I Got Braces at 60 Years Old, and My Smile’s Never Looked Better

For teens and adolescents, metal braces and colored rubber bands may be a perfectly acceptable first-line solution for orthodontic problems. For older people, however, clear aligners like Invisalign may be a more appealing option and well worth their price tag. These methods offer a far subtler way to straighten one’s teeth and resolve other dental issues without the dreaded “brace face.”

Colleen, 60, never needed braces in her youth. As an adult, however, she noticed her teeth shifting. A dental emergency eventually led her to explore Invisalign as a treatment for a locked jaw—and, as a bonus, straightened her teeth. Colleen spoke to The Looker about the teeth-realignment process and what she wishes she had known beforehand.

There was more than one reason I wound up getting Invisalign. The decision was partly aesthetic, but partly not.

I never had braces as a kid. I was one of the lucky ones. But as you get older, your teeth start to move. I had a couple of molars removed on one side through a root canal, and then COVID happened, so I wasn’t super proactive about completing the step of having to put an implant in that new space. My teeth started to move over time; I ground my teeth more and clenched more, and it actually threw my jaw out of alignment.

In the spring of this year, my jaw locked. Absolutely, completely, and entirely. As we tried to understand the cause, we zeroed in on the chronic misalignment caused by subtle tooth movement that occurs with age. It was giving me a very severe case of TMJ.

Word of Mouth

My dentist presented me with the option of Invisalign. I thought, “If I have to get my jaw fixed anyway, I also really didn’t like that my teeth were starting to go crooked.” It’s been so surprising to me how quickly the pain went away and how quickly it’s worked on the alignment of my jaw.

I’m eight weeks into a 14-week treatment process. After about four or five weeks, I noticed the pain was lessening consistently, week by week, as my teeth realigned.

At first, I started getting new trays every 10 days. Now it’s every seven days. I just put in a new set this morning, and it’s a little tight. You know it’s time for the next set because they don’t feel so snug on your teeth anymore. It’s perceptible progress within a week.

It’s shocking how quickly it happens. As someone who is results-oriented, I’m just thinking, “Hell yes, this is great, another week.”

If I knew it was this easy, I would’ve done it ages ago. It’s not onerous. I think I had a slight difference in my speech that was perceptible for the first seven or 10 days, but I eventually got used to it. Now my partner can’t even tell when I have them in unless he’s right up close. That was unexpected to me.

Learning Gap

If you want results and a quick impact, you should be wearing the aligners for 22 hours a day. When I first started, my partner and I went to Italy, and we were doing wine tastings, so I couldn’t exactly brush my teeth before putting my aligners in, which meant I wouldn’t wear them as often.

I noticed very quickly that my non-wear time each day was going up, and that only wearing them while you sleep does not work.

To combat this, I thought, “Better to put them in and just make sure I’m brushing my teeth a lot and flossing and doing all the things to stop decay.” Once I made that decision, I found a way to get my teeth brushed. Now I’m brushing my teeth five or six times a day, and it doesn’t bother me. In fact, I really like it.

If I’m having a business lunch, I’ll pop them out as I’m walking into the restaurant. I have this little container that has a UV light for cleaning, and I’ll keep them in there so they stay clean while I’m eating. I’ll pop into the ladies’ room after lunch—after paying the bill, before I leave with clients, whatever—and brush my teeth quickly, and pop ‘em back in. It’s been shockingly easy.

Worth the Effort

I was shocked by both the subtle and rapid week-by-week movement. My jaw is a lot better now. My bite is better. I was chewing on one side of my mouth more than the other before. I’m shocked at things like how my neck isn’t sore all the time now. A dentist might be able to tell me whether it is or isn’t related, but all I know is that the timing lines up.

I started doing closed-mouth smiles before, when I first noticed my teeth shifting. It’s been great watching my bottom row go straight again.

The fact that it wasn’t that bad was also what stopped me from doing something like Invisalign before. You think, “It has to be worse for it to be worth it,” but that eventually becomes, “Oh no, it’s just worth it.”

I thought I would talk funny, and it would be a pain in the ass when they first told me that if I wanted it to work as quickly as possible, I’d have to wear it 22 hours a day. I also worried they were obvious, but people really don’t know I have them in until I say so.

I notice other people with Invisalign more now. It’s not that I can see the aligners in their mouth, but that I’ll notice they do things I do. For instance, subtly palming them out of your mouth and into your hand when meeting a friend for drinks.

My biggest takeaway is don’t ignore the tiny shifts in your mouth. They add up pretty fast. I think COVID, for all of us, meant I didn’t go to the dentist as regularly as I had been. I realized it’s not cool to wait until it’s a crisis.

I didn’t really have a choice when it finally came to it because the pain in my jaw was overwhelming. I couldn’t chew; it was so bad. Because of that, I was kind of like, “I guess this is what we’re trying.” I’m glad I got backed into it that way because I don’t know that I would’ve done it otherwise.

It was a point of pride for me that my dentist mentioned I had the cleanest trays they’d ever seen. I use a Zima Ultrasonic Dental Pod to clean my trays, and they really work like a charm. When I didn’t have the Dental Pod with me on vacation and just had to brush with my toothbrush, it did seem like the trays did have a bit of a yellow hue to them at the end, compared to when I used the Pod—but I was also still doing 10-day wears per tray at that point.

Nothing But the Tooth

For anyone thinking about getting Invisalign as an adult, I would say do it. I am delighted with the impact it’s had aesthetically and health-wise, on my general aches, pains, and other things. When [doctors] told me the price, I had a moment where I was like, “For real?” But now, I’m thinking, “That’s all it cost?” It was about $10,000 for the whole 14 weeks, and I have no buyer’s remorse at all. If you can do it, do it.