tips for your SDC journey:

Tip 1: Go to a Smile Shop if there is a location near you! It might seem a little inconvenient but I promise it will save loads of time. There have been reviews and timelines I've seen where it takes weeks for someone to receive their impression kits, send them back, and sometimes SDC need another impression because the first ones weren't clear enough! (And if you don't have a coupon, you have to pay for the impression kits!)

Tip 2: Speaking of coupons; FIND THEM COUPONS. There are LOADS of them on the internet. The night before I went to my first Smile Shop appointment, I looked up some coupons and if you have an internet plug-in 'Honey' or 'Invisible Hand' they will help you find some coupons as well! I got $100 off my would be payment from those coupons! So save them $$ with a lil time on the internet. Also, keep an eye on the SDC site as well - sometimes they throw out promotional discounts! (The yellow bar is 'Invisible Hand' and that's SDC's promotional on their homepage, taken on 6/25/2018). 

Timeline:

Want to know how much time everything took? Click here.

Personal thoughts:

If you're interested in my own personal journey (opinions included!) click here!

Tip 3: Time is money. In this case, take your time! I was still on the fence about if I should fork over $1,750 to fix my teeth so I waited a couple months (I let the technician at the time know that I wanted to be notified about whether I wanted to continue before they took any money from me). During these couple of months, I got emails upon emails of discounts for my aligners! 

$150 to $250 to a whopping $350! With a little time, the discounts might just fall onto your lap!

Tip 4: Preparation will go a long way. This was a mistake I made since I did all this research, I thought I was completely ready for my aligner journey. Some little things that I recommend getting while you're waiting for them aligners to appear on your doorstep. Retainer Cleaner, Wash Box, travel toothbrush + toothpaste. These are all optional but let me break down why.

• Retainer Cleaner - You don't necessarily have to get this brand but getting a cleaner of some kind is going to be a must. You can't clean your aligners with toothpaste or mouthwash cause it's too aggressive and technically you can clean them with hydrogen peroxide but its a bit of a hassle. These retainer cleaner tablets are easy to use and SDC-approved. Drop a tablet (per instruction) into a container with your aligners and some water while you're brushing your teeth and washing your face. They'll be spic and span! Trust me, you can't live off of water and aggressive brushing. It gets gross.
• Wash Box  - This is if you wanna go completely bougie but I promise it'll probably make your life easy even after your aligner journey (ie. retainer life). It's basically a container you put your aligners/retainers in to give them a clean (note the Retainer Cleaner). The difference between these and your usual cup is it has a little strainer inside so you don't have to stick your mucky hands into the gross water to fetch your aligners. They're also clean lookin' so no one has to look at your aligners while they're washing.
• Travel toothbrush/toothpaste - This is all for you babe. Think about it, you just finished eating lunch at work and it's time to put your aligners back in. Now you're home and about to get ready for bed, you take out your aligners and see -- FOOD GALORE STUCK IN YOUR ALIGNERS. *shudder* It's so gross and probably not that good for your teeth! Your teeth are supposed to be flush to the aligners! Don't let your leftover burrito get in the way of that. (If you want to go the extra distance, carry some floss around!
  *I personally go for the folding toothbrush because it's compact (travel-friendly) and it airs out. A lot of the cap-handle toothbrushes don't have air holes so the brush head stays wet and *shudder* moist.

Tip 5: If you suck at remembering things, download Trayminder onto your smartphone! You can adjust the amount of aligners you have for your journey and even customize the time between each reminder (if you go by a 1 week/1 week/2 week schedule). Now you won't have to guess if it was Monday or maybe Tuesday that you had to change your aligners. You can even set the reminder to a more convenient time for you (after work, in the morning before work).

Tip 6: Get a dentist check-up before you start! I learned this the hard way. As my teeth started moving, I thought I had developed a cavity (click here for the full story). So save yourself the trouble and make sure your teeth are in tip-top shape for your aligners.