Moan, moan and moan a little bit more...

As I have had my Invisalign in for a couple of days now I feel that I have exceeded the average woman's moaning capabilities. I have infact talked so much about them and moaned about them to my boyfriend I think he's unsure if its me or him that's wearing them now.

Alls I seem to do all day is suck my aligners and I'm afraid I'm going to either break them or loosen them (if that's possible). Sometimes I try and bite them as if I'm trying to get some relief, but obviously my teeth can not touch as there is two sheets of plastic blocking them from doing so, even more frustrating.

One plus side, my fingers slowly crept to my mouth and I went to begin the disgusting the habit of biting my nails... wait a minute... I can't get a firm grip? What's going on? I can't bite them? Why is this? What's going on... Ow, I see, you again. Stopping me doing what I want. Invisalign.

Well don't get me wrong it's a good thing that I don't bite my nails because its just a foul habit and now I have no choice but to stop. My dentist is extremely against this anyway, as he says to me with a stern look in his eye "Shona your teeth are not tools". He first said this to me when he noticed the chip in my front tooth, asked me how I had got it and I simply replied, not sure it just appeared one day. He said, Do you put hair grips in your mouth? Do bite pens? Do you open bottles with you mouth? The answer was yes to them all, I'm doing my hair I place a hair grip in my mouth why I fondle bits in to place. If I'm nervous at university or trying to figure something out I put the top of my pen in my mouth. I often had to replace my pens not because they had ran out but because i'd virtually nearly eaten all of the pen (not literally eaten it but chewed it till it wasn't usable). When he said open bottles with your teeth, i'm not sure if he meant like a plastic bottle of coke because I constantly use my teeth as I never seem to have enough grip to open them or whether he meant glass bottles like beer, if he meant the second one certainly not, think i'd have more than one chipped tooth with that!

Tips when wearing Invisalign

I will add to this as the weeks go by...

1) One thing that I noticed when browsing other blogs people weren't keeping them in for the full 22 hours, some even slipped by taking them out for more 4 hours. Why spend all that money if you aren't going to keep to it guys? Tip: Take your aligners out when you are about to eat, not when you are making that sandwich, I mean the sandwich is infront of you, then take them out. If you are dining out, go to the toilet to take them out when your food is coming to the table, you could be saving yourself up to 30 minutes a day! As well as taking them out at the right time, but them in at the right time. Yes, I know it feel heavenly when you take them off, but think of the money and your end result! Don't sit and watch the end of your programme or sit there talking to someone when your not eating (If your not eating, they should be in your mouth!!), have the will power to get up, brush your teeth and stick them back in. Then you are free to do what you want!

2) Buy a stop clock (Yes I know it sounds nerdy)... but it helps loads, most phones have them built in anyway, but record how long you are taking them out for the entire day. It might be massive wake up call that you are keeping them out of your mouth for too long.

3) Try not to snack as much, it will cause a lot of inconvenience. Plan on what you want to consume and cram it all into your 3 meals. You never know invisalign may even improve your diet!

4) Most people own a camera, whether it be a digital one or simply on their phone, take a picture of your teeth every time you change your aligners, then when you get to the stages aligners 10, 15, 20, etc start going through your picture preferably back to back so you can see the difference. This will give you faith and make you feel so much better when you can see it working.

Slobbering/ Annoying my boyfriend

Ok, I remember my dentist saying some people have noticed they have gathered a lot of saliva in their mouth when wearing the aligners, well yes I did it wasn’t a problem at all but I didn’t really know how much I was until I took those picture of my teeth and you can see the slobber running down my mouth there was that much storing itself in my mouth!  It is not a problem though day to day, I do not walk around drooling all day, honest.

Another thing I thought of, you know when you chew chewing gum when you have not had anything to eat. You get severe bellyache because more saliva is being produced and it is sending the message to your stomach your about to eat so its start boiling up the acid giving you belly ache? Well that’s something I get, not sure if everyone else has ever suffered from it but I experienced exactly the same thing this morning, severe belly ache it may be coincidence and I may have stomach ulcer and not know about it but just thought I’d mention it as I was fine as soon as I had eaten something.

