For very vain reasons, I recently got Invisalign. I’m a perfectionist when it comes to my teeth, and I decided to do a course of these clear removable braces to correct a few things that have been bothering me for months. This is why you should wear your retainers, kids!

It’s only 14 weeks, which means mine will be off in time for summer. Aside from headaches and a mild lisp (hot) the first couple days, I’ve had no complaints.

One thing I have noticed, though, is that it makes structured, balanced meals especially important. When my sister did Invisalign, she called it the Invisalign Diet. While I’ve never been much of a mindless snacker, if I were, this would definitely put an end to that. It’s such a pain to take the trays out, rinse them, and recover from the sheer grossness of the strings of drool involved in the process. You have to really want to eat.

Obviously, I’d never recommend orthodontics as a method for weight loss, but it’s pretty interesting when you’re forced to take a step back and make a decision about how badly you want to reach into, say, a bag of chips someone’s passing around. We’re so used to having food at our fingertips, ready to eat at any possible moment that it can be easy to graze all day. Though I’ve gotten pretty used to the Invisalign at this point, I do think that I may get some helpful insight into what it’s like for someone trying to change their eating habits that may make it possible for me to better see where someone is coming from when they express frustration with trying to adhere to a new eating plan. I guess we will see.