I have never been great at timing things, but this year I scored big. Know what goes great with masks? Dental work. That’s how I found myself getting Invisalign from Dr. Kameron Schaberg at Advanced Dentistry of Vermont.
My dental journey has not been easy. For whatever reason, I was born scared of dentists. When I was a little kid, I bit my dentist. Family lore says that my dad was in the waiting room and heard a loud yell followed by swearing. I don’t remember any of this, but my dad apparently lifted his newspaper a little higher and hid. I was left with a fear of dentists.
Like many people, my teeth did not come in straight.
They are strong and healthy, which I am incredibly grateful for, but not straight. Braces were recommended but never happened. My teeth didn’t bother me but I wasn’t comfortable smiling with my teeth showing. I was self-conscious in photos, so there are very few of me smiling when you can see my teeth. As an adult, I did several whitening treatments at Advanced Dentistry of Vermont, which lightened my teeth quickly and painlessly, and helped boost my self-confidence. But I still didn’t want to show my teeth in a smile.
I am just vain enough to not want braces as an adult, but I was curious about Invisalign after several friends did it. I thought it would be prohibitively expensive, and I wasn’t sure if it would be able to fix my crooked teeth. After my consult at Advanced Dentistry of Vermont, I realized I would be able to make it work.
Dr. Kameron Schaberg is not what you might expect in a dentist. He’s young, upbeat, and casual. He’s a dad, and he’s patient. The whole office– which consists of Dr. Schaberg, Alina Smith, and Luann Donley is warm and welcoming.
As a single mom, I often have to bring my daughter with me to appointments. This is one of the best things about Advanced Dentistry of Vermont- while Dr. Schaberg is not a pediatric dentist, his office is welcoming to families and I have been able to schedule back-to-back appointments for my daughter and myself. I appreciate any convenience like this ao much.
Getting Invisalign is a seamless process.
The first thing you have to do is get your teeth scanned. This is an in-office procedure and is pretty quick. This is how Invisalign determines how long your straightening process will take and how many retainer trays you will need during the course of your treatment.
Then you get tiny little bumps glued onto your teeth. They’re tooth-colored, and not terribly noticeable. One of my daughter’s friends said they looked like barnacles, and this is a very cute name, so I thought of them as barnacles for the course of my treatment.
Invisalign requires you to wear retainer trays for 23 out of 24 hours a day, for the length of your treatment. I thought this would be a challenge, but honestly, it was fine. If anything, it helped me get my snacking under control. You wear each set of trays for two weeks, and then you use the next tray. Luann Donley supervises your progress and you have to go into the Advanced Dentistry of Vermont office every 6 weeks or so to be examined. My teeth required about 10 months to be straightened, and now I have a temporary non-removable retainer behind my bottom teeth and a clear retainer for my top teeth that I wear at night.
Having straight teeth makes me feel so much better.
And not just better in terms of how I look. I do feel like my smile is prettier now and I love that. I also have noticed that now that my teeth are aligned, my jaw is generally more relaxed and I am having fewer tension headaches and TMJ flares. It never once occurred to me that having straighter teeth would do more than give me a nicer smile, but I feel like my improved bite has helped a lot more than my appearance.
I know how lucky I am to have been able to do this, and I really can’t express how painless this process was. And due to masking for COVID, barely anyone got to see the clear retainer trays that I wore 23 hours each day.
Here’s my big reveal! My beautiful, straight teeth!
I would like to thank everyone at Advanced Dentistry of Vermont for patiently accomodating my fear of dental work, for understanding how convenient it is for a mom to have back-to-back appointments with her child, and for giving me such beautiful teeth! This has been such a wonderful experience for me.
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