A habit I have developed in the past couple of days is sucking my aligners much to my boyfriend’s disgust. We were lying in bed in silence trying to get to sleep and he turned over and said, “All I can hear is you sucking your aligners and swallowing!” I simply said, “I can’t help it sorry!” I believe the sucking and swallowing has replaced something much worse. Normally my boyfriend will wake me up in the middle of the night with a gentle shove following by “Shona, stop grinding your teeth”, I seem to do this quite viciously as my whole jaw will ache in the morning, now with the aligners in its quite hard to get my teeth together, so I’ll take slobbing and sucking over grinding teeth anyway, they can have break for the next year and half.

Meal time / Snacking

One thing I have noticed is that I have never looked forward to meal times, now I can’t wait! I find myself planning what I am going to eat. I think its psychological because I normally don’t have set meal times, I just help myself when I am hungry. Now hours before I find myself planning what I want to eat, cramming all my snacks in that I want to consume throughout the day. When I went to the dentist to get my first invisalign tray, I seen what I believe is the hygienist. When she went over invisalign, again she said about snacking that she does recommend fruits instead of crisps etc as it makes a hard job of cleaning your teeth and just causes major inconvenience especially if you are out and about.

Tip: Wanting to snack, try soft fruits such as grapes and bananas (I’m saying these fruits as I’ve heard, it may be a myth who knows! That you aren’t actually meant to brush your teeth for something like 30 minutes after you eat and apple or orange because of the acid levels? So I’m just going to find out more information because I don’t want my pre-straight whites corroding before I’ve even got them straight)

When I was reading blogs before I got my invisalign alot of people stated “It was the best diet I have tried”, and I can see why your snacking habits will drop drastically because after a couple of days (for me 8 hours), it got incredibly boring flossing, brushing, mouth washing after single biscuit or crisp I took a nibble on! Now I have my 3 set meals a day, and in-between I’m fantasying what I’m going to eat and snack on when I take my trays out, this may wear off as I’ve only had them in for a few days, who knows. I discussed this with the hygienist when I got the trays that loads of people on the internet said they lost weight because it cut out snacking, she said yes, this is very true, and then looked at me very firmly like a concerned mother and said, “But you don’t need to lose weight!”

So soon the media will be advertising Invisalign as a new diet, so watch out!

First day with Invisalign / Pictures with Invisalign in

Ok, even though I am the biggest girly girl ever, I cannot stand fake nails, fake eyelashes, not because I don’t like the look of them, I love them. But when they are on my hands or my eye lashes I’m clawing at them within minutes trying to get them off, I just hate the feel of them. Having these aligners in my mouth is exactly the same feeling! They were tight when I put them on, no pain but within an hour, my teeth were throbbing and I was in immense pain. I took many painkillers but I didn’t feel like they worked. They were very painful, I could not wait for mealtime to get them off, and well that was something else all together....

Only eat soft foods when you first start wearing your invisalign

I thought I would just have some soup and every single time my teeth gently touched, it felt like I was bashing them together. I heard this is the same sensation when people are wearing bracing and they get them tightened.

At the minute it feels like I have a plastic ruler taped to my mouth, I hope I get used to these because there awful. The top aligners aren’t really bothering me I have sort of forgot about them already, the bottom are really annoying me!

One thing that did make my day, as I went to meet my boyfriend from work I walked in and he said "Have you got your braces in?" (He just calls my invisalign, braces). I said "Yes, I've got them in". His friend then said "You have braces in? Let me see!", I then gave him a little smile, he then following with "I can't see them? Have you got them ones at the back of your teeth?" It did make my day that he couldn't see them!

Here are some pictures of what I look like with the invisalign in. The bumps are were my attachments will go, I am getting these next week. If you want to see the picture on a larger scale simply give it a click and it will enlarge itself.

Collecting my trays

Collecting my trays today, I have been waiting for this moment every since I read about invisalign on the internet. To tell you exactly how excited I was, the day previous I went sky diving, I was far more excited and nervous about picking my trays up then I was jumping out the plane! (How did the sky dive go? Very well thank you I raised a lot of money of charity, amazing feeling, do it if you ever have a chance, ok back to invisalign, sorry). I walked in the dentist very nervous and excited, walked up to reception and sat chatting to the lady at reception as they are all lovely who work at the dentist.

