OMG I Have Finally Made a Decision! Sevenoaks, GB

Had my 50 week appointment on Friday and decided that no, I didn't want another 8-10 refinement trays, or a fixed brace for 3 months, but would go for the 'shaping' of the stubborn tooth instead. Removing the attachments wasn't very pleasant, but the shaping was fine. They took the impressions for the bonded retainer wire to be fitted in 10 days and I will have the impressions for retainers and whitening trays then too. I am happy with the results - I never expected perfection (I'm too old for that!) but just wanted to feel more confident with my smile and I have definitely achieved that. My ortho said I only have to wear my trays at night now, which I wasn't expecting at this appointment, so I walked out feeling over the moon - it is so wonderful to be able to eat and drink exactly what I want when I want to but feels so strange not to be rushing to put the trays back in after every meal, and I still have the desire to go and clean my teeth! Also I think my bite has changed so my teeth feel a little strange in my mouth! The other slightly annoying thing is that when I point out to people that I've finished the treatment, they can't seem to remember what my teeth were like before anyway!! Never mind - I KNOW ;) I've uploaded a couple of before and after shots but will post a final pic once I've done the whitening... keep positive everyone - it is worth all the hard work in the end :-)))

I saw my ortho today and picked up my last 6 trays - very exciting :) I asked him about refinements - he said my bottom teeth will be finished, but that invisalign isn't great at rotating teeth and there are 2 teeth at the top which he would suggest either 12 weeks of invisalign refinements (changing weekly) which would probably do the trick, or a fixed brace which would definitely work in 12 weeks. I really don't think I want a fixed brace though and he did say that I might be happy with the result before refinements anyway - I will make a decision when I go back for the impressions for the bottom retainer on 7th April. Whatever happens though, although I have had enough and can't wait for it to be finished (I can't wait to eat and drink whenever I want to!) I think it is definitely 100% worth it.

I visited my ortho today to have 3 more attachments on my bottom teeth and pick up my next 5 trays. Disappointed again to have the technician doing everything (not very well, either) and the ortho popping in for 30 seconds to do the IPR (apparently the technician isn't allowed to do anything that can't be reversed!). This is obviously their new system but I feel a bit cheated as I am paying a lot of money and would much prefer to see the ortho who I am confident and comfortable with. However, I'm thrilled at how much my smile has improved and am now on tray 16/26 - woohoooooo!