My Invisalign Journey

 

Almost a year ago – last August – whilst on holiday in Mykonos, I used the forward facing camera on my phone to apply my lipstick and was struck by just how unhappy I was with my teeth, they weren’t awful but just weren’t ideal – slightly misaligned, a few pushing over each other and my two front ones just felt too big. Fast forward a week or two and I felt much the same way whilst vlogging my trip to Switzerland.

I had had braces as a pre teen for two years aged 12-14 – horrible and painful train tracks put on after having a whopping four teeth removed, that made me super self conscious to smile with my mouth open, but I was happy with the end results. However, much like every other single person out there I stupidly never wore my retainer after having the tracks removed. So fast forward back to last September aged 26 and feeling like it was a bit of a now or never moment to do something about my teeth.

I knew I was planning to get pregnant and I knew that the few X rays you have to do before your weren’t safe in pregnancy so I felt like it was something I had to do sooner rather than later. I found Centre for Dentistry via my cousin who had just finished a year long orthodontic treatment with them and couldn’t sing their praises enough and that’s how by the first week of September 2017 I found myself having a consultation and discussing the pros and cons of invisalign. I had heard a lot about Invisalign and knew that it was the only option for me personally as I still felt a bit scarred by the pain of train tracks. Luckily, as my teeth weren’t in too much of a difficult position Invisalign seemed like it would work well for me within 6-9 months. I booked in for X rays soon after and by the 1st October I was the proud owner of my first sets of Invisalign trays. I am not great with pain or discomfort but I can hand on heart say that the trays only irritated me/felt uncomfortable for around 5-6 days. The main discomfort was speaking and feeling like there was something in my mouth as opposed to any pain. Before the end of the first week I felt comfortable speaking in them and I didn’t even notice them anymore. By the end of the first month wearing them had become second nature and I loved seeing my teeth gradually whiten due to the increased teeth brushing (you have to brush every time you take them off for a drink that isn’t water/food). Pretty soon I started seeing improvement and by Christmas I was really happy with the results. I had attachments added to my teeth around December time to help the aligners work and I never felt self conscious about them or the aligners, in fact most people didn’t even notice I had them in!

Falling pregnant naturally slowed down my treatment, I was grazing 24/7 for the first trimester, so wearing them for the recommended 20 hours a day became a struggle. All in I probably only lost about 2 months due to the pregnancy which, seeing as I wasn’t in any particular mad rush, didn’t bother me in the slightest. Around 4 weeks ago I finished my final set of trays and now have wire fixed retainers on the backs of my top and bottom teeth, in August, hopefully before the baby arrives, I am having plastic aligners back for night time use only and within a year of wearing them at night I will then go down to 2 nights a week – for life. Retainers for life are an important part of any orthodontic treatment now as teeth move no matter how much you don’t want them to! I am not bothered in the slightest as I don’t find them uncomfortable and actually find having them in at night quite comforting after I’ve applied my lotions and potions to my face and brushed my teeth.

I couldn’t be happier with my results and couldn’t recommend Centre for Dentistry enough, my dentist Omer made my treatment a breeze and I genuinely look forward to going in for check ups. I’ve always been completely trusting and never had to worry about about a thing. I think after good skin and strong hair, good teeth come right next and I am so much more comfortable with smiling and showing them off now – I was even comfortable whilst I had my plastic aligners on in the day as they looked so damn good within 6 weeks that I didn’t even care showing them off with their plastic encasement. I know this sounds completely gushing but I truly am so happy that within less than a year of deciding I wanted to do something about my teeth I now have them exactly as I want them and I am in good stead to keep them this way now for life.

For more info check out Centre for Dentistry and if it’s convenient for you go and see Omer as he is just the best!