My first Invisalign trays! Yippee!

I excitedly went to my ortho Thursday afternoon to get my first Invisalign trays. I went for my impressions in the middle of March so I've been waiting a little less than two months for my trays and I'm not very patient but it was totally worth the wait. I will answer all your questions (from an actors point of view) regarding my Invisalign. ;)

First appointment

I was in and out of my orthodontist within 20 minutes, all I did was sit in the chair and pop my trays in. My ortho gave me two aligner cases; one for home and one for my purse. They gave me my current trays and then my second trays to put in after two weeks. My ortho said they would put these little "buttons" on a few of my teeth next month. The buttons are invisible and give the aligners something to grip on to and make it easier for the teeth to move. If I wear my aligners as much as I should, it's going to take about 60 weeks for my teeth to be fully corrected.

Post-aligners

I picked up a travel size toothbrush, toothpaste and floss to throw in my purse for when I'm out. I'm not allowed to drink anything with the aligners in, besides water. Obviously I remove them if I'm going to have a cup of tea or coffee otherwise anything hot could warp or stain them. I think I kept mine in for 22 hours the first day because the more you keep your aligners in, the quicker the process.

Pain

They are a little tight when you first pop them in and it takes a while to get used to removing them but once you get the hang of it, they snap in and out smoothly. There is no real pain, only a bit of soreness but that's only because my teeth are moving. I guess it's like regular wire brace, everytime you get them tightened there is pressure. The tenderness goes away 2-3 days after you insert your new aligners.

Visibility

Completely and utterly invisible. No joke! Not one person has noticed that I have them in, it's awesome. I went into my agency on Friday and had full on conversations with my agents and no one noticed (in fact no one believed me) that I had my aligners in.

Speech

The instruction pamphlet I got after my ortho appointment stated that my speech might be slightly affected for the first couple days but that didn't apply to me. The trays did not affect my speech whatsoever. No lisp, no slur, nothing. (AWESOME!)

Auditioning and Filming

I kept my aligners in for an audition I had this morning and it was great! I was a little concerned about doing voice over in case my speech was slightly affected but since I'm now  fully accustomed to the aligners it won't be a problem. Since it doesn't affect my speech and is completely invisible I can keep them in for auditions and filming which is the whole point of getting Invisalign. I highly recommend it to everyone but it's exceptionally fantastic for actors, singers or anyone involved in the entertainment industry.

I am over the moon with my new aligners! I'm very excited for this process to begin and when results show. I'll keep you all posted with every new tray and the progress my teeth are making. I will most likely be posting some before pictures sometime next week so stay tuned.

I'm participating in the Invisalign Studio Program and I have received complimentary Invisalign treatment. All the opinions that I have expressed are my own. Go to http://www.invisalign.com/studio for more information!