TEN THINGS YOU LOVE AND HATE ABOUT WEARING ALIGNERS
THE AGONY AND ECSTASY
Can you collect them all?
No one ever said it would be easy. But they also didn’t tell you that, some days, it would be this hard! Months into wearing aligners and you feel justified in thinking the whole process deserves some occasional side eye.
Mind you, some praise for your determination doesn’t go amiss, either. And, maybe, special mentions go to friends and family for cheerleading you? Or, in the case of that annoying rellie, for helping you practise patience as they ask for the millionth time, so you can eat with those things in?
But your aligners journey will be your ultimate clap back!
Grrrrr – bite me!
Your teeth are locking onto their perfect placement targets! Mission Possible is underway and, it's possible the hardest parts of the campaign are behind you ...
Seems like a good time for a retrospective - the highs, lows and downright comic moments of wearing aligners and that moment of panic when you’re not wearing them and you’re not quite sure where you’ve put them ... been there, done that!
They’ve moved! Yup – the first time you swapped trays ...
one
What a moment that was! Tray 2 wouldn’t have fitted in your mouth a few weeks ago. Someone ordered an open top bus procession and there was celebration on the streets of your town. Ok, maybe not. But there was a small pause and some honouring of the wonders of moving teeth through bone – it's no mean feat!
That night you brushed with a little extra dollop of orthodontic toothpaste to mark the moment. Well, its semi-liquid texture does work its way into those newly moved teeth arrangements!
The first time you heard that audible suck pop of tray removal in public
two
You’re wearing aligners because they’re invisible, right? It’s only when you first remove them in public that you realise: invisible, yes, inaudible, no! Suddenly you’re musing what the decibel count is and if you should expect a noise nuisance note through the door from the neighbours ...
You had to learn to get chatty again
three
Having not stopped talking since you learned to speak, when those trays went in for the first time, some silence descended. You weren’t a fan of a dry mouth and your lips lagging on the plastic, and was that a teeny hint of a lisp?
Xylimelts moisturised your mouth, your brain got used to the new terrain and adapted your speech. Before too long, you couldn’t shut up again. Hurrah!
The snack sacrifices took some getting used to
four
Walking past the biscuit tin and sneaking a custard cream? You’re no longer living that dream. Now snacks take preparation. Those heady days of see it, eat it are on hold. We know you’ve tried to keep your aligners in and let a Quaver dissolve on your tongue. And we know you lived to regret it.
Travel with a VITIS Effervescent Tablet, just in case. Treat yourself to a second Soaking Bath to keep at work, depending on how deep your love of ‘accidental’ snacks goes...
That second, third and fourth tray
five
Your mouth’s a work in progress. After the pinching and pain of those first few days in aligners, the rest of the ride was supposed to be a doddle. Some trays have slotted on fine, others have taken some teeth by surprise and left you wondering if chewing water would hurt – it did!
You realised taking the recommended dose of painkillers isn’t admitting defeat – it's a reclamation of getting on with your day! Science tells us that analgesics work for orthodontic pain. A massage with a Monotip Brush helped, too!
Help! One of my aligners is missing ...
six
There’s no sound more telling than that cracking sound when one of your aligner trays is AWOL ... of course, lo and behold, it’s in your dog’s jaws. We don’t know which is worse, reuniting with your aligner tray, albeit broken in two by Fido, or having to root through the bin because you’ve a feeling you might have thrown your trays out along with your table napkin. Actually, we do know what’s worse – having to root through your date’s bin to retrieve said aligner. See below - kissing with aligners in! This rite of passage solves that problem ...
To mention it or not to mention it - kissing with aligners in ...
seven
It’s part of adulting with aligners – a little smooching up a storm. You just did you and it all worked out fine. Or, should we say, if you’re dating, it all worked out fine as far as the kissing was concerned. The fact they didn’t like your cat, however, was a totally valid reason to move them on. Those teeth will be turning heads (for all the right reasons) in time. You dazzler, you!
That time you tried eating with your aligner trays in
eight
We only do it once, right? Ironically, usually when we’re eating the most staining food we can find: a tomato sauce, a curry, just your regular highly pigmented food, you know? It never seems to happen when you’re eating white onion soup and a soft white roll ...
Rinse as soon as you can with your VITIS Orthodontic Mouthwash and get your trays in their own private bathing station with a bit of fizz in the form of your VITIS Effervescent Tablets. Mitigation is key! Lesson learned.
nine
Funny how we get used to things. Even in our dreams, our brains know we’re wearing aligner trays – and when we’re not. On the occasions we forget, a little alarm bell can ring somewhere inside our mind and cause us to have some freaky dreams. It’ll all be ok once you wake up. It’s not just you that has teeth dreams - it’s a bit of a global phenomenon. Read more about it in our article Why Do I Dream About My Teeth?
One for the future: the day you’re done with trays. Hello retainers!
ten
Your teeth are perfect. You're sure everyone will need sunglasses, your smile will be so bright and very, very straight. You’ll snack and slurp and smile without a second thought, just because you can. On that day, your motivational punch card will be thoroughly punched through, and you’ll have a richness of experience to draw on for life’s little inconveniences. Marvellous!
How will you keep your new pearly whites in line? It won’t be dissimilar to wearing your trays, except you’ll only wear a removeable retainer at night. Make sure you’re stocked up with retainer love. If you want to use whitening toothpaste now – you can! Roll your retainer hygiene and whitening products into one easy subscription with a VITIS Retainer Complete Care Kit. It’s medical grade after care once you’re done with straightening.
However, we can’t promise that the dog won’t take a shine to your new retainer when the time comes ... but that’s a story for a different day.
We always love to hear from our customers, we especially love an aligners story – the peaks and the troughs! If you fancy sharing, drop us a line.
say hello!
In the meantime, keep brushing!
