First Tray - London, GB

So I'm over half way through my 'refinement' trays. (for those of you that don't know, refinement trays are additional trays given to you at the end of your treatment for extra movement on the really stubborn teeth). I began with 14 two week trays, and once I had gone through all of these, I was given 14 one week refinement trays, though I'm told that I will likely only need 12 of them. It's going surprisingly quickly with the one week trays. I'm over half way through, and can feel and see real progress now.  I was getting to a point of being quite fed up with the process, but seeing how nicely my teeth are coming along; it's definitely all been worth it. The new trays no longer cause soreness on my tongue through rough edges - I don't know if this is because I'm used to them or they have managed to create them with smoother edges - either way it's been nice to put the new trays on with minimal cutting of the mouth.  I'm due back in four weeks to get the moulds done for my retainer (well I hope so anyway!!) and I have to say, I'm so excited! Not only have my teeth totally straightened out, but my whole smile has changed (for the better!). It's so great to be able to actually bite together. I've attached a photo of my progress (please note - this progress photo is a number of weeks old now; my teeth have further improved since this picture), but I think the comparison really captures the improvement of my smile and the shifting that my teeth have actually done. I will, of course, upload a picture once all is complete.  Please feel free to ask any questions - I know when I was looking it up I had a number of questions that I wasn't able to get answered until I had started my treatment, but it was handy to know!

Not so Invisa-lign - the attachments are on.
6 Jun 2016
•2 months post





So, at the weekend I went to my dentist to have the attachments added on, and get the 4th trays fitted. From what I've seen, a lot of people only have a few attachments on a few teeth, and they're usually around to the side of the mouth, or hidden. Mine, unfortunately, are not. The attachments went on all of my front teeth, and are quite visible now (as you can see in the picture), and I certainly feel more conscious of them.
The pain this time around is a little more intense, mainly when trying to take the aligners out to eat, as my teeth are very tender and the aligners are hooked onto the attachments. However, it has lessened since yesterday (had them on 2 days ago), so I think I'll be back to normal by tomorrow or the day after.

There certainly are things that were sugar coated by the dentist's and nurses initially (or you know, not mentioned to me at all) that would be part of the Invisalign journey; things that are only researchable from the likes of these trusty websites where personal experiences and reviews are left, as opposed to the websites advertising Invisalign.

However, I do 100% stand by my decision to go ahead with the treatment, and can't wait to see the final result. It's only 1 year out of my life, after all.

So, at the weekend I went to my dentist to have the attachments added on, and get the 4th trays fitted. From what I've seen, a lot of people only have a few attachments on a few teeth, and they're usually around to the side of the mouth, or hidden. Mine, unfortunately, are not. The attachments went on all of my front teeth, and are quite visible now (as you can see in the picture), and I certainly feel more conscious of them.
The pain this time around is a little more intense, mainly when trying to take the aligners out to eat, as my teeth are very tender and the aligners are hooked onto the attachments. However, it has lessened since yesterday (had them on 2 days ago), so I think I'll be back to normal by tomorrow or the day after.

There certainly are things that were sugar coated by the dentist's and nurses initially (or you know, not mentioned to me at all) that would be part of the Invisalign journey; things that are only researchable from the likes of these trusty websites where personal experiences and reviews are left, as opposed to the websites advertising Invisalign.

However, I do 100% stand by my decision to go ahead with the treatment, and can't wait to see the final result. It's only 1 year out of my life, after all.