31 Getting Married and Panicking About My Teeth - UK

Onto set 10 and things are moving quicker now I change every 10 days. I was at the op dentist yesterday for a little bit of IPR which was fine and to get my next four sets. The white tooth filler has now gone which feels weird but it's good that the gap is starting to close. Cannot wait for it to be gone.

I can't see them getting much straighter yet but my top right fang is on the move slowly. T minus 2.5 months to wedding day so I'm hoping improvements come thick and fast now. 3 more sets and I'm half way there.

Most days I barely notice them in as you quickly get used to the routine and I've stopped being as conscious when I talk to people. They are either too polite to mention or not noticing which is fine by me. I even laugh and smile without covering my mouth! There are the odd times when motivation gets low and I just want it to hurry the heck up - there's nothing like a deadline to place undue stress on you.

I wouldn't recommend starting it so close to a wedding really, if you need an extraction that is. I wish I'd done it much sooner and worried less. Planning a wedding is stressful enough as it is. However without the gap, I think it would be easy as you like to do this and go about your daily life.

Before, now, wedding, end

I'm now on set 4 as of Thursday last week and there's not much to report in the way of change. The extraction gap is still very much there but I'm sure it's closing very slowly. I can feel space in between all of my teeth when I floss which means I no longer struggle like I used to.

I've become used to the cleaning after eating and it does encourage me to only eat at meal times due to the palava. I've taken to calling the process 'the fandango' for short when talking to my fiancé because it's a bit of a faff but My mouth is so healthy because of it.

There is certainly tightness and a little bit of discomfort the first few days of a new tray but not pain as such. I'm also pretty used to talking with them in and actually have more of a lisp when I take them out to eat.

I soak my aligners in water or a denture cleaner on an evening during every meal which works to keep them clean. Purchase a denture bath with a rinsing basket - so worth it.

So far it's hard to say if it's worth it as I'm waiting to see some results but I certainly feel less stressed than I did at the start. It's a big decision and investment but for me the hardest decision was to have the extraction. This is the single hardest thing for me as I don't like being seen without the aligner in so meal times are lonely! The tooth like filling is effective when they are in so that helps. Without the gap I think it'd be easy street.

I just hope I've made enough progress by the time my wedding comes end of August and the gap is gone. I'm going to discuss speeding up my treatment at my ortho appt next week. Wish me luck.

I'm rubbish with pictures so none to share right now, sorry. I'll put my clincheck up when I can.