A few minutes later, who I believe to be my hygienist (apologise if I have understated you) called me in and asked me to sit down in the big dentist chair. Normally I really take great pride in appearance; make up has to be perfection, with my hair primed along with trying to keep up with the latest trends in fashion, although today I had to be up extremely early to travel to the dentist as I was stopping elsewhere the night before. This meant I had no makeup on, and quickly tied my hair up and minimal effort had been made with my clothes, as I was rather tired. To make me feel even better about myself my hygienist (who I am now going to call Sandra), asked me if I was feeling ok. I instantly knew she was referring to my washed out face as everybody tells me how tired I look and poorly when I do not wear “my face”. I assured her I felt fine.

She then went and fetched my tray and my goodie bag! (Yes, you heard me right! GOODIE bag, not sure, if everyone receives it that is on the invisalign programme or just at my dentist but I was extremely happy with the little gifts, made all the money I just paid for Invisalign worth it for those few seconds).  Sandra then said, if you are feeling sick (again, referring to my appalling appearance) you can try them now and wear them later when you are feeling better? I then nicely said thanks, but I just do not have make up on and I look very different, but honestly, I am feeling fine. I am not sure who was more embarrassed; to be honest I think it was I.

She then got my trays out of a little plastic sealed back and I felt it was Christmas all over again when I received my orange CD player with my first CD (Anyone wondering it was Cher – Believe). She then got out some tissue and said I will explain everything all over again and we will practice taking them in and out.

She then went over the little book that invisalign sends with your trays giving you some tips, how to insert them, how to remove them, how to care for them and how to store them and some commonly asked questions. Sandra had invisalign before me and she has finished her treatment so she was able to answer the question on a rather personal level, which helped loads. Finally, I was putting them in! I put the bottom ones in first gently pushing them on to my teeth, they rather snapped on, they felt rather tight (again, I am glad they did makes you think their working) and then I put the top ones in, Walaaa! She gave me a mirror and told me to have a look, and yes, they were invisible, apart from the couple of bumps I had on my two canines, (these are called attachments). The attachments help keep it tight and get good strong hold on your teeth.)

I was so happy I finally had them.  She then said “Can you take them off for me?” and then carried on to say “We have had people that have got home and then have rang in crying and sobbing because they just can’t get them off!” Again, I have read this all over internet, people first get their aligners and have not developed their own personal technique yet within the first couple of days. Ok, honestly I’m not bragging and may be eating words in a week’s time when I get my attachments but I was a pro from the off. I got my short stubbing nails right into the back of my mouth (It was an attractive technique it got the job done though) and peeling them off back to front, and then did the same with the bottom ones. Sandra was very happy and said, “You’re a natural!”

She then went through my little goodie bag with me, I got my little invisalign start pack this included two cases, one to keep the current ones in my mouth in so I can keep them clean and store them safety, another one to keep my last aligners in (in case I lose my current ones, break them etc). I also got some Colgate mouthwash, some travel Oral B toothpaste, a travel toothbrush, 6 Interdental brushes (If honest, I’ve not a clue about these sure there something to do with flossing). I have posted a picture with everything I got, I didn’t get the paracetamol and ibuprofen I thought I’d just be funny and add it in, jokes aside you will need them, believe me.

One thing Sandra said to me before I left, remember they are plastic this means they are flexible and quite strong as they have the ability to move your teeth although remember they are just plastic and can break easily.

Ok so I am leaving the dentist with my aligners in my mouth and my little pack, they felt tight but ok. Invisalign has started! My next post will be how I got on my first day!

Note to self: Don’t leave the house without your face on, check how to interdental brushes (and the sizes)

ClinCheck Appointment

This was the big one, the decider! I walked into my dentist beaming; I had been waiting for this appointment for weeks! I checked in and waiting for my dentist, although Mr Smith did not greet me, Sandra did, we went into a room I had not been in before a room with chairs and a computer with a rather large screen. She then loaded the computer up and uploaded my file. She then played back my ClinCheck. It was amazing, watching how my teeth were going to move over the period I had my Invisalign in. The computer told me I would only need 25 trays.

