Cracked tray - ooops! Well it is 4 weeks old...

Yep, I phoned the clinic and spoke to one of the super helpful receptionists/assistants and here's what I've learned:

1.   I'm still wearing Tray 1!  NOT cool.  Why?  They give you tray 1 to wear for the first two weeks without attachments (I was unlucky that they didn't have an appointment suitable so three weeks for me) to get you used to them.  Then they add attachments and give you back the same tray, Tray 1.  So I shall be wearing T1 for a total of 5 weeks - marvelous.  (Bit disappointed that this wasn't explained to me.)

2.   The reason for the trays being one of 25 rather than 22 - Invisalign send an extra few trays just in case there's an issue with a tooth or two not moving exactly as had hoped and the ortho decides to use them!  PHEW!  So if everything goes well, I shall still finish at 22.  Fingers crossed on that!

Attachments & Cracked Tray (Ooops again!)

Attachments:
Very odd first few days with attachments - eating felt and still feels bizarre!  My back teeth don't join together (although it's getting better) so I'm not able to chew my food so well.  I was nervous about breaking the attachments but apart from being as careful as possible, there's not really much I can do about that so I've decided to stop worrying so much. 

Even though I'm still on Tray 1, the difference the attachments make is unreal.  The aligner was so tight for the first 3 days which is actually a really good feeling as it shows that they're working!  What wasn't so great was how sensitive they became.  Eating hurt a few of the attachment teeth - not toothache pain as such, a more sensitive pain I suppose.  I would guess the cause is again because of movement, but ouch nonetheless!  All much better now though.

Today, it seems that all the movement is done for this tray.  Happily, I'm at the point where I don't even notice I'm wearing the aligner anymore which, given how I was feeling in my first post, is somewhat of a victory! (",)


Cracked tray:
So, I've got a 'difficult' tooth.  It lies lower in the gum and further out than any of my other bottom teeth.  Difficult enough on its own, it's also one of my attachment teeth and as a result, it makes taking my tray out a little tricky.  Pic below:

Apologies for poor quality pic - need to sort camera out!

So on Thursday, a mere two days after visiting the orthodontist, I notice a crack.  I don't know when it happened but I'd imagine it was when I was taking the tray out some time that day.  The crack lies on the tooth rather than between teeth - I've yet to figure out whether that's a positive or negative. 

I phoned the clinic and asked if I need to do anything.  I was asked how big the crack was (I said small, I think) and she asked was the tray loose as a result (which it wasn't).  She said if it's still tight, then it's fine.  It was definitely still tight so phew to that!  Today I still wouldn't call it loose so I would guess, unless it breaks completely, it should be ok for the next 10 days.  Some (poor) pics of the crack below:

Apologies again for poor quality - tray may look orange but I assure you it's not!

Cleaning (again)!
So, I got some Retainer Brite and I used it for the first time today.  It's AWESOME!  Leaves the aligner lovely and clean and shiny and nice and new and bacteria free!  It's £5.80 for a months supply on Amazon for those of you in the UK.  Well worth it. 

I think that's all from me for now!  I'll be posting on how I'm coping from a social perspective in the next few days.  Until then, congrats to Azerbaijan on their Eurovision win and I sigh with relief that Jedward didn't leave Ireland at the bottom of the table (yep, I'm Irish)!  Well done to Blue too!

Got Lower Attachments!

Got my four lower attachments today along with the next 7 trays (annoyingly labelled 1-7 - will come back to that later) and I'm surprised to find that the new tray is a lot more comfortable than I thought it would be!  (Yay!)  And, they're not half as noticeable as I thought they would be either!  (Whoop!)

First pic below:

Two left, two right - barely noticeable, phew! 

Camera wasn't really playing ball today so I'll post some more side pics and pics with aligner in later this week.

What I'm noticing so far:

- the aligner doesn't seem to fit as snugly as I'd hoped with a noticeable gap between the tips of my teeth and tips of the aligner.  I grind my teeth at night so I'm hoping this might help settle it a bit (hopefully without breaking the attachments).

- I can no longer bite my back teeth together with or without the aligner!  This is a very strange and surreal feeling, especially when eating.  I think it's going to take a while to get used to.  When you've been eating one way for your whole life, going to take time to adjust to another!

- It's tough to get the aligner off!!  Though thankfully, no nails have been broken so far.  

The next 7 trays:

I've received the next 7 trays as mentioned above and I've to return in 14 weeks to get the next set of trays along with the first set of my upper trays (and attachments).

I'm a little annoyed because this new tray is not only labelled number 1L but it's number 1L of 25 (I only noticed this when I got home).  So I'm left with two questions:

- What was the first tray I've been wearing for the last three weeks if it wasn't number 1?

