My Envisalign Experience

It’s been a long time since I last made a blog post.  Why am I back?  Well, after Christmas this past year, I saw myself in so many pictures and decided my teeth needed to be straightened.  At 64 years old, I had no idea if I would even be a candidate for Envisalign or not,  but I did a little research and decided to go in for a consultation.  My orthodontist explained everything and assured me that I wasn’t too old.  He was very thorough and explained my options—traditional metal braces, or Envisalign.  I didn’t even want to think about metal, so I quickly shut down that idea.  I like the idea of being able to remove the Envisalign trays to eat, and then thoroughly clean my teeth, to include flossing which can’t be done with metal.  Envisalign it would be.

(Even though I had already made my decision, I was a little perplexed as to why I couldn’t find more detailed information online where someone was sharing the actual process.  I could only find promo information.  That’s the reason I decided to share my experience and make it available so that others can easily find the information.)

Picture from Christmas 2023

At the consultation appointment, I made it clear that I wanted to get started and complete the treatment as quickly as possible, so I went ahead and paid my money to get started, and they did all the scans/x-rays required that very day.  The aligners should arrive in a couple of weeks.

Monday, Feb 5, 2024

Today I will receive my little kit which includes the first set of ten trays for upper and lower teeth.  I will change them out at home until I get to the tenth set, at which time I will go in for another appointment and the doctor will look at my progress and do another set of mouth scans.  At that time, I will pick up my next set and will continue the treatment from there.

I lost track of time, but it seems like I probably spent around two hours in the chair having various tiny things glued onto my teeth.  Those are the little bumpy things that will hold the trays in place.  At the end of the visit, we installed the first set of trays on my upper and lower teeth.  I have always been told that my mouth is small, and I can tell you that it’s hard to get them into my mouth because there’s a certain way you have to do it and it involves getting your hand up in there to snap the trays into place.  They are very rigid hard plastic and it’s a challenge to get them in the first time, and especially hard to get them settled in without pinching the inside of your cheek into the tray, because you sort of have to curl them around from the inside and they snap on the outside of your teeth.  Yes I did catch my cheek in it and it hurt.  Once they’re snapped in, it’s hard to unsnap them, so it made me panic for a minute.  I ended up just pulling my cheek skin out without unsnapping the tray.  OUCH.  No blood, so I’m okay.

It’s really a live and learn thing to get the hang of the technique to put the trays in and out of your mouth.  Once they were in, I needed to attach the little elastic rubber bands.  I had 1/4” rubber bands, and they were difficult for me to get on the first time.  There are little hooks cut into the trays and that’s how you attach the rubber bands.  It would have been smarter if I had examined the trays more closely BEFORE putting them in the first time to see which teeth the little hooks were located on.  Once they’re in your mouth, it’s hard to tell where the little hooks are because there are so many other little bumpy things all over the place and they sort of all feel the same when you’re searching for the hook with your finger.  

Little bumpy things that will hold aligners in place…

I’m sure every patient is different, and maybe you don’t even have to use the rubber bands at all, but I’m trying to be very detailed and specific about MY experience.

You have to take the trays off when it’s time to eat.  Now, this is one of the main reasons I chose to go with Envisalign, but the first time taking them out was difficult.  They are snapped in there VERY TIGHTLY.  I guess that makes sense if you think about it, because otherwise, they probably wouldn’t do their job of moving the teeth.  Nevertheless, it was a bit of a job to get them out.  I’m sure it will get easier with time—I just have to get my technique right.

I ate, then immediately went to the bathroom and did the brushing and cleaning of everything before putting them back into my mouth.  They went in this time without catching my cheek, because I was being extra careful to be sure that didn’t happen again.  I had a bit of a hard time getting the tiny rubber bands back on, but it was a little easier than the first time.  This time, I paid close attention to exactly where and on which teeth those little hooks were.  

Once I had them back on for the night, I went straight to bed.  I felt like I had been put through the wringer, so I slept like a rock!

Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024

I had a haircut appointment at 10:30, so hubby and I had already decided we’d skip breakfast and he would meet me in town for lunch after my haircut.  I removed the trays which was still a little difficult for me, did my morning teeth-cleaning routine and got ready to leave.  There was lots of drool.  Lol…just be prepared.  I was experiencing pain immediately AFTER I removed the trays.  Everything was completely comfortable as long as the trays were in place, but the moment I removed them, my teeth hurt.  It was easy to tell from that pain that the braces were moving my teeth.  Certain teeth hurt more than others when I bit down.  I knew going in that this wasn’t going to be fun, so none of this pain was unexpected.  I’m really just recording my experience so that others can read it and know what to expect.  

Since I had had trouble removing them this morning, I decided to keep them out until after lunch.  You can keep them out up to two hours a day, so this would work out about right.  (They want you to wear them at least 22 hours each day.)

At lunch, when I chewed my fried chicken breast, I could really tell things were happening with my teeth.  They hurt, but again, it wasn’t unexpected, so I’ll deal with the pain.

I came straight home, cleaned my teeth and put the trays/rubber bands back in.  It was much easier this time.  I think I’m getting the hang of it.  I’m still hurting though, so I decided to cancel everything I have going on for the next few days.  I took some Tylenol and went back to bed.  Slept until 5:00!  

Got up, fixed dinner, and did the whole routine again.  I spent a little time with hubby doing some business paperwork, then went back to bed.  I slept all night.  I’m still feeling a bit worn out from it all, and that probably has something to do with my age…most people don’t wait until they’re 64 to do this.

I’m on an aggressive treatment plan, changing to new trays every five days, so I’m guessing that on every “new trays” day, it’ll be the equivalent of someone with metal traditional braces going in for adjustments.  I guess that means I can expect discomfort every five days.  Just when the pain settles a bit, it’ll be time for another set of trays.  Not looking forward to the discomfort, but I’m looking forward to the end results, so I’ve got this!

Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024

I woke up hungry, probably because I didn’t snack last night!  I’m used to snacking probably more than a person should, so now that I have to take these trays out every time I eat something, I’ll be snacking a lot less.  Maybe I’ll actually lose some weight!  Now, that would be a great added advantage to doing Envisalign!

It hurt to bite down on the bacon and the toasted edges of the bread.  No pain, no gain!

Anyway, I decided to cook a big breakfast of bacon, eggs, grits and toast.  I cooked and got it on the table.  I didn’t want the meal to get cold, so I rushed upstairs to remove the trays from my mouth in a hurry.  I ended up ripping the skin on my lower lip with the back rubber band hook on one of the trays.  Now it’s bleeding and I just want to eat my food!  Oh well, lesson learned.  Don’t get in a hurry removing them.  

I’ve just finished my breakfast and I’m going to try to keep them in until my next meal this evening.  Yes, I’m going to try to skip lunch and just eat two meals per day…will see how that goes.  

The trays are back in place now and I am getting faster at getting the bands back on.  I’ve found that using my lighted makeup mirror and tweezers helps me, but that’s just something I discovered.  There was a little plastic hook included in the kit, but I couldn’t get that to work.  Whatever works, right?

I’ll make an entry in this diary each day to update my progress.  I do hope me telling my story will help others to know what to expect if you decide to take an Envisalign journey too.  

Let me know if you have any questions.