You keep each tray in for two weeks

You keep each tray in your mouth for 22 hours a day

You can only drink water, anything other food or drink, take your aligners out then brush your teeth, floss, and mouthwash before you put them back in

My dentist then appeared in the room greeting me; he said, “You look very pleased! I said, “Yes I am, do you think they will really be the end results. He then replied, “I think they will be results up to aligner 20, I then believe your canine that is causing you these problems will then refuse to move any further, we will then go into case refinement were for 6 months or so I will tackle that single tooth on its own after that I will shape your teeth which I feel will make the biggest difference”  

I was still very happy with what could be the possible end results, all my teeth were moving, even the ones I did not have a problem with. On the Clincheck there were tiny numbers on the back teeth four 0.5s, this meant I had to have slandering done; this is taking 0.5mm off each of the back teeth giving all of my teeth room to move around. I have not had it done yet but my dentist assures me that it does not hurt. Therefore, we will have to wait and see.

At the end of the consultation I had to sign an Invisalign contract, all of the negatives that came with Invisalign came with all kinds of teeth movement such as braces, traditional, ceramic, lingual, etc apart from one.

If you do not wear the aligners, it will not work. Simple. You lose some aligners -£100 per tray

You leave them out for a couple of days and your aligners no longer fit -£500 to start again (Maybe even be more charges)

Others dentist may charge different prices, but they will all be around the same. Moreover, when I say other negatives that all teeth movement methods have is like loss of teeth, jaw surgery etc. It is very rare it can happen, but they have to make aware of the risks.

Either way, I was very happy with what I had seen, I just wanted to get started! He said that it would take 3 weeks to get the aligners delivered and I just need to make another appointment, pay my deposit and I can set up a payment plan (Interest free over 15 months). Again, the payment plan it’s all up to your dentist and what they offer.

I haven't got my clincheck video but next time I am at the dentist I will try and get it so I can link it to youtube! Here are some ClinCheck examples.

 THESE ARE NOT MY TEETH!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2SK8FhCsCw

Next blog post, getting my trays!

Consultation

I arrived at the dentist, which I was so excited about; I was taken to the x-ray room for a quick x-ray (no pain or anything). My teeth were then examined a lot of dentist talk was going on numbers and the alphabet being thrown around. He then took two impressions of my top and then two impressions of my bottom, was very watery gel that he pressed firmly and it was over in seconds. The second lot of impression weren’t as pleasant, he had to hold them firmly in my mouth for a number of minutes, I need to swallow a lot I was able to as he was firmly pressing down on them so they didn’t move, although near the end when he took them out it did make me gag. No pain or anything just uncomfortable and unpleasant.

Afterwards my  x-ray was put on the screen, and all of the dentist gasped in the room and starting discussing how large my teeth were (I think they were referring to my roots) another dentist added they hadn’t seen teeth that big. Not sure if this is or good bad, but I have found out I have big roots, I also seen my wisdom teeth that haven’t come through was very strange seeing them hidden at the top!

This video demonstrates how the impressions are taken!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrUIcoKgReE&feature=player_embedded

Next appointment is the clincheck appointment!

First Consultation (Free)

My dentist is the most straight talking person I have ever been to. When I visited him, I was kind of expecting him to go “Of course it will work your teeth with look fabulous, like a movie star”, but no, he was extremely straight with me. He explained to me, that the tooth that is causing me so much problem has a massive root and he can see this and its massive job even for braces. He said that it (Invisalign) would visually do the same job as braces although braces would change the root direction and does this bother me? I said but I can’t see the root though, why does it matter? He then said, “It matters to me, and to be it wouldn’t be perfect, it’s what you want, I don’t want you to be disappointed with the end result”.  He then explained what he believed the end result would be and I was still very happy with the end results and as part of my treatment and no extra cost he would shape my teeth and he said personally it would make the biggest difference as some of my teeth are so pointy. I had picked a winner, I was very glad with his honesty.

He had quoted my treatment would take around 15-18 months and it would cost me £3,000. It knew it would take this long with any kind of treatment and would cost just as much as a previous dentist had told me this she was very good as well but she did not do invisalign hence why I never went with her.

He told me that if I wanted to go through with a proper consultation it would cost me £275, although if I decided after the proper consultation if wanted to go through with it the £275 I paid would go off the whole treatment. In the consultation, I would have x-rays and they would take moulds of my teeth, send them all the way over to America and then when I next visit I would see my ClinCheck, this is a digital image/video that shows you step by step what your teeth will look like till the end of your treatment and seeing a possible happy end result.

