33 Years Old, Time to Straighten Front Teeth! - Aberdeen, Scotland

Week 1 passed quite well, the main annoyance was feeling the aligner in my mouth, I think I'm used to it now and it only becomes uncomfortable when I'm thirsty. Stay hydrated people! Definitely makes me want to drink more.

Since Friday, Aligner 1 felt quite loose like a mouthguard. I guess this is because the minor tooth movements had been made and it was just holding them in place.

I fitted Aligner 2 about 10 minutes ago, struggled to get it on but a good firm push sorted it. Tight and close, feels good but I'm dreading the fight to get it off for breakfast!

So far I have a had a good experience with these aligners. It takes a few minor adjustments to lifestyle, some days 22 hours is a lot to endure, I probably only got 20 hours one day. All feels good so far though.

My aligner was fitted on Monday evening by my Dentist. It was definitely a lot tighter than I'd anticipated and I struggled to put in back in and take it out. The force on my front teeth during the first removal of the aligner made me think I was going to damage my teeth. Obviously I didn't, but it just shows how sturdy these little trays have to be in order to move your teeth around.

I have my first box of aligners, one per week until week 6. Once aligner 6 is in, I go back for my next check up and a new set of impressions will be taken to check progress and make aligners 7-12.

I have been struggling with the feel of the aligner, sometimes to the point of wanting to pull it out and throw it away. It is less of an annoyance today and I'm hoping at as week 1 goes on I notice it less and less. Day 1 I managed 21 hours.

Despite how much I want to take it out, when it is out I already feel like it needs to go back in! Amazingly my front teeth have started to move a little. Whilst flossing on morning 2 I noticed that the gap between them was very slightly wider, as there was no resistance against the floss when pushing it upwards. So that's great news to see and feel that things are happening!

Unfortunately with movement comes discomfort. Nowhere near pain, just a low level niggle. My case isn't too extreme, just a case of moving 5 teeth, but I imagine it will be a little more uncomfortable as the trays begin to move my teeth more significantly.

Speech on the evening of day 1 was a bit of a spit-fest but i haven't really noticed any issues since then. The only real change is that I'm having to speak a little more slowly in order to enunciate properly.

All in all, no real issues and I'm glad I'm already feeling some discomfort - it means things are working! I'll try and update later in the week. Otherwise I'll be back when aligner 2 goes in.

I get my first Clear Smile tray fitted tonight, and thought I'd try as best I can to update through the process. It should be around 18 weeks to straighten up 5 upper front teeth.

I've had slight misalignment in front teeth for some time. After previous dental work in my early teens, my teeth began to move again in my mid 20s.

I'm hoping that clear aligners will be a million miles away from my speech-slurring elastic band and metal monstrosities of the early 90s!