- How has 22 trays turned into 25, which, if the tray I've been wearing for the last three weeks is included, actually makes 26?  44 weeks has now turned into 52.  This is NOT a happy face!  I think I'll be phoning the clinic tomorrow to find out.

I didn't see my orthodontist today.  Instead, a lady (I'm guessing she was an orthodontist) which I now refer to as Sal (scary attachment lady!) fitted my attachments.  

Although the attachment bit was fine, when it came to questions and general discussion, let's just say I didn't leave a particularly happy girl.  I even found myself asking the receptionist if she would please make sure I see my orthodontist next time.  I left feeling quite stupid and maybe even a little intimidated (not sure if that's the correct word) and I do not want a repeat of that!

I've ranted about my experience, including the questions I asked (re: compliance, cleaning and alcohol) and the answers I received from 'Sal', in the bracesreview.com Invisalign Forum here so, if you're curious, go check it out!  

Hope you're all doing well!  Tune in next time...  :o)

I find myself with a quite a few questions...

...for my orthodontist tomorrow.

Some of these being:

• If I average at 20/21 hours a day rather than 22, will that really hinder my progress?  
• If everything is going well and I find that after a few days my tray becomes loose/a bit too comfortable, could I move to the next tray after 10 days rather than wait two weeks?
• Cleaning:  Any particular issues using Steradent to clean my aligners?  (My orthodontist advised me just to clean with water.  I'm thinking that after a while little villages of bacteria must build up which isn't...ideal...so needed to try something and it seems to be working marvellously!  I'll be trying Retainer Brite soon (should I get the go-ahead) so will post on that next week.) 
• How often should I visit the dentist/hygienist during treatment?
• What happens if one of my attachments break off?  I'm not in a job where I can easily get time off so it might be a while before I can get it fixed.  What kind of an effect would this have on treatment time/movement?  
• Alcohol (I know, I know!):  People need to have a social life and in our society, it usually centres around alcohol...FACT!!  Anyhoo, I like a few beers on a night out every once in a while - maybe once every one to two weeks.  If, on a night out, I make sure I clean my teeth and the aligner say every hour, is this really going to be a problem?  (I asked my ortho about alcohol before and he advised against it as it's not good for the aligners but I'm going to ask again and get a greater explanation!) 

Those are just a few..!  There are some debates on various forums re: the right/wrong answers to some of these questions.  Tending to be a logical thinker (good with matters of the head but useless with those of the heart as they say!), I tend to have my own occasionally stubborn (!) opinions on things, but I do believe that when it comes to expert advice, it's probably best to at least try to go with it. Having said that, I doubt I'll be adhering to the only cleaning aligners with water advice unless there's a 'logical' reason to it!   (",)

This time tomorrow I expect I'll be a little uncomfortable with a new aligner combined with attachments, but hopefully a little lighter having had at least some of my questions answered with the answers I want to hear!!  (",)

Watch this space....!

Received my Clincheck!

I received my Clincheck - YAY!  I am so happy, mainly because if anything is going to give us Invisalign wearers motivation and encoragement to keep going, this is it!  

12 Days In

I'm so relieved that I've finally started to get used to the aligner and don't find myself thinking about it a million times a day anymore!  Until Thursday, I followed my orhto's instructions and only cleaned my aligners with water and a soft bristle brush  - a lovely pink kiddies one with a picture of a cute happy crocodile on it that always makes me smile!  (I'm such a kid!)  However, although they look clean and shiny, the started to smell just a little so having read tonnes of forums, I decided to give Steradent a try.  So far, it seems to be working fine but I've only been using it two days so I shall let you know the verdict at the end of three weeks wear!  When I'm out and about, I clean the aligner using a soft brush (blue one this time!) and a little bit of mouth wash just to freshen it up a bit.  Seems to be working well so far! 

Invisalign Forum

In case you haven't already discovered it, I would highly recommend an Invisalign Forum I found on bracesreview.com.  I'm finding it super helpful.  It's full of tips, stories of other peoples experiences and motivational words!  Go check it out if you haven't already!  

My ClinCheck

Back to my ClinCheck:  it looks like a LOT of movement so I expect to have a very uncomfortable first few days of each tray but it looks like it will all be worth it in the end!  I CAN'T WAIT!!!  

Next Tray & Attachments

I'm due to see my ortho on 10th May - just over a week away - where I will get the four attachments for my bottom teeth.  If I don't have anything to say beforehand, I shall post again around then!

Day 1 of my 11 month journey!

