45 Y/o Who Wants to Be Able to SMILE! :-D (UK)

So here goes! I'm just back from the first official stage of my Invisalign journey! I've had my teeth and face photographed from every angle (excruciating for someone who never shows her teeth!) and had impressions taken. Now the wait for the Clincheck so we can approve my treatment plan.

As it says in the title, I'm a 45 year old living in the UK and I'm both shocked at the financial outlay of paying this all at once, and excited at the thought of finally having a smile I can be pleased with. I'm getting married next March and that's what gave me the final nudge - I really wish I'd done it before now but better late than never. And my treatment plan will be designed so that my teeth are as good as they can be for my wedding day, with any attachments removed just before the big day so that my wedding photos aren't too horrendous.

My dentist reckons I'll need a minimum of 26 trays - probably way more. That's ok, whatever's needed. I just can't wait to start now that I've committed to it all. He's on holiday in a couple of weeks so we're really hoping the Clincheck comes through before he goes away, so that we can approve and then maybe the trays will be here soon after he gets back.

Anyway, like the rest of you on here, I thought keeping an online journal of my treatment and progress will help to keep me motivated to do everything By The Book, so thanks to anyone who's reading and I'll keep you posted!

Oh, and here are some photos I took just now - eek horrendous! I have to say that I'd be happy to end up like many of the 'before' photos I've seen on here! Still, I guess at least I have lots of room for improvement :-D (any tips on how to take good photos? I can't help looking like I'm grimacing in them all!).

I had a hunch today that my clincheck was going to arrive - I had my impressions done a week ago. So I decided to head back and work from home this afternoon 'just in case'. I was about 2/3 of the cycle home, when the dentist called to say my clincheck was in and could I pop in this afternoon to have a look! Spooky :-)

My dentist's surgery is literally across the road from my house (handy for the frequent visits I'll no doubt have to make!) so I popped in on my way back. He's going on holiday on Tuesday so we were both keen to get a treatment plan approved before he goes, so that the aligners will be here when he gets back. He's also very aware of the fact that I'm getting married in 9.5 months time and really want my smile to be as good as it can be by then - so the sooner I start, the better it will be by my Big Day!

I'll upload some screen grabs of my clincheck. I'm really happy with the treatment plan - I was psyched up for 40+ trays but this initial treatment is 20 trays for the top and 24 for the bottom. Amazing! So I'll probably be one tray away from completing by my wedding day! Hmmm...I'll have to talk to him about the possibility of sneakily doing a few '13 day switchovers' in the hope that I can do all 20 by 18th March. Anyway, the end result won't be technically perfect - I will still have an overbite - but it will be much less than at present, and a 'straight' one, rather than bucked one! I have a feeling that if I was in the States, under an Orthodontist, they would probably go for the 100% fix. But here in the UK we're famously not as perfect about our teeth, and my dentist knew I wanted to balance out perfection with looking As Good As Possible for my wedding day. He's already talking about further refinements, so I'm sure my journey will be longer than the 24 trays, but I'm in this for the long haul! If I wanted my overbite completely fixed, he said I'd be looking at over 2 years worth of initial treatment.

One thing I'm really pleased about is that I won't have any attachments on my front teeth! I'm gobsmacked about that, but really happy. Instead though, I will have a power ridge on my top right tooth. I've read about a few people on here having them and I know they bring their own drawbacks (lip getting caught when smiling etc!) but I'm hoping at least it won't look as noticeable as an attachment??

So he clicked the 'approve' button and I could see my order had moved into pre-production - exciting! He's on holiday now until 16th June, so assuming they've arrived by then he said he'll get me in that day for a quick fitting. My first tray is a passive one to get me used to it, and then we'll book an appointment for two weeks later to get attachments on - 8 on bottom and 6 on top. This timing is really good as I'm delivering a presentation at an international conference in London on the 14th (eek trying not to think about it *stagefright*) and wouldn't want to be lisping my way through it haha! And I go to Spain on the 23rd, so should have got used to them by then?? And then 3 days after I get back from Spain, I get my attachments and tray 2. Sorted!

I do have a weekend in London two days after my first tray goes in - as it's a passive tray, do you think it should be a fairly easy/no pain one? Due to the wedding thing I don't really want to wait until I'm back before I put it in. I think I'll grin and bear it anyway - I have a very high pain threshold, and I'm sure lots of vodka (drunk quickly so tray isn't out too long!) will help numb the pain haha!

God look how much I've written! Sorry - I work in communications, I talk for a living!! Just one more thing - eek it really hurt having to pay all of that money in one go after today's appointment! The receptionist laughed as she'd never seen anyone pay a bill that big before! (she's quite new). Ah well, let's hope it's worth it - and I'm looking at it from the point of view that I'll get a lifetime's worth of value from having nicer teeth :-)

I'm obsessed with checking my Clincheck!! Is that normal?! I think I need my fiancé to block the link so I can't keep looking haha!! While I'm here, I've seen so many different views about best cleaning products and toothpastes etc. What are the current best practice tips? I'm planning to stock up this week while I'm waiting for tray 1 to arrive :-) I've read the various posts on the forum here, just curious to hear from those of you who are a few weeks into your Invisalign adventure :-)