First, thanks everyone for such kind and generous reactions! I was a little worried that folks would think it's a foolish indulgence. My husband was a bit taken aback, until I explained that it's more than simply cosmetic-although the cosmetic is important to me, I'll admit. And thanks to all who shared your experiences. Invisalign is supposedly much less obvious and much more comfortable than wearing metal braces. Re. comfort, I'm already seeing something that would be a dealbreaker for me with the old fashioned gear. I tend to get canker sores extremely easily when my mouth tissue is irritated. Just the small rubber band spacers between my lower teeth have caused my mouth to erupt. Since they were placed last Wednesday, I have sprouted 6 canker sores where the bands are rubbing. There is NO way I could deal with metal and wires for a year+. Hoping the plastic retainers are smooth enough not to cause such aggravating sores. My orthodontist says it will take ~15 months. I will find out exactly what his schedule of office visits is when I go in next time, but every 6 weeks or so isn't too arduous. And his office is 10 minutes away so that shouldn't be a problem. He also gave me a family discount and a no-interest payment plan over the length of treatment so the finances worked out as well. Guess straight teeth are meant to be in my near future! Thank you all again--lukkirish, especially to you for really getting what this means to me. Ann

My son just finished with his Invisalign treatment. He actually finished right as Covid was beginning here, and the orthodontist closed. We had to reschedule his final appt for two months later when they opened up again. He ended up wearing his last Invisalign tray for two months, and it was fine, until it cracked. As you know, they are really just meant to be worn for a week. I had him wear the second to last set to keep his teeth in place, and the orthodontist ordered a replacement set so he could wear that until they were able to remove his attachments and fit him for his retainer. At his last appointment, the orthodontist had to remove his attachments with some different tools than they normally do, because the usual tools would spread too many germs into the air. They made a mold of his mouth after they removed the attachments and then we went back a couple days later to pick up his retainers. He is supposed to wear them all the time for the first two months, then just wear them at night. His retainers look like Invisalign trays, but they are made of a thicker/sturdier material. He still has some baby teeth to lose, or they probably would have glued permanent retainers to the back of his teeth. Hope that helps! :-)

I was the oldest of six and my parents couldn't afford orthodontics when I was a kid (younger sibs got teeth straightened but not me). I had an eye tooth on top that never came down all the way which left me with a lovely snaggle tooth smile and my front lowers were quite crooked. Functionally I always had an overbite and eventually my periodontist told me orthodontia was something that should be done for my future dental health. I guess I needed to hear that, and cosmetically I was increasingly self conscious about my teeth. In the US, people tend to have straight teeth and I really felt embarrassed by mine as I got older, especially in professional situations. I finally did Invisalign when I was ~ 50 YO, my treatment lasted 2 years with adjustments for a 3rd before my orthodontist was done. He never was completely satisfied with that snaggle tooth but eventually I was ok with the progress. BB, I know how you feel about being strict, I was too, so you can either skip the tasting or skip the time lag till you realize it won't matter if your trays are out for an extra hour or so ;). Invisalign definitely does a great job eliminating snacking since it's such a production to take em out and replace them, it better really be worth it. I found that I've also kept a good habit from my Invisalign days-I always floss and brush my teeth immediately after I eat which of course was necessary with the trays. I wear my aligners to sleep every 3rd night which keeps them in order. Don't know what you are using to remove the trays but I discovered this tool early on and never looked back. Especially when you switch to a new set of trays, getting those *#&$^ tight things out is not easy! These are magic. And here is the cleaner I use, I swear by it, really does a great job of keeping the trays nice and fresh. I don't know if your ortho has mentioned the 'bumps' but I wasn't really aware of or prepared for them. They are little clear raised round circles bonded to the teeth so the retainers can move them at various stages of treatment. And they are not invisible, at least I didn't feel they were. So for awhile when I had bumps on my front teeth, I felt quite self conscious. Otherwise the invisalign was great for not making it obvious I was doing orthodontics. Good luck, as mentioned I'm so happy I did the Invisalign treatment and my only regret is I wish I'd done it many years earlier!

I am posting a pic with a piece of wood against the beam to show what I was trying to explain in my original post which is that the ceiling is not flat. Wrapping the beam in wood won’t help bc you will still have gaps between the wood and the ceiling. The first picture posted isn’t the greatest and I can post several more from any angle. The 2 beams were placed to remove existing load bearing walls per an engineers report we had done before beginning the remodel. Someone mentioned the poor drywall job and that is exactly what the problem is. The beams themselves are straight, the drywall that was wrapped around them and on the surrounding ceiling was executed poorly just another reason the contractor is no longer on the job. The coffered ceilings are gorgeous in the right design but due to the layout of this house and the 8 ft ceilings I don’t see that as a good option. My husband is 6’2” and adding anything that takes away from the height of the ceiling seems like we would be closing ourselves in even more rather than opening things up which was the point of the remodel. Basically our contractor screwed us in every way possible. Drywall is terrible, plumbing has leaked in walls, gas leak in the crawl space under the house, new HVAC hasn’t worked since April, countertops either missing or fabricated incorrectly and can’t be used, missing cabinets, etc etc etc the list goes on and on. This is a situation that I am sure is all to familiar to many of you. Lesson learned, a very expensive lesson but one I’ll never forget. So I realize the best option would probably be to rip the ceiling out and start over. However I am looking for some possible cheaper options being that this is only 1 of many issues I have to fix due to the incompetent contractor.