Met with my orthodontist yesterday to collect my first trays, yay!  Well, when I say 'trays' I was actually only given one tray for my bottom teeth as they require more work to straighten up than the top!  Was a surprisingly quick appointment, all done in about 5-10 mins.  I was shown how to put the aligner in and how to take it out (which I've realised can be quite tricky), told how to clean, asked a few questions and away I went..!  I've to go back in three weeks time to get my attachments (four on bottom, a few more than expected) and a few more trays.  

I'd like to say that they are invisible but this tray doesn't seem to fit so snugly at the moment and the attachment markings are quite visible without having the actual attachments.  However, I am sure that things will settle down soon and invisibleness will prevail!

Estimated Timeframe

Bottom teeth:  22 trays (44 weeks/11 months)

Top teeth:  14 trays (28 weeks - introduced at week 16)

Before I get into how I'm finding it so far, here's a couple of questions I asked and the answers I got: 

Cleaning

I've learnt quickly that different orthodontists seem to give different instructions when it comes to cleaning.  Mine has simply told me to rinse with cold water and never clean them with anything else!  He also said that I didn't need to brush my teeth after eating before putting the aligners back in and all I really needed to do was rinse my mouth whenever I got the chance.  However, because it just feels better, I have been brushing my teeth prior to putting my aligners back in anyway.  

Drinks

No hot drinks whatsoever which, considering I drink about 8 cups of green tea a day, I was pretty gutted about.  I asked why, and it's basically because hot drink can maim the aligner. Cold water only.  Everything else can either stain or get trapped between the aligner and tooth causing tooth decay. 

24 Hours In

I'm glad I waited until late evening to post as if this was earlier, I'd be struggling to come up with too many positives.  Although I slept fine last night, I would be lying if I said I didn't struggle a bit today - main issue (apart from trying to get used to a chunk of plastic in my mouth!), was the front (and back) of my tongue constantly scraping up against the edges of the aligner and generally feeling a little redundant in my mouth! The tightness takes a bit of getting used to but is a lot easier to cope with in comparison.  I've tried to keep them in as much as possible and have done well so far, only taking them out to eat and drink.  I want to get used to them sooner rather than later!!    

So what's changed between now and earlier I hear you ask?  Thanks to Google, I've discovered....orthodontic wax!!  YAY!!  Whoop!  Straight after work, I popped to Boots and got some of their 'expert orthodontic wax' which cost only £3.05!  Got home, put some on the scratchiest bits, and suddenly the world is a better place! One word for it - magic!  

I had tried to file the aligner down with a nail file last night and again today, but it didn't work so well and I'm not sure when too much is too much on the filing front.  

So, day 1 coming to a close and so far, though it hasn't been easy, I'm confident it will get easier!

Tune in next time...  

(",)

Trays have arrived!

Trays arrived this week - yay!  Have an appointment with the ortho on Monday afternoon!  Nervous and excited - no idea of just how much of a lifestyle change it's going to be.  Fingers crossed I'll be able to cope!

Welcome to my Invisalign blog!

Hey all!
First of all, I should let you all know that this is my first ever blog so forgive me if it's a little all over the place!

The reason behind it; to share my experiences with those of you who are thinking about getting Invisalign clear braces but also, with your help, to keep myself motivated as I expect it's going to be a very bumpy road!

A bit about me:
I'm 29, living in London, and for about 3 years I've been thinking about taking the plunge and signing up to Invisalign.  There are a number of factors as to why I've waited until now, those mainly being i) cost and ii) the time estimate my original dentist gave me was 18 months!

Never far from my mind, when I saw an exceptionally good 'on the day only' deal for Invisalign at a London clinic in February this year, I snapped it up without giving it a second thought!

And here I am!  My impressions were taken about 4 weeks ago and I hope to 'get the call' from the clinic telling me my trays are here in about 2-3 weeks time.  (They said 6-9 weeks but I've to decided to think positively on this one!)

My teeth:
Some pics of my teeth before the braces:

Top & Bottom Teeth - Pre-Invisalign

Bottom Teeth - Pre-Invisalign

Overbite - Pre-Invisalign

My orthodontist thinks it should take about 10 months to sort my bottom teeth out but only 5 months for my top teeth!  My main aim is to straighten my top teeth to lessen the overbite and re-align my bottom teeth, particularly the one growing further back into my mouth by the week (that's what it feels like)!  Right now, one of my top teeth catches in that bottom tooth which can drive me a little insane at times so I'm hoping that will fixed quite quickly!  I also grind my teeth in my sleep - looking forward to having the aligners to protect them!

So, that's the tooth-story pre-Invisalign!  I will post again as soon as I get my trays!

Any advise beforehand would be greatly appreciated!