I was hooked and booked my next appointment as soon as I got out of the dentist chair. As I left the dentist assistant walked with me and she said the ClinCheck is amazing! This made me very happy leaving the dentist waiting for my next appointment.

Choosing your practitioner

Ok, you have sold it me, I want Invisalign!

After looking on the internet I want invisalign, I have made my mind up! The only thing that I am worried about is will I be suitable. In addition, whom do I go to get my invisalign? Off on to the invisalign website I went to find a dentist and a list came up with dentist that were situated near me or a couple of miles away. Picked the first one, and gave him an email.

Ok, hold up. Looking back, that could have been extremely stupid. Luckily, it was not I would not trade my dentist at all, he is brilliant. Do not go with the first person that you find, I would recommend getting quotes from a number of dentists. You want someone that is experienced; you are paying a hell of a lot of money at you don't want to get landed with someone that’s only just had their training and your their second patient. Experience means so much; it will affect your journey and end results massively. You want to get different quotes on prices, don't get me wrong if you go to someone that has had fantastic results and are charging that bit more its definitely worth it. Your teeth are in there white gloves.

I am not saying if you go with someone new, they will not have the foggiest but it is the same with everything practice makes perfect! I read one blog earlier one person did not know that he had to wear a retainer at night for the next year and he had nearly finished his treatment, he was devastated! He was his dentist second patient. Ask your dentist to see before and after pictures of patients that he has treated.

So my dentist

He is a platinum invisalign practitioner and he teaches invisalign training to other dentist. Along with teaching dentistry to other students and university and being head and director of many companies and groups. When I emailed my dentist he sent me an album of pictures of all the people's teeth that he worked on with Invisalign with Before and After shots. It was amazing, I can't post them on here because copyright and privacy for those patients.

When I first emailed him (I got the email address from the Invisalign website) he emailed me back promptly. These are the emails exchanged:

Mr Smith

Hello Shona,

Thanis for your enquiry.

I know what you mean by 'vampire' teeth. I have used Invisalign in these situations when it's not too severe. Sometimes, when it's more severe, we also use a small metal brace for a very short period followed by Invisalign. Obviously, everyone's situation is different, so it's difficult for me to give you a definite answer at this stage.

Probably the best way to find out if we can help you is to come in for a free short consultation. I'll also be able to give you a guide on likely costs and timescale at that visit.

If you would like to take advantage of this, please give Dina or Tina a call on 01121234567 and they'll be pleased to arrange a visit and send you some more information.

I'll also send you a link to a web album showing a few of our many completed cases.

I hope to see you soon!

Kind regards

Dr Smith

Platinum Invisalign Doctor

Me (Shona)

Hello,
My name is Shona, and I am 19. I'm not sure of the dental term but I have "vampire teeth", the two Caine teeth are very raised, the rest of my teeth are fine. Would I be able to use invisalign or would you recommend something else? Unfortunately my appearance does mean a lot and metal braces would make me very conscious. How much would it cost for a consultation?

Thanks, Shona

After receiving the email I instantly booked an appointment, as far as I know all dentist to a free short consultation with you on invisalign, so go to as many as you please!

Next post is my free consultation   

Choosing, Invisalign or braces

Ok, like many of you reading this blog, I am now searching the internet for the best method to teach this fang a lesson. Here were my options everything has is pros and cons, EVERYTHING has cons.  This is what I found my options were:

Traditional Braces

Ceramic Braces

Invisalign

I know there are many more options but these were the only ones I could choose for my problem and financially.

I feel that the main thing that influences everyone is the appearance of braces. Ceramic braces are clear and are far less noticeable than traditional braces.

