POSTED UNDER Incognito Braces REVIEWS
Invisalign : a 23year Old's Smile Journey
ORIGINAL POST
For the last 23 years, I only vaguely remember...
mysongbookteethJuly 10, 2016
$2,770
For the last 23 years, I only vaguely remember having teeth I was happy with for few months or so.
That's about 1% of my life that I've felt confident with my teeth.
The other 99%, I've been hiding my teeth as much as I can. While taking photos, I almost always smile with my lips shut, or when I do smile with my teeth I try not to show the right side of my face where my sharp canine tooth is very prominent and my front tooth crosses over.
The funny part of it all is that I actually had braces as a teenager! This is where that 1% of teeth happiness comes in. I wore retainers 24 hours at age of 13-14 for my overbite, I absolutely hated wearing retainers. I then wore braces at 14 for about 9 months and although it wasn't painful and just a bit uncomfortable I was very glad to get it off. After my teeth was absolutely perfect, my orthodontist then gave me the bad news - you have to wear retainers 24/7 for another year... And after that every night for the rest.of.your.life
I was so upset, no way am I going back to retainers again. And so, being the stubborn, silly child that I was - it took only a few months for my teeth to start moving back again.
It wasn't as bad as before, but still my front 6 teeth were quite imperfect.. But safe to say, it was all my fault for not listening to my orthodontist.
Fast forward 9 years, I've been dying to get my teeth straightened out again.
My main problem is my front two teeth, right one which overlaps the left. My other problem is my canine teeth being prominent and needs moving back. I am also not sure about the shape of all my canines, everyone in my family have quite large, pointy canine teeth but my dentist has assured me that after it moves back it won't look so prominent anymore.
Any ways, here I am - a week before getting my Invisalign fitted. I am nervous and excited. More excited to get my teeth straighter. I've learnt from my silly mistakes of not listening to the professionals about not wearing retainers. Knowing how unhappy I have been with the appearance of my smile, wearing retainers every night for the rest of my life doesn't sound so bad at all.
Wish me luck!
That's about 1% of my life that I've felt confident with my teeth.
The other 99%, I've been hiding my teeth as much as I can. While taking photos, I almost always smile with my lips shut, or when I do smile with my teeth I try not to show the right side of my face where my sharp canine tooth is very prominent and my front tooth crosses over.
The funny part of it all is that I actually had braces as a teenager! This is where that 1% of teeth happiness comes in. I wore retainers 24 hours at age of 13-14 for my overbite, I absolutely hated wearing retainers. I then wore braces at 14 for about 9 months and although it wasn't painful and just a bit uncomfortable I was very glad to get it off. After my teeth was absolutely perfect, my orthodontist then gave me the bad news - you have to wear retainers 24/7 for another year... And after that every night for the rest.of.your.life
I was so upset, no way am I going back to retainers again. And so, being the stubborn, silly child that I was - it took only a few months for my teeth to start moving back again.
It wasn't as bad as before, but still my front 6 teeth were quite imperfect.. But safe to say, it was all my fault for not listening to my orthodontist.
Fast forward 9 years, I've been dying to get my teeth straightened out again.
My main problem is my front two teeth, right one which overlaps the left. My other problem is my canine teeth being prominent and needs moving back. I am also not sure about the shape of all my canines, everyone in my family have quite large, pointy canine teeth but my dentist has assured me that after it moves back it won't look so prominent anymore.
Any ways, here I am - a week before getting my Invisalign fitted. I am nervous and excited. More excited to get my teeth straighter. I've learnt from my silly mistakes of not listening to the professionals about not wearing retainers. Knowing how unhappy I have been with the appearance of my smile, wearing retainers every night for the rest of my life doesn't sound so bad at all.
Wish me luck!
Replies (2)
July 13, 2016
Good luck, I hope it all goes well! Keep us updated with your progress :) I have a similar problem with my front tooth too!
