First Few Days of Invisalign. London, GB

Hi there, I just thought I'd write a little bit about my first few days of my Invisalign treatment as I found other people's reviews really helpful.

I went for my first consultation back in September so all up has taken 3 and a half months to finally get my aligners - quite a long time! I've been fairly happy with things so far, apart from feeling a bit rushed when I go in for my appointments, which is a bit annoying when I've paid such a high price for the treatment.

So anyway got my aligners finally and this is now the end of day 3, the first and second day were tough, the aligners are really sharp and I have had to smooth them down with a nail file to stop them cutting up my gums and tongue. My teeth have been quite sensitive which is to be expected and I got a killer headache yesterday which lasted most of the day, however this has not happened again today thank god! All these things are not too much of an issue, but the most annoying thing is that on the bottom aligner on the right it doesn't appear to to sit perfect on my back molars, my top teeth hits on the aligner and when I clench it moves up and down which is really annoying, does anyone know if this is normal? Obviously I have a bit of a lisp too which is making me feel quite self conscious but I've been told this goes within a week?? Still looking forward to getting through the process, I have 14 aligners in total at the moment, so not too long of a process! Any comments or advice would be very much appreciated!

Just a quick update, I'm now finished my first full week and I'm happy to say things have improved a lot. My lisp has pretty much gone now and I'm finding the aligners are feeling a lot more comfortable, I honestly didn't think I was going to get used to them and hated them so I'm so pleased!

I also went in to see my orthodontist about the aligner not fitting properly and she could see there was a slight problem with it not fully sticking - I was glad it wasn't just me! She has told me to come back when I'm changing into my new aligner to see if the next one is the same, and if so she may just snip the back off to make it more comfortable. On that part at the back molars my teeth are perfectly straight so she said it wouldn't make any difference to my treatment, so I'll let you know what ends up happening. To be honest it's starting to feel slightly better but I'm not sure if that's just because I'm getting used to it!

Anyway I'll update again next week! Roll on tray 2....

I went in to Sensu today to change in to my next aligner, and I'm pleased to say that it fits a lot better this time :) I think my teeth must have moved ever so slightly and that has made all the difference. Things have got even better in the past week, my lisp is now completely unnoticeable and I really can pretty much pop them in and out now no problem, it's amazing how fast you get used to wearing them. Things don't seem so bleak now, thank god! My next appointment is in 4 weeks to have my attachments put on, I've heard they can be annoying so hopefully it will be alright with them on, we'll see.

Firstly let me say, my god am I glad I only have a few of them. Precisely 3 on the top and 3 on the bottom, I feel incredibly lucky. The procedure for getting them attached wasn't exactly joyous, upon arrival the guy got me to lie back and inserted what can only be described as a circular tent into my mouth to keep my lips back from my teeth. He then put the glue on and put on the buttons and blasted my teeth with freezing air, but the worst bit was the weird drill thing to I suppose smooth down the hard glue, pretty uncomfortable! Because I only had 6 to attach it was over fairly quick, hence why I'm majorly glad I didn't have to get a full mouth of them!

As I said I've also now switched to my new tray, and firstly I have noticed that the material of this one is a lot stronger than before, I'm not sure if that is because I now have the buttons so they need it thicker? Getting the trays in and out now is a lot more difficult, and honestly I felt like I was going to yank my teeth out when I was taking out my top tray this morning! Immediately after getting the buttons last night I could feel them all the time, but today I have already pretty much got used to them, and the guy said that after a couple days I should find it easier removing the trays, which I'm sure will be true. I actually didn't know that the actual aligner would have raised bumps to fit the button in, so that was weird!

Also another thing I've noticed is that this time I haven't filed down the edges of my aligner and it's not really annoying or irritating my mouth or tongue, so I guess my mouth has just toughened up a bit haha. I have to go get my teeth filed in 4 weeks to help my teeth shift properly so will update again after that. By then I'll be ready for tray 6 so I'm hoping I might be able to see some visible changes by then :)

A little update as I've just had the dreaded teeth filing done. I was mega nervous going to get it done as I'd heard the use this file strip that they scrape back and forth between your teeth - eek! I was relieved when actually I went in and she used a tiny spinning circular tool and I could basically feel nothing apart from a little sensitivity and it was over in 5 minutes! Boom!