I got this picture off the internet, it is a lady called Lora she was unable to have invisalign due to how her teeth were and only option was having braces. You can see to what I believe to be ceramic braces and the normaly braces a the bottom (I think). You can see that the bottom is far more notice than the top. It is a great comparison, if you don't want to have invisalign or simply can't and it looks like you are going to have braces, check her blog out.

http://www.public.iastate.edu/~lora/braces_decision.html

Now pictures of invisalign which is supposed to be invisible

All looks very appealing doesn’t it! After searching the internet, I have found a list of pros and cons, so let us compare it! Table was retrieved from the Invisalign UK website. http://www.invisalign.co.uk/ 

		Invisalign		Fixed Braces
How does it work?		Invisalign uses a series of clear removable aligners to straighten your teeth without wires or brackets.		Fixed braces use wires and brackets to move your teeth into straighter alignment.
Nearly invisible.				No. Most fixed braces are noticeable.
Removable during treatment.				No. You cannot remove fixed braces until treatment is completed.
Treatment doesn't involve metal that can irritate teeth and gums.				No. The metal wires and brackets used can cause mouth irritation.
Allows you to brush and floss normally during treatment.				No. Fixed metal braces hinder the ability to reach the entire tooth/gum area when flossing.
Provides a clear defined and virtual treatment plan from the start to the completion of treatment.				Although your dental practitioner has a clear defined treatment plan, you will not be able to see what your teeth may look like during and after treatment.

My Teeth (Pictures)

Many people cannot understand why I am getting Invisalign, and I cannot understand why they think that personally. My canines are foul especially one of them sticking right out and the point on it would put a vampires to shame.  They have always bothered me, but vanity as a kid I refused to get braces I would have had to pay from the off as It would of only been cosmetic. My parents would of happily of paid for them but again I refused. A thing about my parents I got the raw end of the deal, my mother has movie star teeth, straight and white, many people asking if she veneers or has ever had braces and my brother inherited her teeth. As my father’s teeth are the same as mine, literally and I know, he has exactly the same insecurities as I do. When we both smile, we keep our lips tight together and will rarely smile in photos.  Although at my father’s wedding the photographer seemed to have quite fascination of taking photos of me as when the photos came through there was a couple of my brother and so many photos of me, it was ridiculous! Even though most of them were ok, the evil photographer had caught me off guard with one photo. My mouth open and I was smiling, revealing all of my teeth and he had captured the side that revealed ‘my fang’. I was mortified, even more so when my mother actually brought the photo and framed it, celebrating I was smiling with mouth open.

From that point, I was on mission to change my teeth, I knew they looked bad, but seriously that bad? At this point, I had not even heard of invisalign, I was just considering getting clear braces (the ceramic ones). I have taken some pictures of my teeth, by the way the medieval device I have used to keep my mouth open I have got because months ago I got my teeth whitened and that is what she used  to keep my mouth open and she said I could have it as I brought the home kit as well. Just felt I had to explain that, I am not some weirdo with a teeth fetish!

Note to self: When I get hold of the photo that made me get braces/Invisalign (which I have stored in a place that no one can see it), I will scan it and show you the picture and my fellow insecure people will feel my pain.

Hello, I'm Shona.

My blog
As many have done before I have started my Invisalign journey and again like many others I have decided to start blogging it. I will generally blog about my experience with Invisalign post regularly pictures of my progress, how I'm feeling about it etc. How I am going to make my blog different from everyone else's is featuring the information that I wanted to know before I started the treatment that nobody else spoke about.

About me and my lifestyle
Hello! My name is Shona, I'm a woman and 19 years of age. I am currently a student at university studying Business and IT. I also have a part time job at fast food restaurant as well, I have a busy lifestyle every single day is accounting for. I am total adrenaline junkie and love keeping fit with taking long walks with black lab, Lucy! Although my diet isn't as strict as I would like it to be! I used to eat alot of chocolate but this has recently came to an end as it has started making me very poorly so I stopped eating it. Often go out for meals and always socializing with friends, my lifestyle is very active. I do not smoke nor drink any coffee, I say I have a couple cups of tea a week and thats about it! I don't drink much fizzy pop as in my house we do not buy it and only ever have it when i'm out the house. I do not drink that much alcohol although when I do go out say clubbing, I do tend to binge which I know is wrong!

Other things?Another thing that I will be posting on here is reviews of products. These include mouthwashes, toothpaste and floss (The odd toothbrush was also). At the end of my journey I want the teeth that I have always dreamed off with the help of invisalign and high street products.

Any questions? Please comment, I will get back to straight away. A big heads up also I am currently situated in the United Kingdom!