Thank you Invisalign for sponsoring this post. Invisalign, a new alternative to braces, is celebrating 2 Million Smiles (2 million straightened smiles and counting!).

How many of you remember sitting in the orthodontist office waiting to have your rubber bands replaced, wires tightened, etc.?  I remember those days all too well.  So painful.  And so not cute.

My parents convinced me that braces were the “new thing that all kids my age were getting.”  Sadly, that was the truth.  All my friends had brace faces!  That didn’t make the almost two years of walking around with metal in my mouth any easier.  I can say, however, that I’m grateful for straight teeth as an adult.  So I guess you could say the pain and dorkiness was worth it.  Well, except for the time when my mouth and tongue were both cut up and bleeding.  And the time when I walked around for an entire day with a chunk of spinach stuck in the metal crevices.  It was delightful…let me tell you.

It’s been 17 years since my brace face days, and I think we could all agree that technology has changed for the better.  Now, there are so many teeth straightening options available.  One that I’ve heard a lot about over the past year is Invisalign.  One of my friends used Invisalign to help straighten her teeth before her wedding.  She was one happy bride!  For those of you who aren’t familiar with this technology, it’s a new alternative to braces.  Check out the benefits and advantages of Invisalign over braces.  And although is a fairly new method, Invisalign has effectively straightened two million smiles and counting – “2 million smiles!”

So when I read about Invisalign and compared it to my experience with braces, here is the bottom line…

I wish it was around in the 90s! 

+1 for Invisalign for being completely transparent (i.e., no metal)
+1 for Invisalign for being removable (i.e., no nasty food stuck in hard to clean places)
+1 for Invisalign for being less painful (i.e., no sore gums)

Invisalign for the win!

So “back in the day” braces were the big thing, now there are things like Invisalign.  I wonder what kind of advances will occur in the next 17 years.  I REALLY hope someone invents a flying car.  Or a dish washing/laundry folding robot.  Hey, you never know!

If you could improve upon a current technology, what would it be and how would you change it?

For more information, please visit Invisalign. I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective, and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own