Invisalign Braces Teeth Straightening: 5 Important Things You Need to Know Before You Get Started

A while ago I made a video on 5 things to know about Invisalign braces. I made it about a year into my treatment, capturing the earlier aspects of my experience. Aaand I filmed it in Romanian, to help expand the little existing information on Invisalign in my native country.

But for those of you who don’t speak the language- a shockingly small number, I know 🙂 I decided to write today’s post!

Not only am I hoping to reach many more of you who might be having questions about Invisalign braces, but I can also offer a new, more in-depth perspective.

As I’m now done with my treatment, I’m able to cover more advanced parts of my teeth straightening experience. And also shed light on some facts that I never had any idea might happen!

If I’ve piqued your curiosity, then keep on reading:

Your teeth may turn yellow(er)!

This one was a bit of a surprise for me, as I wasn’t informed it might be a possibility. And as I’ve had pearly whites ever since I can remember, it was definitely a noticeable change for me! (It was actually something I picked up on thanks to my Youtube videos).

Now, the big question:

Would I still have opted for Invisalign braces if I’d known they might change my teeth color? The answer is absolutely YES!

Because here’s the thing:

My teeth had unfortunately started shifting from their previous position when I decided to go for Invisalign. So I’m sure that in time, things would have likely gotten even worse without the aligners.

And after all, teeth discoloration is not irreversible!

You can always whiten them again at your dental practician’s office.

Or, if you’re like me and would like to avoid any tooth sensitivity, you can do it at home, with a professional whitening toothpaste.

My absolute favorite is Prevdent, which comes recommended by my orthodontist’s practice. To which I added the remineralizing GC Tooth Moose (also dental practice approved). And they are working wonders for me! Catch the products pic a bit lower.

I would say at this point I’m about halfway from where I originally started. Plus, much straighter teeth, that is!

Wearing your night retention is non-negotiable…

But it’s not as terrible as it sounds!

While a retainer may become a lifelong companion, you can end up needing to rely on it less and less. Or in other words, you may realize you don’t need to wear your retainer every single night, forever.

Now, a word to the wise:

I am not a dental professional, so far be it from me to encourage you to skip on wearing your retainer nightly. Especially if your orthodontist advised you otherwise- and this is something to discuss as your treatment approaches its end.

But in my personal case, I noticed I am able to skip wearing my nightly retainer sometimes.

The way to tell for sure if you need to wear yours though? Listen to your teeth!

Again, in my experience, they start hurting when beginning to shift back to their original position. Which is my cue for popping my nightly retention in. At first, they would start hurting after 1 night. After about 4 months, I can get away with 3-4 nights easy!

Straightening your teeth may determine some hard to foresee changes

My example?

Because I “forced” my teeth to deviate from their natural position, which created different spaces in my jaw bone, one of my wisdom teeth started to emerge!

Of course, I wasn’t exactly thrilled by this outcome.

Especially since all my 4 wisdom teeth used to be completely covered by gums, so they never posed an issue.

But now, I will need to keep a close eye on this emerging one, to make sure it doesn’t start pushing my freshly straightened teeth.

Again, this is something I had no idea could happen, but apparently it’s not so uncommon. And it’s perfectly explicable, considering the 2 years of teeth straightening  I underwent.

Now, of course I wonder if this is also sometimes the case with regular braces? Write me a comment if you’ve had any experience with this too, I’m curious to know!

It’s very possible you may get small cavities

It’s certainly not my purpose to scare you here, but I couldn’t miss pointing out another little “side effect” of Invisalign. Namely, I had a bunch of small cavities at the end of my treatment.

“How can you be so sure you got them from the aligners, though?” you may ask. And it’s a fair point.

But knowing the extra care I’ve always taken with my teeth (including regularly flossing with oral irrigators and never missing a dental exam), I also know they’ve been in great shape, with zero cavities since my childhood.

And considering that with Invisalign braces your teeth stay covered by the aligners for a great portion of your day (22 hrs on average), it’s not farfetched to think that your saliva can’t be doing as good a job cleaning them as it normally would.

So at my last dental check, I had 5 cavities to take care of. Luckily, we caught them early, so it was a quick and relatively painless process to treat them.

Another golden nugget I got from my dentist at the time?

Apparently latest research shows that toothpaste has a better action on your teeth when not completely rinsed out. So if I were to do my treatment again, I might not even rinse out my aligners after brushing them, and just leave my Prevdent to act over night.

The process may take longer than first anticipated

You did catch those “2 years of teeth straightening” I mentioned earlier, right? Because let me tell you: I went to the orthodontist looking for a quick and easy fix for ONE tooth that was a bit crooked. Something that could be solved in 6 months tops, I thought!

Oh, how wrong I was…

Because after a thorough check, it was clearly visible that my bite also needed fixing. So take those initial 6 months, and add another year. Plus, considering that our wedding took place during my treatment period, some extra delays ensued.

Not to mention the whole process included those dreaded elastics, which I was so sure I wouldn’t need. However, all these extra steps were covered in the initial price of the treatment, which took the sting out of having to follow them… a little.

As for the results, I think they speak for themselves! I’m so much more confident when I smile now, and have no problem grinning and showing my teeth in front of a camera anymore.

All in all, I’d straighten my teeth using Invisalign braces again in a heartbeat if I had to. Do you have any experience with Invisalign, or are you considering getting them? Or do you maybe have any words of wisdom for teeth straightening with traditional braces?

Spill the beans in the comments, and thank you very much for reading!

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