I guess for me, the anxiety of misplacing aligners outweighed the awkwardness of visible braces.
Funny how it flips for some people. My kid actually felt more self-conscious with braces because, at that age, anything that stands out feels huge. With aligners, she liked that nobody noticed unless she mentioned it. We just set up a little case in her backpack and made a routine—take them out, rinse, put them right back in. Sure, there was a learning curve, but after the first week or two, she barely thought about it. I guess for kids who are anxious about appearances, aligners can be less stressful, even with the hassle.
Haha, my nephew lost his aligners in the cafeteria trash twice—so I get the anxiety there. But honestly, he was mortified by braces at first. Once he got used to popping the aligners in and out, it was just part of his routine. The invisibility factor totally won him over, even if we did have to dig through some questionable leftovers...