UPDATED FROM mysongbookteeth
Day of treatment
**** Day 1 with 1st Tray!!! ****
mysongbookteethJuly 21, 2016
I was nervous for my fitting all week leading up to the special day.
I enjoyed a night sloppy messy ice cream that I quickly bought from a van while walking back from work the day before, knowing fully that for the next 7 months or so I won't be so free and spontaneous with my ice cream intake.
My dentist first gave me the aligners without inserting any attachments (I have 12) for me to try on.
It fit snug and tight but it wasn't uncomfortable at all.
I was able to insert my bottom and remove them pretty easily, but the top aligner was quite hard.
"Oh, it's not that bad" - Me
"Haha, that's because I haven't added the attachments yet" - Dentist
Next came the most uncomfortable 30mins of my journey!
My dentist began to attach my attachments, first by putting into my mouth this massive lip pulling back beast, so he could have more control of my teeth and not have my lips in the way.
Mind you my lips and mouth is quite small so the stretch of pulling my lips back was bordering on unbearable.
He began by cleaning my teeth, then put my aligners in and bought this zapping machine that zapped the aligner on the raised attachment parts. Since I had aligner in my back teeth/molars the pull to get the zapper right at the back was really taking a toll on my lips!!
He then took them out my aligners and the attachments were on my teeth.
*phew glad that's over, now I can get this beast off of my lips*
"Okay so now I'm going to have to file in between your teeth to make space for the movement, this will feel and sound uncomfortable" - dentist
Great, not only was the lips pulling back monster still clinging on to my mouth but now I have to get my teeth filed??!!!
My dentist was brought out what looked exactly like a small nail file and filed in between my teeth, shrud shrud shrud it sounded more uncomfortable than it felt!
He then bought a small machine with a wheel at the end that was going to make more space in between my teeth, this sounded worse! It sounded like those machines that cut steel, and it lasted for a good 10-15 mins.
Now, I'm quite good at handling uncomfort and pain during medical procedures, but this sounded so awful and felt so uncomfortable, didn't hurt, but was extremely uncomfortable that I wished my dentist gave me earplugs instead of numbing cream!
But that was soon over and the lip pulling back monster was off.
I then tried my aligners back on and this time it felt a lot more snug and tight, it was also quite hard to put on and take off - again just my top aligners, bottom one was a breeze.
It's not been about 1.5 hours and I've had my first meal, my lisp isn't as bad as it thought. No where near as bad as my lisp when I had retainers as a child, those one had a section that sat at the ceiling of your mouth too, so no wonder I sounded and felt uncomfortable.
My jaw is mostly sore, I can't shut my teeth properly, as in the most I can bite down still leaves a bit of space so the back of my jaw are starting to feel sore.
My teeth are actually feeling fine, no uncomfortable rubbing on my gums or tongue - feels very smooth on my tongue and I'm surprised at how thin the aligners are! Only tooth that is slightly aching now is my second incisor on my right side, this one is very far back and needs to be pushed forward so I'm not surprised they're sore.
I'm definitely nervous about waking up tomorrow with an extra sore jaw and teeth. Unsure if I should take meds or ride it out.
In terms of visibility, it looks shiny more than anything as in its reflective. If I smile you can't definitely see my attachments. I haven't made contact with anyone yet so not sure if it is noticeable. Quite nervous if my colleagues at work will notice.
Overall so far, not too bad.
I enjoyed a night sloppy messy ice cream that I quickly bought from a van while walking back from work the day before, knowing fully that for the next 7 months or so I won't be so free and spontaneous with my ice cream intake.
My dentist first gave me the aligners without inserting any attachments (I have 12) for me to try on.
It fit snug and tight but it wasn't uncomfortable at all.
I was able to insert my bottom and remove them pretty easily, but the top aligner was quite hard.
"Oh, it's not that bad" - Me
"Haha, that's because I haven't added the attachments yet" - Dentist
Next came the most uncomfortable 30mins of my journey!
