Day 2 of Invisalign and I’m Already Reliving Every Painful Memory From Having Braces as a Teenager

Yesterday I officially joined the Invisalign train, and honestly, I am already struggling. It’s only day two and my teeth are SO sore. The pain is definitely bringing up some old memories from when I had braces in high school. Every time they got tightened, my teeth would hurt so badly, and I remember being miserable. My parents would still make me go to school even when I felt like my entire mouth was throbbing. Apparently I blocked out just how much orthodontic work hurts until now.

After I got my braces off, I was doing great... until my dog decided my retainers looked like a snack. Once those were gone, my teeth slowly started shifting over the years. Fast forward to now, and here I am starting Invisalign because my teeth have moved enough since 2011 that it’s time to fix them again.

The attachments all over my teeth are making it ridiculously difficult to get the trays off. I’m especially paranoid about one of my front teeth that I cracked years ago on a fork while eating gluten-free waffles (yes, really). It has bonding over it now to prevent the crack from getting worse, but it’s always felt extra sensitive. Every time I remove my aligners, I’m convinced that tooth is going to snap right off.

Slowly surviving day two, though. And if you know me, you know I’m constantly eating, so I’m going to have to get used to taking these things out all day and brushing my teeth approximately 1,000 times a day.

For those of you who have had Invisalign, how long did it take before the soreness and panic of taking them out got better?