First Trays / Aligners - 2nd video blog

I am getting a bit lazier after doing this video- think I am only wearing them around 20 hours a day now... It just takes me long and longer to put them back on after meals rather than rushing to the toilet brushing my teeth like a good girl should! After week to go and I'll be getting my 'tighter' tray- can't wait for that as I feel the current tray isn't doing too much work! Guess I am quite eager to be in pain! LOL

Invisalign - The Clear Alternative to Braces (Beautiful Ad)

I love this advert- it's just so beautiful and that's why I am totally sold on this particular treatment. Both the women on this ad are so, so pretty! Really lovely teeth and smile.

Although my teeth aren't what I want them to be, I never hold back my smile. But it's because I don't hold back my smile and I smile a lot, I can never see myself in metal braces- just imagine, a smile of metals?! That's so not attractive at all. =_+

Invisalign Clear Braces - 1st video blog

I was so nervous and didn't know what to say! God, the me on this video clip is not my normal self and hope it doesn't appear to be too 'fake'. :P

Anyway, retainer didn't work out because I used to 'cleverly' adjust the metal line myself to loosen it so it didn't hurt as much. I used to misplace it too! Back in the primary school, a boy found it in the school rubbish bin- so that's the end of my retainer's life.

So hopefully invisalign is going to bring the teeth and the smile line that I've always dreamt of. I don't mind showing a bit of my gum when I smile but i do mind when my teeth appear like a set of denture that isn't put right!

Invisalign Diary: 1st set (Day5)

Feeling brave today to take a photo of myself with the Invisalign trays in! They're pretty invisible, isn't it? Well at least 30 cm away from my mouth, they are.

I haven't really experienced any pain at all (haven't taken any pain killers) and the only pain is when my fingers touch the sensitive roots when I take the trays out. Oh, and on top of that, unfortunately I have developed a mini cold sore at the corner of my mouth, which adds extra pain when I take my trays out as I have to open my mouth wide. eeek! I guess this way, I am keeping my trays in even longer as outside my 3 meals a day, they are firmly kept inside my mouth as no snack is worth the pain of opening my mouth wide!

My teeth are feeling a bit sensitive when I eat now- somehow I have a picture in my head that when I bite down, one of my teeth is going to break!

Invisalign Diary: 1st set (Day4)

It took me a while to find time to take photos... so here they are! (Plus I have to say it's really difficult to take decent photos of my ugly teeth!!)

So- lets have a look at photos of the aligners first (they're less gross):
The below picture shows that the two teeth on the right, (first bump), they're slightly higher than the rest of my teeth!

A shot of these wonky two teeth on the upper arch:

My lower arch aligner:

Three bumps on the right side of my upper arch aligner:

Upper arch aligner:

Okay, so in with the gross photos- look away if you don't want to see...
Lower slightly overcrowded teeth:
The huge gap between my upper arch and lower arch:
Side way (left):
Side way (right):
Front shot:

Invisalign Diary: 1st set (Day2)

Nothing much to report, just finding myself keep sucking saliva out of the trays when they're inside my mouth because the trays are not sitting 100% tightly. I am also finding it virtually impossible to keep my mouth closed as on top my 'natural' overjet, I have three bumps on the left and 1 bump on the right of my upper aligner, which add extra things for my short upper lip to cover. Arghhhh- but the good thing is that the pain is very minimal! The dentist told me that in terms of pain, the 1st set was supposed to be the worst- so I can definitely deal with the pain, without pain killers, for the next 11 months!

Oh, and now I really have to 'plan' what to eat, in case I accidentally miss out the sweets- coz apart from the three main meals a day, I am too lazy to eat anything else (as it's quite a hassle to go through the 'take out trays-brush teeth-wash trays-put the trays back on' procedure.)

Invisalign Diary: 1st set (Day1)

God, I've abandoned this blog for far too long- over 2 months - there is a story behind this! I did see my Clincheck in November, which was awesome and the final result looked pretty impressive. Shame that I couldn't get the clincheck file to share with all of you.. I'll try to persuade the dental clinic again to see whether I can get hold of the file. From the Clincheck, I learnt that my treatment process would take 11 months for my lower arch and 7/8 months for my upper arch. I have to say that I was a bit surprised because I thought my upper teeth looked worse than lower!

So, the reason of a 2 month gap is because I had to leave the country for almost a month in December (my big holiday of the year!) and my trays didn't arrive at the end of November (apparently they missed me out by just 1 or 2 days!). So, after a long, long wait til the festivities ended on 5th Jan (practice only started to operate from the 5th), I have finally got my trays today! I was so excited that my heart was racing quicker than the speed of the train into London!

So my dentist fitted the trays for me initially and asked me to take them off myself in front of the mirror with help of his instructions. The trays were not as soft as I had thought- they're quite rigid and strong. (I don't know WHY I thought they would be similar to the home teeth whitening trays- how would they move my teeth into right places in just 11 months?) It's not difficult to take down and put up the trays, actually, but you really have to open wide your mouth!

Oh, and one tip for you guys, before doing Invisalign, you should really have all your teeth checked up. Because I've been brushing my teeth a bit too hard, bits of my gum has recessed and revealed sensitive root. And now, every time I take off the trays, my fingers/nails are touching the sensitive parts and it hurts a little (okay, maybe quite a lot, but I wanted to put up a brave face). And because the moulds are made already, I probably can't go back to my normal dentist and ask them to put composite to cover the sensitive areas as it might affect how the trays fit on my teeth! I'll just have to live with it for the next 11 months I suppose! =_=

So my feeling after the 1st day is quite positive- the trays are easy to manage, they are indeed pretty much invisible (I am going to have 'attachments' on my teeth so the trays have 'bubbles' on them already, so if you look really closely and when i smile too wide, then people can notice the 'bubbles'), AND, strangely enough, I am not in that much pain, just a bit sore... And into the negatives... I met up with friends after my appointment at Starbucks and watching everyone enjoying their cafe latte and me with my bottled water was not a good feeling! It did lure me to take off the trays but the sensible side of me stopped myself as I didn't have my toothbrush or toothpaste!