Hi everyone!
A million years ago I once shared a dream treatment scenario and then chickened out for good and continued lurking for the longest time (much like I did before) but never logged back in. Until a few days ago. Here's my story up to this point in time, and I figured I would share it and leave it up to you to use it as a starting point for fiction, where could this all go if left up to your imagination?
I've relocated for work recently and I've been eyeing braces from the shop for the longest time, but mostly on a whim, I actually decided to get Invisalign. I figured it's non-invasive as far as other people's experience with you wearing it goes and I'd get to wear them at all times and it'd come with that small amount of inconvenience that you can just about handle in adult life. And it did just that, alongside straightening out my teeth that have moved a bit since I got my braces off. I did also really enjoy my smile with the aligners, I felt that they added a bit of volume together with some of those buttons glued on. They also gave me a lisp which I had the hardest time with and never completely got over, but I did also grow to like it over time. It took a few tries to get the aligners right at the beginning so I started off with a few weeks' delay pretty early on but otherwise I had it relatively easy.
One of my teeth has stopped moving closer to the end of the treatment but I was reassured that it happens sometimes and that refinements will take care of it. I didn't mind that, even with another relocation coming up for me soon, I figured I'd have a scan and another set of a few trays to go through and just transfer to a new orthodontist to finish off and get my retainers at the end. So the time came and I've gone through an ortho leaving and another joining my dentist. Based on where that tooth got stuck in the process of moving into its final, ideal position, he quoted that it'd take about 9 months to move it with Invisalign, would require near constant appointments and probably a few tries of scanning the teeth, new aligners, a bit of movement but it'd then stop and then repeat this cycle. Or... he could put me in braces within the next hour in order to finish my treatment and if all goes well, have me in retainers before my next move.
I could not believe what he was suggesting. Could I really show up to my otherwise serious, high pressure job i'm already late from this morning with a mouth full of children's braces and elastics and explain what's happening? Is this my opportunity to explore a fraction of that dream scenario without having had to trigger it myself, just have gone with the flow? Well... turns out I can and whilst the adjustment hasn't been painless, socially, it's also been very satisfying in the dream I would not have had the balls to make a reality type of way. So this is where I am now, stuck in this headspace between... rooting for something that was at a time merely a product of my imagination and was already a summary of some of my deepest, wildest dreams, and hoping for things to go the right, uncomplicated way, like I should.
I've been contemplating logging in and sharing this for the longest time now but my first adjustment where I will find out if things are working out is still ahead of me. That's ultimately where I'll find out if things are going to this, new, out of mind bat shit crazy plan. And I can't help but toy with the idea, what if they're not, and this was in fact just the beginning if what's still to come.
It's not lost on me that in a lot of ways this reads like the first few paragraph of a story introducing a situation that's just about to escalate rapidly, so if you'd be up for running with the idea... what do you see in my future when you consult your crystal ball?
