Correcting smiles with ClearCorrect clear aligners from a patient's perspective

"Then my friend turned to me and said, ‘You’ve got some straight white teeth!’ Things like that let you know the process did work. I definitely would recommend  ClearCorrect to friends or colleagues...”

After several years of contemplating braces and concerns about overcrowding of the teeth in his lower jaw, Gerald Blackman asked his dentist about his options. Gerald wanted straighter teeth and a better smile, but made it clear to Dr. Thomas Watkins that he was not interested in traditional metal wire braces.

“I’ve always been kind of conscious of my bottom teeth. I could feel them over the years kind of shifting and crowding up,” he said. “My daughters also both go to Dr. Watkins and one day I just asked him what I should do about the crowding of my bottom teeth.”   The San Antonio dentist listed a number of options, but after Gerald, who speaks to business associates on a regular basis, said he did not want traditional braces, Dr. Watkins told him about ClearCorrect clear aligners. After an assessment, it was determined that Gerald was indeed a candidate for the clear aligner therapy.    “When I told him I talk at business meetings in front of a lot of people, he recommended ClearCorrect,” Gerald said. “The process was smooth. I came in and they made the moldings and they sent them off. Then I came back and they did the fitting.”   Gerald was surprised at how well the process went. He wore each set of clear aligners for three weeks, but usually visited the practice every six weeks to get the next sets to further carry on the care.   “Honestly speaking, it was such a smooth process. I had to ask myself at one point, is this really working?,” Gerald wondered. “Every time I put on a new set of braces, I’d feel the tingling and the pulling but in my mind I was still wondering how they were going to fix the crowding.   “I was worried it would be a problem talking and holding these in my mouth, but they fit so snug and comfortably that I didn’t have to worry about that. It was easy from the start.”   During the process, Dr. Watkins and his team would check to make sure the aligners were always properly down on the teeth, and would report on the treatment’s progress.   “He would show me how things were coming together but also after awhile I could tell,” Gerald said. “You could really feel which tooth it was actually working on. In some cases the tingling was so profound and I was like, it’s really working...actually aligning your teeth as they’re supposed to be.”   Dr. Watkins placed spacers at some points during the process to allow other teeth to spread out more and even up and fall into line. Gerald wore the aligners for about 18 months total.   “To be quite honest, I was like, is it over already?,” he said. “Yes, I am very happy with the results. Now people have commented to me: What did you do? Did you have some type of face lift or something? Why are your teeth so straight?”   So Gerald tells them he wore ClearCorrect clear braces, and that he would do it all over again with no doubts.   “A funny thing happened 2-3 weeks ago when I met up with a friend of mine that I haven’t seen in 20 years. We were out to eat and the waitress took a picture of me and a couple of friends. Then my friend turned to me and said, ‘You’ve got some straight white teeth!’ Things like that let you know the process did work.”   So now Gerald is quick to flash his smile and quick to recommend the care to others.   “I definitely would recommend ClearCorrect to friends or colleagues because it’s an easy process. It’s not the big silver lining in your mouth that everybody notices.”