I was really excited about my appointment today because I really want to do something about my teeth. When I first walked in, I first noticed the smell of fresh baked cookies. I finally found the source—they had fresh baked cookies, water, coffee and tea for their patients to enjoy! I went to the front desk to let them know I was here and was quickly called back. Kathy gave me an office tour which included the cookies, a look at the game room (I’m a little old for that, but thought it was really cool for kids, they even had a Wii), the tooth brushing station and the X-Ray machines. After the office tour, I met Candi, my treatment coordinator.

Candi asked me what my concerns were with my teeth and asked what I wanted to change about smile. The better question would have been “What didn’t I want to change about my smile?” After showing me the different treatment options like the clear braces, the Damon Braces, and Invisalign, I left the room to go get my X-Rays and pictures of the inside of my mouth so they could better understand what type of braces would work best for my teeth. I was a little surprised at all of the different options—I guess I just thought they would only have one or two, but they had plenty of “tools in their toolkit” as they said.

Dr. Fender was really nice and friendly. After a quick chat, we looked at my pictures and X-Rays on a big flat screen TV. Dr. Fender asked me again what I wanted to change and I told him that I felt like I was always self conscious of my smile and just wanted straight teeth. He explained to me and showed me pictures of other adults who had treatment and that braces were more about just straightening the teeth. I saw picture of adults whose whole face had changed—they really looked great. After some discussion, Dr. Fender thought that Invisalign would be a perfect option for me. I was really excited because that was exactly what I wanted. I didn’t want a mouth full of metal and liked the fact that I could take the trays out to eat and brush my teeth.

After Dr. Fender left the room, Candi went over the dreaded treatment fee. Surprisingly, the down payment was something I could handle and the monthly payments were reasonable. I really felt like they took the time to customize a payment plan that would work for me. After signing the paperwork, their team got right to work!

I went to the treatment area where they have all the chairs to get my impressions made for the Invisalign aligners. First Kristina, an assistant, squirted this purple goo on my teeth and I had to bite down and hold that in my mouth for a minute. The goo formed to my teeth and then it was peeled off making my first impression. That part was not really bad. It was kind of like having un-flavored gum all over my teeth. But then came the trays….the trays were not my friend. The plastic trays were filled with even more goo (orange this go around). We did my top teeth then my bottom teeth. The bottom set went relatively smoothly but the top tray kind of felt like it was not going to come off. It was like hardcore stuck to my teeth which apparently meant we were making a good impression but it did kind of felt like my teeth were going come out with it. It finally popped loose and I was happy when they told me that was the last one.

Now I just wait for my first set of trays to come in which they said would take a few weeks. I’m really excited that I made the decision to finally straighten my teeth. I really feel like this is a lifetime investment that will pay off every day when I flash my new smile.

I should have my aligners in 6 weeks so check back to see how I am doing!

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Check back next week for Candace’s first entry!  Follow her from her first visit to the last along with progress photos of her treatment journey.

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