Barely 10 hours after I had them fitted, I wanted to rip them out of my mouth and throw them away.

The inside of my cheek was sore. The tip of my tongue was scratched, and my mouth felt dry, heavy and tired, as if I had spent the whole afternoon talking and talking, which I hadn't.

Oh, vanity, thy name is discomfort.

Last Wednesday, I had dental braces fitted for the first time in my life.

I don't even really know why I did it.

I woke up one morning in March, looked at myself in the mirror and concluded that I didn't like what I saw.

My lower two front teeth have always been crooked, but the misalignment has become more obvious over the years.

My upper teeth used to be nice and straight, but I have recently noticed that some teeth on the right side were starting to jut out a bit.

I made up my mind there and then that I had to correct the flaws - a decision I now regret.

My teeth are certainly imperfect but I don't think anyone would notice it unless they look at me really closely.

But who does that anyway? And in any case, why do I care what others think of me or my teeth, especially at my age?

I brush and floss diligently, which means my teeth, while crooked, are clean and healthy, so why am I creating a situation where I'll be spending so much time - and money - in the dentist's chair?

My smile would, of course, look better if my teeth were picket-fence straight but it's not like I'm a TV host who depends on my smile for a living.

Besides, physical defects can make a person more 'real', don't you think? Even endearing?

But for goodness knows what reason (okay, it was vanity), I was convinced that I had to get my teeth cosmetically corrected.

I read up about dental braces on the Internet and decided to try Invisalign, which are plastic retainer-like mouthpieces that give similar results to traditional wire braces but are 'invisible'.

I made an appointment with my dentist, who referred me to an orthodontist who specialises in braces.

He did several tests and found that the misalignment on my upper teeth was minor and could be corrected by Invisalign. Treatment would take eight months.

But the overcrowding in my lower teeth was too complex for Invisalign, he said. Traditional wire braces would do a better job. I would need to wear these for 18 months.

Okay, I said, go ahead.

He had moulds taken of my teeth and I had to pay for the Invisalign upfront. It is not cheap.

It takes about six weeks for the aligners to be manufactured and sent to you. Meanwhile, I went to Britain for a holiday. I had a great time and came home rested and happy - only to remember that the braces were waiting for me.

There was no turning back. I had already paid for them. Dental prison loomed.

I decided to proceed with the Invisalign for my upper teeth but to postpone the traditional braces for my bottom.

Last Wednesday, I set off for the dentist with a heavy heart.

The Invisalign system comprises sets of clear aligners which are snapped on very tightly over your teeth. They are like a plastic coating for your teeth.

The number of sets depends on how severe your problem is. You wear a set for two weeks before changing to the next. I was prescribed 16 sets, which means 32 weeks or eight months.

The aligners are custom-made for each patient by the company in the United States. They work by applying force and moving your teeth into correct positions.

Tiny, clear 'buttons' are sometimes glued onto certain teeth so that the aligners will be better able to rotate the teeth. Thankfully, I required only one button, on my upper right canine.

The best thing about Invisalign is that you can barely see it. Family and friends whom I bared my teeth to could not detect anything. In fact, the plastic material gives my teeth a nice, white gleam.

The aligners can be taken out for two to four hours a day. Or, to look at this in a negative light, you must wear them for 20 to 22 hours every day.

You can drink only plain water while wearing them (not even coffee or tea, which would discolour them, and certainly not sugary drinks unless you want your teeth to decay quickly), the water can't be hot (you don't want the aligners to warp), and you definitely can't eat with them.

This means you've got to ensure that the amount of time you take to eat in a day does not exceed the maximum four hours you are allowed to take the aligners out.

It also means that every time you need to eat, you have to go to the bathroom, prise the aligners off - it isn't easy given they are a tight fit - and store them.

Once you finish eating, you have to brush and floss before snapping them back on - and, again, this takes practice.

It is especially inconvenient for someone like me who needs to snack throughout the day in addition to my three meals.

Some people have lost weight while on Invisalign because they have had to cut down on snacking, but I think it'll be the opposite for me.

Because I don't want to be caught hungry and go through the hassle of changing in and out of my aligners, I've been eating a lot more than usual at mealtimes, just to store up.

Putting and taking off the aligners has not been as difficult as I'd feared, although I sometimes feel that I am pulling out all my teeth along with them.

What I didn't expect was how the edges would be so sharp. The first day I wore the aligners, the plastic near my upper right canine kept biting into my cheek, causing a small blister to form.

My tongue kept playing with the back of the aligners till they were scratched and sore. Worse, the aligners made me very thirsty.

At the end of the day, my jaw was aching and my head throbbing. The feeling of something heavy clasping your teeth is not pleasant.

I'd read on the Internet that you can use a nail file to smoothen the rough edges. I did that and the relief was instant. The sharp edges no longer poked my cheek.

It's been three days and while it's not been unbearable, I'm not sure I can stay the course for eight months.

It is, of course, unreasonable to expect to have better-looking teeth without suffering a bit. No pain, no gain.

Friends who have had traditional braces tell me that they are worse than Invisalign. The pain every time your braces are tightened is awful. Plaque forms easily around the brackets. Bits of food get stuck. You can get mouth sores from the metal. Teeth can even be loose for a prolonged period of time.

Which is scant consolation to me given that I am scheduled to get traditional braces for my lower teeth.

And even when your teeth are straightened, either by Invisalign or the old method, you are supposed to wear retainers forever to keep them from moving.

Maybe I'll stop at my front teeth and just learn to love my lower crooked ones.

There's only so much I will do in the name of vanity.

This article was first published in The Straits Times.