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When I was in high school, I wore braces. My orthodontist told me I needed to wear my retainers but never explained to me HOW important it was that I wear them. I wore it for a couple of days and got tired of them. I don’t think my parents knew how important it was either or else they would have threatened me to wear them considering it was their money that got spent to get the braces. Very quickly my retainers were getting tighter and harder to get on… Next thing I knew, my teeth were back to almost exactly the way they were before!
Obviously I never understood that after wearing braces I would then have to wear retainers for the rest of my life. It doesn’t make sense. You spend all this money to get them straight, but you still have to wear those plastic things in your mouth forever. Ok… Maybe not forever, but I definitely should have worn them a lot longer than a few days!
Years went by and I regretted not wearing those retainers. After getting married I really wanted to get Invisalign. My dentist would recommend it every time I went in for a check up, but unfortunately it was just way out of my budget! Then my mom had told me about Smile Direct. She saw a promo for it somewhere online and sent it to me. I watched some people’s reviews on youtube, did some digging on if it worked or not and thought I’d give it a shot.
Before I go on to telling you about my experience, just know that it’s been 3 years. A lot could have changed, but the following is what I experienced.
I went on their website, took the quiz to see if I’m a candidate or not for invisible aligners even though my dentist was already telling me I should try them (not everyone is. some people do actually need braces. talk to your dentist first). If you are, you can go ahead and order the kit to make your impressions. Back in Dec 2016 when I ordered the kit it was like $100 or something. I went on their website today and it’s $50. Also, they added a Free option where you can make an appointment at a Smile Direct Location for them to do the impressions for you, or you pay the $50 to do the impressions yourself at home, which was really fun! Mostly because of the photos 😁
For $100 off aligners use code SAVEINAUG at Smile Direct Club.
Once they get your impressions and go over what your plan will be like, they send you your first pairs of aligners and teeth whiteners, and they email you saying your plan is ready and can be accessed online. For my plan, I was to wear 18 aligners, and I had to switch trays every 2 weeks wearing them for 22 hours a day. I believe that’s the rule for all brands of invisible aligners.
From my understanding, the biggest difference between Invisalign and their competitors (the do it yourself types) is that your dentist is the middle man in this whole process. You’ll see what I mean when you keep reading. With Smile Direct I didn’t need to see my dentist unless I was scheduled for a cleaning or something. With Invisalign you do see your dentist frequently, and if they notice you’re not using it properly or for long enough and your teeth aren’t shaping up the way they wanted it, they’ll make the necessary changes so that you’re teeth are as close to perfect as possible. Keep reading and you’ll see what I mean.
My Journey
This first photo (and that very vulnerable and awkward photo up top) shows what my teeth looked like a few days before the aligners started to arrive. I was dying to get them so I could start seeing the transformation. As soon as it did, I started wearing them that same day! The first package arrived in January 2017.
Like I said, every 2 weeks I had to switch aligners. Since I started wearing them on a Friday night, every other Friday before I went to bed I switched trays. Also, every time I ate or drank something other than water I needed to brush my teeth. At least that was the rule. If you eat or drink anything with sugar and you pop that bad boy in and don’t brush your teeth until hours later, you can definitely damage your teeth. By damage I mean give yourself a cavity or 2. You need to maintain your teeth clean ALL THE TIME!
Speaking of keeping your teeth clean. You can’t eat with the aligners on. The only thing they recommend to drink with the aligners on is water. They suggest not drinking other cold beverages with sugar in it with the aligners on because the sugar can get left behind inside your aligners and then you’ll definitely be seeing your dentist more frequently…
This second photo was taken 4 months later. I was wearing my 10th aligner in this photo. By this point I remember that my top teeth were straighter than my bottom. I started to notice a bigger difference in my bottom teeth towards the end of the treatment. In my first photo up top you can see how “bad” (not as bad as some other teeth that I’ve seen) my bottom teeth were. They were more crowded than they were crooked. I also had a little issue with my bite, which I also noticed a change in a littler later.
In regards to any one on one with reps from Smile Direct, I heard from them once in January and once in February. I received an email from a rep asking me how I’m doing in wearing the aligners as often as I was supposed to, did I switch trays yet or when, and if I had any questions. I got 2 of those, and then never again. The next time I heard from them was in October regarding the purchase of my retainers that I would have to wear after my treatment was over. Also, the link that took me to see my progression, the page was apparently deleted some time half way through my treatment. I never called customer service or emailed anyone about it, but it did suck that I wasn’t even done with the treatment and that page was gone.
1 Year From 1st Day
This third photo was almost exactly a year later from when I first put the first tray in my mouth. It was taken Jan 2018. I was in Massachusetts visiting my dad and family. I was pregnant with Anastasya. I don’t remember if I had received my retainers yet. Technically once you’ve received your last tray (for me it was number 18) you’re supposed to get your retainers. I can’t remember exactly what happened, but I do remember that I waited a while before I realized I wasn’t getting my retainers, so I had to go on their website and order it myself. I’m sure if I had contact customer service they would have helped me out, but I just did it myself. So what I ended up doing until the retainers arrived were that I just wore my 18th tray as my retainer. I had them off during the day and I’d put them on at night when I went to sleep.
It was one of the most exciting times of my life to finally have those things out during the day! I was so over not wearing the aligners and listening to my stupid lisp! LOL. I was happy with how my teeth got, but I feel like they could have been better. My bite isn’t totally fixed. With Smile Direct I felt that I paid to receive my 18 trays, my teeth whiteners, and my retainers and that’s it. Once I received everything, no one contacted me to see if there were any issues, if I was happy, if I needed anything else. It was just like “ok, you paid us now go take care of your own teeth” kind of deal.
I think that if they had kept emailing me monthly it would have made a huge difference to me. Having someone to talk to would have made me feel cared for and not feel like I’m just another customer. I think that if I was hearing from a rep in the beginning, it shouldn’t have been difficult to keep reaching out throughout my treatment…
On a good note, for the amount of money I paid to have the aligners, they were definitely a steal in my opinion. Since I currently can’t afford to wear Invisalign, to me, Smile Direct was the next best thing. My teeth aren’t PERFECT, but they’re straighter than what they used to be, and I’m definitely a lot happier with my smile. I feel more confident and comfortable with my teeth. Also, it’s possible a lot has changed since I got my aligners in 2017. When I recently visited their website, a lot of things looked different and nicer. Maybe you’ll have a great experience! 😘
Please let me know if you’ve also used Smile Direct and how you felt about it. How was your experience? If you’ve used Invisalign, how did you like that? Do you feel you really got the best bang for your buck going with Invisalign. I’d love to hear your experiences!