I've moved on to tray 6 yesterday and man my teeth are sore, had to take painkillers this morning as I was in agony, first time I've had to take anything since my first tray. At least I know it's working I suppose! I can see results already as well, nothing massive but it's got me super excited :D Almost half way now through my 14 trays, next appointment is booked for 16 weeks after I'm finished all 14 trays - woop! Also just to mention, I cracked both tray 4 and 5 in the same spot, it's a lot more difficult taking them out with the buttons :( Trying to change my technique removing them but it's not easy! Fingers crossed I manage to not crack this tray!

Just a small update as I've had a revelation! I have realised after all this time that I had been instructed to remove my trays from the wrong side. They initially told me to pull from right to left and they should slip out, I've been struggling and I've actually cracked my last 3 trays. This time I pulled from left to right and they slip out so easy - what an idiot, have no idea why I didn't try this sooner! Ah well, everything is obvious in hindsight! So in case you are reading this and struggling, please try pulling them out from the opposite side...

I'd also like to mention that even though I had read this by many people, not until this tray did I put in my aligners at night before bed. I am not sure whether it is because this aligner isn't moving my teeth much or because of doing this before bed but this one has seriously been a breeze! No teeth pain at all hardly, the last two aligners were bloody awful I was almost crying! Anyway, regardless I will be doing this every time now, I am pretty sure the rest of the process is going to be good - people are right, the first 3 months you are learning all the little tricks then it gets so easy! Can't wait for tray 8 now - woop!

So I just wanted to know if anyone had any advice on bonded retainers?

I'm currently half way through tray 9 of 14 trays and have started to think about the end of treatment. I go in to get my impressions the middle of July for my refinements (if needed, most likely as most people do), so I've still got a bit to go but I am starting to think that the bonded retainer idea that I chose may be a bad idea. I've heard it's a nightmare to floss your teeth with them in, and also they can cause more plaque build up on your teeth. I've also heard that they can come off and you have to keep getting them re-attached, and only the original dentist who put them on can fix them. All this sounds too stressful, and I'm more than happy to be strict with my removable ones so I don't have to go down this route.

Anyone with any advice would be much appreciated!

Well that's me finally reached the end of my last tray. I'm due to go in to Sensu tomorrow to get my moulds taken for my refinements so I will find out how many is needed. Just to let you know, my teeth are still crooked at the bottom and seem to be very stubborn, they have improved A LOT, so I am not too concerned as i wasn't expecting them to be perfect. After a brief chat with someone at Sensu yesterday before my appointment, they told me that the usual process is you get the same number of aligners for your refinements as you do for your initial trays, the only difference is you wear these for only 1 week each. This timeline makes sense as they originally told me it would take around 9 months, and I've done 6 months so far.

My initial reaction to wearing the trays for a week only was good, I thought it would make it feel faster, but on reflection there will be a few negatives to this! So obviously there is quite a bit of pain and sensitivity for a few days after putting in your new tray, so now I will be dealing with this on a weekly basis, which will only give me a few days per week when my teeth are not sore :( Also I will have to file down each aligner weekly now, I HATE doing this, it's so long! Anyway, It's not too bad, I'm getting through it slowly but surely! Straightening your teeth was never going to be a walk in the park! So I will update again once I know how many refinements I have and let you know what they say.

Just to finish off, I wanted to let you all know that I have discovered (lots of people say this online) that denture cleaning tablets really really are the best way to keep your trays clean and fresh. I buy tablets which you pop in water until they have dissolved, then put your aligners in for 3 minutes and give them a quick scrub after with your toothbrush. Honestly, when I look at my earlier aligners compared to after I started using the denture cleaner it is ridiculous how horrible my old ones are! I get completely no staining and they smell fresh as the day I put them in. If you are having trouble with staining or smells or anything at all - get on to denture cleaner! (Just make sure it's hidden in your bathroom so your guests don't think you have false teeth LOL).

Just a quick update on my progress! So that is me now on my refinement trays, as suspected I got another 14 trays which is fine as only one week each, thank god! I went in for my appointment and they told me I needed more spacing in between my teeth and more buttons - aargh! I got 4 more on the top and 3 more on the bottom, so in total I have 7 on the top now and 6 on the bottom - I hate getting them put on its horrible! So that's just me at the moment! I go back in on the 19th October for a check up half way, and then get my remaining 7 aligners. Not really much to report, just the usual invisalign struggles, was very painful in my first set after having a 6 week break from wearing them all day, I only wore them at night while I was waiting for my refinements to arrive. Just looking forward to seeing the results now, hopefully by Christmas I'll be done or near enough - roll on! Teeth are looking really good already, so I'm really excited to see the final results! :) :)