I was talking to this lovely teenager I ran into the other day. I told her she had a beautiful smile. We got to chatting and I mentioned I have always been embarrassed by my smile and I’m glad she has such a gorgeous one. She told me she didn’t have a pretty smile, but she’d been doing Invisalign. In fact, she took them out so I could see them. I couldn’t believe it! She was wearing braces and I didn’t even know. What a clever design. I am wondering if it is something only for teenagers or if an old biddy such as myself could get them. I’m 72.
Bridgette
Dear Bridgette,
I am so glad you ran into this young woman. You are definitely not too old for Invisalign. While they are very popular with the teenagers, they were originally designed for the older set. Adults generally have professional jobs where appearance is important. They often wanted to improve their smile but did not feel they would be taken seriously at work with a mouth full of metal. Hence, Invisalign. Eventually, Invisalign Teen came out but that was well after the orignial version.
I would simply go to your dentist and tell him you are interested in Invisalign. If he doesn’t offer it, don’t despair. You just need to do an internet search for “Invisalign Dentist” plus your specific city. A list of dentists will come up that offer it. Many patients go to one dentist for their general work and another for any cosmetic or specialty work they need.
There is a secondary benefit to Invisalign. The aligners can double as teeth whitening trays. This means the dentist can provide you with a special whitening gel that you can wear with your aligners allowing you to straighten and whiten your teeth at a fraction of the cost it would take to do them separately. The teeth whitening is in no way required, but I thought I’d mention the possibility of saving money to you on the off chance it was something you were interested in.
This blog is brought to you by Kalamazoo Cosmetic Dentist Dr. Susan Dennis.