How does that work, exactly? I'll let her explain: 'We accomplish this by positioning the teeth horizontally in each dental arch, so they're parallel to your eyes and proportioned to your cheeks. Byte uses a proprietary technology coined 'Smile Science,' which takes into consideration the proportions and overall symmetry of your face to design a smile that fits you perfectly. Then, according to Sarah McDonald, head of brand at Byte, the real magic happens. Once you send in your impressions, an orthodontist will review your case to determine if you're a good candidate for at-home aligners. But better done right than realize later my braces wouldn't fit. For the sake of transparency, my first round of impressions weren't readable, so I had to do them again. If you can recall from your past traumatic dentist appointments, getting impressions made is kind of the worst, but Byte included very detailed instructions and guides to make it as painless as possible. First, I signed up to get my at-home impression kit ($95). Once I knew Byte would be a good fit for me, the process was simple. POPSUGAR Photography | Amanda Elser Murray So yes, I could have braces and most of the people in my life would never find out. Not only that, but instead of having to wear braces all day, every day for months, or even years, I could achieve the same results by wearing my aligners 10 hours a day (usually while sleeping) for 13 weeks. They work best on mild to moderate cases, and its direct-to-consumer virtual business model means you can do everything from the comfort of your couch (no doctor visits!). Byte specializes in at-home teeth straightening with invisible custom-fit aligners. But I was already halfway through the lockdown when I heard about Byte and realized that now might be the perfect time to make fixing my teeth a priority. Between the cost and the time commitment, I knew I wasn't ready to go down that road for one crooked tooth. Invisible aligners had been on my radar for a while, but it wasn't something I looked into. It got worse when I was pregnant with my son a few years ago, but it wasn't until my sister commented on my one darker and twisted bottom tooth that I decided to do something about it. So imagine my dismay when I started noticing my teeth shift in my early 20s. All this to say: I put a lot of time and effort into perfecting my smile over the years and thought I was done with braces and retainers after high school. I remember feeling very upset that I had to start high school as a 'metal mouth,' but I was also in the marching band and went to band camp, so the braces should have been the least of my worries. It won't surprise anyone that an 8-year-old wasn't good at following retainer instructions from her orthodontist, so the second time I got braces was in seventh grade. I was still missing most of my adult teeth, so they were only on my top and bottom front teeth - and let's just say, that's when I perfected my closed-mouth grin. The first time I got braces, I was 7 years old.

Byte aligners impression kit