My dentist began to attach my attachments, first by putting into my mouth this massive lip pulling back beast, so he could have more control of my teeth and not have my lips in the way.
Mind you my lips and mouth is quite small so the stretch of pulling my lips back was bordering on unbearable.
He began by cleaning my teeth, then put my aligners in and bought this zapping machine that zapped the aligner on the raised attachment parts. Since I had aligner in my back teeth/molars the pull to get the zapper right at the back was really taking a toll on my lips!!
He then took them out my aligners and the attachments were on my teeth.
*phew glad that's over, now I can get this beast off of my lips*
"Okay so now I'm going to have to file in between your teeth to make space for the movement, this will feel and sound uncomfortable" - dentist
Great, not only was the lips pulling back monster still clinging on to my mouth but now I have to get my teeth filed??!!!
My dentist was brought out what looked exactly like a small nail file and filed in between my teeth, shrud shrud shrud it sounded more uncomfortable than it felt!
He then bought a small machine with a wheel at the end that was going to make more space in between my teeth, this sounded worse! It sounded like those machines that cut steel, and it lasted for a good 10-15 mins.
Now, I'm quite good at handling uncomfort and pain during medical procedures, but this sounded so awful and felt so uncomfortable, didn't hurt, but was extremely uncomfortable that I wished my dentist gave me earplugs instead of numbing cream!
But that was soon over and the lip pulling back monster was off.
I then tried my aligners back on and this time it felt a lot more snug and tight, it was also quite hard to put on and take off - again just my top aligners, bottom one was a breeze.
It's not been about 1.5 hours and I've had my first meal, my lisp isn't as bad as it thought. No where near as bad as my lisp when I had retainers as a child, those one had a section that sat at the ceiling of your mouth too, so no wonder I sounded and felt uncomfortable.
My jaw is mostly sore, I can't shut my teeth properly, as in the most I can bite down still leaves a bit of space so the back of my jaw are starting to feel sore.
My teeth are actually feeling fine, no uncomfortable rubbing on my gums or tongue - feels very smooth on my tongue and I'm surprised at how thin the aligners are! Only tooth that is slightly aching now is my second incisor on my right side, this one is very far back and needs to be pushed forward so I'm not surprised they're sore.
I'm definitely nervous about waking up tomorrow with an extra sore jaw and teeth. Unsure if I should take meds or ride it out.
In terms of visibility, it looks shiny more than anything as in its reflective. If I smile you can't definitely see my attachments. I haven't made contact with anyone yet so not sure if it is noticeable. Quite nervous if my colleagues at work will notice.
Overall so far, not too bad.
Replies (0)
UPDATED FROM mysongbookteeth
Day of treatment
1st Tray pics
mysongbookteethJuly 21, 2016
Pictures with my first day in my 1st tray.
When I'm smiling you can definitely notice the attachments, especially on my canines.
Hoping in person, without a focussed zoomed in picture, it won't be too obvious on the eye.
Let me know what you think :)
When I'm smiling you can definitely notice the attachments, especially on my canines.
Hoping in person, without a focussed zoomed in picture, it won't be too obvious on the eye.
Let me know what you think :)
Replies (5)
September 8, 2016
How are you feeling now?
September 8, 2016
I'm feeling a lot less self conscious, but I still cannot get to 22 hours which is really bothering me. I can't imagine people taking only 2 hours a day to enjoy their meals! Apart from that it's fine so far :)
September 8, 2016
That's awesome! How long have you had them on for now? Have you noticed much of a difference?
September 8, 2016
I'm on my 2nd week of Tray 4, so that's roughly 7 weeks now. Time flies. I haven't actually noticed that much of a difference at all but my family day they can. I think a tiny tiny bit on 1 or two teeth but nothing major yet. I think I'm expected to have more impacts after my half way point. What about you?
Congratulations on taking this step for yourself. We wish you all the best with this treatment, and hope that you'll keep us posted on your results. We'll look forward to your updates!