Initial Consultation
I've been doing research on Invisalign for about a year now. I knew I wanted to try to start everything during the summer between school years when I wasn't teaching, so this past May (2014), I called a local orthodontist's office to set up a consultation for Invisalign. Choosing an orthodontist was pretty easy for me; I had received multiple mailers from different local dentists with discounts for Invisalign, but only one orthodontist sent one to me. I decided to stick with an orthodontist 1.) in case I had to go the traditional metal route and 2.) this is obviously his specialty. I was also relieved to hear positive reviews about the office I called from people I knew.
My initial consultation was on June 2 after giving finals at school. The office staff were extremely friendly! This is pretty much how the appointment went down:
Dr: "So you want Invisalign, huh?"
Me: "Yep, if it's possible."
Dr: "Alright, we'll take pictures and then set your appointments."
Easy as pie! I had some pictures taken of my teeth/smile/face and had some x-rays done. The orthodontist looked inside my mouth, made some notes to his assistant, and gave me some details about the process and timeline. He said I'd need to have three teeth removed (one on bottom and two on top), and my course of treatment would be around 24 months. They gave me the pictures, a price estimate, and a date to get impressions, and then I was on my way! It was a fast appointment.
These are the pictures that the orthodontist gave me. The arrows represent the things he's going to do with my teeth. Also, this was the day I learned I had a serious overbite.
Impressions
My impressions happened on June 12. Many people told me it would be a horrible process where I would gag and taste nasty stuff, but that didn't happen. I had to have two sets of impressions done; 30 seconds on top and bottom for the orthodontist's office and 3 minutes on top and bottom for Invisalign, which had to be perfect. I asked the technician what her rate of success was on the first try for those, and she said close to 100%. She got them on the first try with me! It was such a fast and easy process. I guess maybe these things have improved since my peers got braces when we were teens?
The funniest thing about the impressions was when I left the office, I looked in the mirror in my car and realized I had some remnants of the pink goop all over my teeth still. :D
When I had my impressions done, I was told I would have to wait 8-10 weeks for the Invisalign aligners to come in. That's when I realized that I wished I had started this process much earlier in the year. When does the new school year start after June 12? 8-10 weeks.
Surgery Consultation
I was referred to an oral surgeon near the orthodontist's office who would eventually take out the recommended teeth. Because I had 8-10 weeks until the aligners came in, I waited until July to have my oral surgery consultation.
Everyone at the oral surgeon's office was amazing as well. They were very friendly and professional. Like my initial consultation, this appointment was also very short and straightforward. I talked to the oral surgeon about the teeth that were to be removed (we added a wisdom tooth to the docket), we discussed anesthetics, and I talked about insurance with another wonderfully professional/friendly employee. Done and done! All I had to do at this point was wait...
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