Abby's Invisalign Journey

I am currently wearing aligners number 11 out of 25

I am now nearly halfway through my Invisalign journey and I am currently wearing aligners number 11 out of 25 and have had them in for 22 weeks. I can’t believe how fast the time has gone! It doesn’t seem two minutes ago that I was sitting watching my Clincheck. This is a 3D image of my teeth, which shows them as they were at the beginning of my treatment and how they were going to move throughout the course of treatment. It was really interesting to watch, especially seeing the end result and seeing how straight they were going to end up.

I couldn’t wait to get started! I told my dentist Faith that I was happy with it and was wanting to proceed with the treatment, she was then able to approve my Clincheck so that the lab could get started on making my aligners.

I had to wait for about three weeks before they were ready, but as soon as they got here Faith was able to fit my first set and check that they were okay and fitted comfortably. She also showed me how to correctly put them in and take them out without damaging them and provided me with a starter kit which included a blue aligner case and a red case. The blue one I take with me everywhere to keep my aligners safe in should I remove them while I’m out, and the red one I keep at home with my next lot of aligners in ready for when I need to change them so I always know which set I am on.

Before I started I was concerned that they would affect my speech, something I was desperately hoping wouldn’t happen as being a receptionist and talking to people all day, on the phone and face to face I felt it would have been a bit embarrassing. Luckily, this wasn’t the case. When I put my first set of aligners in they felt slightly unusual and I did have a very slight lisp that only I could really notice, however, after just a few hours of getting used to them my speech was more or less back to normal and my mouth was starting to become accustomed to them. I’ve had little to no discomfort since I started wearing them and now I barely even notice that they are there!

The first couple of days there was some slight discomfort just as my teeth were getting used to the movement but it was certainly not unbearable. Every two weeks since then when I’ve change into my next set of clear braces, aligners, they have felt slightly tight on my teeth but after a couple of days when my teeth have had time to move to fit into them properly they are comfortable and easy to wear. As I said before, I barely even notice them anymore.

Throughout my treatment I’ve seen my dentist Faith a couple of times for some IPR (interproximal reduction) which involves a small bit of enamel being shaved from certain teeth in order to make space for the other teeth to move into. This is to avoid having healthy teeth extracted. It was a quick and easy procedure used to change the shape and size of my teeth, on the sides where they touched each other and it was completely pain free.

The only food/drink it is possible to have when wearing my aligners is water, anything else could possibly damage or stain them. They are incredibly easy to remove though so I haven’t ever found it a problem. All you need to do is lift them out starting at the back of your mouth and working your way forward and you’ll find that they will click out at the front, taking seconds. It is important to clean your teeth and your aligners before wearing them again, to avoid staining.

If I’ve been unable to clean them properly with my toothbrush and toothpaste, I’ve rinsed my mouth and my aligners and put them back in, but always made sure I’ve clean them properly as soon as I’ve been able to.

I’m happy to say that people have been noticing a change in the shape of my teeth and I too can see a massive difference already. One of my canine teeth used to stick out quite far and people have referred to it as my ‘vampire tooth’ in the past which used to make me incredibly self-conscious when smiling, not ideal when working on a reception desk! I never wanted to show my teeth when I smiled because of people’s comments but now I can definitely say that I’ve seen a massive change!

This particular tooth has adjusted and become more aligned with the rest. At only half way through my treatment I can already see such a huge difference and I wait to see what the end result will be like. I’m having some more IPR done in a couple of weeks’ time so I will keep everyone updated and will hopefully be able to show you all some progress pictures!

Find out more about invisalign here. Feel free to get in contact with us today for more questions or call us on 0162362939.