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)

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.

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!