Sixteen and No Hope of Getting Pregnant with this Grill

I was born with a wrecked grill.

Naturally, it didn’t rear its not-quite-ugly-but-severely-disconcerting head until I began to approach adolescence.

Things were so intense in my mouth that, before my 5th grade school photos, my parents actually made me practice grinning.  That is smiling sans teeth so as not to “ruin the photos”.

Yep, not their most shining parenting moment, but you know, things worked out.

Shortly after entering high school (I had a ton of baby teeth shoved in there and a condition I like to call “shark mouth” until I was out of middle school, so braces came late for me) my parents dropped down enough money to purchase me a car and instead got me my first set of braces!

My nearly 16 year old heart would have died a little at kissing my transportation woes goodbye were it not for the fact that I too was entirely over looking like I spent my formative years opening coke bottles and cracking walnuts with my mouth.

The day after I got my braces on, my gym teacher came up to me and said, “Wow!  You look soooo much better!”

Out loud.  To my face.

It was awesome.

Numerous oral surgeries, an expander, some sort of chain and pulley mechanism, two sets of braces, and five years later, I walked into the orthodontist’s office shortly after my 20th birthday (yep, I met my husband at college, in braces!) and got those bad boys removed.

I cried a little (I’d gotten quite attached to my brace-face), and then I did a dang-I-look-hot dance of joy (what? I was TWENTY!).

I wore my retainer diligently for a year or so and then accidentally chucked it in the garbage can during my lunch break at the mall food court.

Whatever.

My teeth were straight.

Fast forward about ten years and here I find myself with a wicked side bite?  Not to mention a bad case of TMJ and some twisty turny bottom teeth that are dying to regress back to their old, misaligned ways.

Clearly I’m an excellent candidate for Invisalign!

Having been accepted into the Invisalign Teen Mom Advisory Board program just shy of a year ago, I’m sitting here today the happy owner of a realigned mouth (well, mostly, still have a little time to go).  And, not only am I grateful to have had the opportunity to correct a number of my own issues, I’ve learned that when The Dudes are ready to get their grills worked on (which at this point is an obvious and forgone conclusion), they will be getting Invisalign.

No doubt.

My eldest child had to wear an introductory set of braces (he was heading down my same “shark mouth” path) and he complained constantly; they hurt, they cut his lips, he couldn’t eat a number of things he DESPERATELY wanted to eat, and his commitment to brushing and flossing was sketchy to say the least.

Invisalign eliminates pretty much every single one of those complaints; they don’t really hurt when you get a new tray (they are slightly uncomfortable), your lips don’t get cut, you can eat whatever you want and, while they may or may not encourage your child to brush and floss more (you’re supposed to after you eat, before you put your aligners back in), you know that when they are so inclined to get in there and clean things up, it will be effective and nothing will be left trapped behind a tangle of metal and wire.

Added bonus: other kids think they’re cool.

I mean I don’t really care if other kids think my kids are cool totally lying, but I do care about oral hygiene.  Everyone knows tween Dudes are NOT known for their ability to clean up well, and if having Invisalign will help prevent a wicked case of the yuck mouth, sign us up!

I mean seriously, have you seen those photos of people with the I-pretty-much-don’t-even-own-a-toothbrush post braces photos?!

Gag.

About the Writer:

Amanda, affectionately known in blogland as Dumb Mom, writes her humorous, but completely devoid of useful information blog, parenting BY dummies from her Dude-filled Maryland home.  She spends most days Tweeting from the comfort of her garage where she hides from her kids and eats cupcakes.

Disclosure:
This post is part of a sponsored post series between Aiming Low and Invisalign. The writer is a member of the Invisalign Teen Mom Advisory Board and has received complimentary treatment from Invisalign, however all opinions expressed are her own. For more information about Invisalign, please visit www.Invisalign.com or Facebook.com/Invisalign