totally lazy about going to the doc for tightening). I watched as Ryan forgot to walk to the Orthodontist for his check-ups (in his defense, you have to go practically every other week), suffered for days whenever the Ortho tightened his braces, wore a head-gear when he was at home and at night, and complained of all the foods he couldn’t eat while wearing braces. In other words, I saw all the downsides to wearing braces and was already bracing myself for the pain of it.
After spending a few hours with the CMO (Chief Marketing Officer) of Align Technology (the makers of Invisalign), an independent, un-sponsored, Orthodontist from the Bay Area, and two teens wearing the braces for us to look at poke and prod, I realized that there are more options out there for you and your kids than the old classic brackets and wires. Invisalign has created a new treatment for teens, preteens, youth called Invisalign Teen (don’t worry, all us mom-bloggers already told them that they are excluding all us moms with non-teens who need braces by calling it Teen).
These features are what convinced me to consider this as a viable option for our family:
- Less office visits. Instead of every 2-3 weeks with traditional braces, you only visit the doctor every 6 weeks (sometimes even longer if you have a trustworthy and consistent child)
- Digital Technology. Align Technologies has developed software that digitizes your dental impressions. We watched a bunch of simulations of before and afters that were simply amazing. I promise if your kid saw how they're gonna look at the end if they stay compliant with the program, they'd be sticking with it. Your teen can see what they'll look like by prom - how cool is that!
- Better hygiene. The aligners are removable, there's no more missed spots when your kid tries to brush around their braces. A huge plus if you have a child who is already inconsistent with their dental hygiene.
- No Special Meals for your Braces-Wearing Child. You remove the aligners whenever you eat, drink, and brush your teeth. No more cutting the corn off the cob or never buying apples for years. Your kid can't eat everything and loses the excuse as to why they don't want to eat their vegetables.
I know this post is getting incredibly long, so I'm just gonna wrap it up by saying that my biggest take-away of the day was that orthodontists are Specialists in their fields. Just like you would get a second opinion before you had a surgeon open up your body, you should get a second (or third or fourth) opinionbefore you settle on a doc and a treatment plan. No only can the recommended treatment vary by each specialists, the cost can vary significantly too. So shop around, ask lots of questions, and make sure that you really love your 0rthodontist and the plan.
A bunch of us tweeted a ton of the stuff we learned about Invisalign, so I'm not gonna bore you with any more details. Bottom line: the product is really cool and if you have a kid whose been told he/she needs braces or even if you've started Phase 1 or whatever it is called of the treatment plan, you should still check out the website and see all the fabulous things that this product can do (all while being practically invisible so you save your kid from the pain and embarrassment of being brace face).
Disclosure: The PR firm hired by Align Technologies, the makers of Invisalign, paid for my travel arrangements to the event. There was no expectation to write about the product. The opinions expressed here are mine alone.
*If you think I'm an expert, then you are a whack job. I'm not a dentist, not an orthodonist... I'm just a mom who has already said 1,875,634 times to my child "Did you brush your teeth?"
