Invisalign Tray 8: A Progress Update

Went to the dentist today to receive my 8th - 11th trays! I find it a bit tiring to travel an hour into London to just receive trays, but I guess it gives me a peace of mind to have my progress checked and get some reassurance from the dentist. Plus the thought of visiting a dentist kinda pushes me to wear the trays 20+ hours a day - I mean, would any grown up, responsible adults actually want to admit that they 'fail' to perform such a simple task to a dentist?!

Anyway, just a quick update. Everything is looking good. My dentist showed me how my teeth have moved on the screen- just to keep me motivated. Without looking at the screen, I have already noticed the difference in my lower teeth myself! I see it in the mirror everyday when I brush my teeth... and indeed, it keeps me happy, at least for the first 10 minutes in the morning!

The difference isn't so great on my upper teeth, however. So it's helpful seeing the difference on the screen with the dentist! Seeing is believing right?! :P My dentist did mention that there was one stubborn tooth which seemed a bit more difficult to be moved and that I might require further 1 or 2 refinement trays. =_=

Definition of a refinement aligner
Invisalign® also allows for refinement aligners, which can be added at the end of the scheduled treatment procedure, to finish off any tooth movement not fully expressed. This is usually needed if over-corrections are not accurately planned during the treatment-planning phase. It also happens because there is a slight flex in the aligner material that sometimes does not allow for full expression of the desired tooth movement. Refinement has to be elected prior to manufacture. No additional impressions are needed, but a refinement form outlining the desired extension tooth movements and photographs are submitted to Align Technology.

So this is the annoying tooth- you can see there is a slight gap between the bottom of the tooth and the bottom of the tray! That tooth is supposed to be pulled down a little bit more... but it doesn't seem to be moving as planned. Oh well, at least the dentist did say there wasn't anything to worry about... so I am not too concerned. If I need 1 or 2 refinement trays, so be it. As long as the end result is having straight teeth, 1 more month is not going to kill me.


Anyway, watch this space, I will be uploading 2 really short videos here! :)

7th Trays

I just put the 7th trays in... and they're ultra tight- well, for the first erm 5 minutes top... Now they're surprisingly okay (still tight though).

From today, I am going to be wearing my aligners 22 hours a day. No more excuses of not putting them back on immediately after meals. I am going to brush my teeth and trays more often and get my hubby to taste the food while I cook! :P

How to find the BEST Invisalign provider (not just the cheapest)

People always say, you get what you pay for....
BUT, with Invisalign, it can be a different story! HONEST!

A dentist offers cheaper Invisalign treatment doesn't necessary mean he is less experienced than others. In fact, he can be the most experienced Invisalign dentist but still offers one of the cheapest Invisalign treatments! You must be wondering why? This is because Invisalign offers dentists an option that they can bulk buy Invisalign at a hugely discounted price - so more Invisalign cases a dentist does, the cheaper it costs the dentist to buy! So a dentist who is willing to commit a lot of cases a year can easily undercut (in price) those who aren't prepared to commit! Depends on how many cases that a dentist wish to commit to a year, they can become a silver, gold, platinum accredited Invisalign dentist, so a Platinum dentist tends to be able to offer lower prices than those dentists who are not accredited!

However, when you go for your appointments, don't just look at all these colourful accreditation system. Ask the dentists how long they have been practising Invisalign and how many cases they have done to get a better understanding of how experienced they are! :-)

How to Spot the Cheapest Invisalign Provider

I am quite a known 'bargain hunting queen' amongst my friends. When I want to buy something, I compare, compare and compare! Just like Invisalign, I compared between a lot of websites, all the offers and dentist credentials before making the decision.

London, perhaps, just perhaps, is the cheapest place to get your Invisalign treatment done. Many people have asked me how much I paid for my Invisalign and their reaction tend to be slightly 'astonished' when they heard the figure: £1895. To be honest, with the economic downturn, you can find an even cheaper price than what I paid 6 months ago. And frankly, just within seconds using your finger tip by typing in 'Invisalign London' in the Google search.

There are a lot of practices that are doing special offers on Invisalign, especially in big cities like London, Birmingham and Leeds. However, London, by far, due to a huge number of dental practices across London and each one of them can be easily reached by the great London Underground System, price competition is far more fierce in this neck of the wood, hence the lower prices in comparison.

When searching for the cheapest Invisalign, it's not that straight forward.
Normally dental practices would advertise the lowest price but it would 'exclude' certain bits of the treatment in that price, like:
1) Retainer
2) X-Rays
3) Only apply to simple cases (that the patients don't need many trays)
4) Only 1 arch (either upper or lower arch) is included in the price.
5) 3D computerised treatment plans
6) Extraction (if necessary for your treatment)
7) 'Fine tuning' of teeth position after active treatment
8) First initial assessment

Dental practices would also give some additional 'gifts' to make the price comparison difficult. For example, the would include:
1) Teeth Whitening -either home kit or 1 hour power whitening
2) Teeth polishing and stain removal at end of treatment
3) 0% Finance
4) Aftercare for one year

It'll really depends whether you value these additional services. From most recent dental research, teeth whitening home kit is a more effective (especially long term) whitening method than 1 hour teeth whitening. So I would recommend for all Invisalign users to use home kit whitening instead (especially you can use the Invisalign aligners as whitening trays!).

For 0% Finance, you can easily perform a DIY on this by getting a credit card with 0% on new purchases for the first 6 or 9 months (Halifax/Virgins are doing great deals on this!)

I hope this helps... and good luck with the search for the cheapest Invisalign around! :)

Holidays.. another thing to add on the tick list!

Went for a long weekend break with my girlfriends to Monaco... and guess what, I must have been dazed out in the morning coz somehow.. I only remembered to put my upper tray in and left my bottom tray at home!!! The trays just feel so comfortable now and I really don't notice them that much anymore. I only realised that I had left it at home when I was about to have a burger at McD! Thank goodness it's only a 3 day break.. if my holiday was a 3 week break, I guess I won't be finishing my treatment by the end of this year!

I thought it was going to hurt like hell when I put on the bottom tray when I got back, but it was actually alright! Phew- continuing with my Invisalign treatment! Go, go, go!! :)