My Invisalign Journey Begins - London, GB

I am not into the blogging experience but when I was doing research I found this forum to be very helpful and it provided comfort that many women my age are doing this treatment. Thus I decided as a way for me to keep track of this journey and to help others I would document my invisalign journey.

How I found about Invisalign and the deciding point:

I am 29 yrs old and have ALWAYS had crooked/crowded teeth. In all honesty, they are hideous. I had metal braces for a good 5 years during my teens and albeit they did straighten my teeth but not fully. I cant actually remember why I didnt continue with treatment. My guess is the exams took over and thereafter it was college/university/exams and I basically felt too old to have braces. At one point I did get seduced by makeover programmes. It always seemed so easy for these people to get a nice smile with veeners. I enquired about it and was told I am not suitable for this as I am too young and my only option is to have orthodontic treatment. When the dentist told me that I cried. I then learnt to accept and live with the fact I was never going to have straight teeth as I was not prepared to have metal braces again. But the longing feeling of having a nice smile never left.

So when I was 25 yrs old I broached the braces subject with my mum. At that time in my life I was starting to meet men as potential marriage partners (its a cultural thing). With this cultural thing in mind my mum was totally against the braces ias she thought I would put off suitors. So I listened and I didnt get them. Big Mistake as I Am now 29 yrs old and still not married. So it Would not have made a frigging difference to the suitor potential anyway. Hey ho, live and learn.

I went through a bad period in my life last year were I fell into depression. I wont go into the details but It took a alot to climb out of it and be in a place where I am safe. Part of going through that depression made me think of things I want and deserve and things which will make me happy. And fixing my teeth was one of them. So I started to think of this again and it was just a thought not a pursuit at this point.

The deciding point and actual pursuit came about 3 months ago in April 2013. I went to this dating dinner thing to try a meet new people. Suffice to say I didnt meet a man. However, I did meet two ladies and whilst we were talking one lady noticed the other lady wearing invisalign. They began discussing it and I was intrigued. I didnt even notice these ladies wearing braces. It was amazing. I began to question them and when I went home started doing research. The fact that I didnt even notice the braces that evening was the turning point for me and after research I found a dentist who does invisalign, booked an appointment, done my clin check, mould impressions and 3 months later Here I am wearing Invisalign.

Seeing countless review videos and actually seeing the difference gives me confidence that I will have a nice smile one day. Sooner rather than later.

I am actually on tray 3 now (its taken me a while to start this blog I know). So far so good. I am not experiencing pain but I can feel tension. Tray 1 made my tongue sore but it adapted and my tongue is immune to the soreness now with each tray.

I have 24 trays in total. But my teeth are seriously bad and after reading other peoples reviews and looking at their pictures with more trays than me, their teeth dont look as bad as mine. so Im thinking a few more trays will probably be added on. The dentist ETA was 9-12 months. It would be so cool if this could be done by May as thats my birthday but not holding my breath. I would really like it done by August though As I have a family wedding to attend abroad and last time I was there, 15 yrs old most of my family members teased me about my teeth. So it would be nice to have straight teeth for the function and smile properly in photos. I wish I had known about Invisalign last year as I didnt do any socialising. But hey ho, better late than never and I believe it was meant to be and hopefully this time next year my teeth will be straight.

This month is Ramadan. For those of you who dont know about it, its a month of fasting whereby you go without food and drink from sunrise to sunset. I am pretty much fasting during the whole of this month. I wanted to share my experience of doing this whilst wearing invisalign with the Invisalign family.

So here in the UK at the moment sunrise is approx 0300 and sunset is about 2120. Yes, its a long old time to go without food and drink. Doing this fast though has benenfitted me so much in terms of invisalign as Im hardly taking the braces off.

I dont know about you guys but I am quite bad at sticking to the 22hr rule and will probably wearing my braces maybe 18-20 hrs instead. Its hard at work as Im on shifts and my breaks are set. I cant just pop to the bathroom for a 15 minute brush of my teeth when I fancy. My breaks arent that long either so there is only ever enough time to eat then go back to work then during the next break I will go and brush my teeth and pop the braces back on. But during all that, I lose maybe 3 - 4 hours.

Anyway, So although my energy levels have dropped a fair bit in this heat, the plus side is Im wearing invisalign a lot longer then before - and its thanks to Ramadan. :)

I can't believe this... but I am very much struggling to keep these braces in for the long periods of time required. I get super lazy after eating to brush and put them back in. I feel like I hardly wore tray 5 at all. I am on tray 6 and I really want to make an effort to wear these braces longer. I know its determination and will power, but anyone got any tips or advice?!?

I think I read on here, someone was only eating 2 big meals a day? I work funky shifts too and there isnt enough time to go to the bathroom and brush teeth after eating. Id have to wait until my next break for that which is about 2 hours thereafter. Maybe I should give this 2 big meals thing a go but it doesnt seem healthy to me.

Its a quarter way into my treatment now. I feel my teeth have been pushed back and the two front/side teeth have moved. Gap is noticeably closed I think.

I just need to sort this not wearing braces thing out. I dont want to prolong my treatment time so I guess I gota suck it up and be disciplined. Its hard! I hope everyone else is having an easier time with treatment.