1st set

I got my aligners today! I have to admit they are feeling rather tight. I am very impressed with how invisible they actually are! Silly I know but they really are almost invisible!

Above: my teeth with the first set of trays in

Although its not painful I can feel pressure on certain teeth and my bite feels strange. Its that horrible ache that you just wish would go away but isn't really enough to moan about. I was warned by my ortho about this!

At my appointment I was shown my aligners and he popped them in so I could have a quick feel of them. Back out they came so he could do a little prep to my teeth (cleaning, polish and a little IPR/filing between my teeth to make more room). Was shown how to put them in and take them out, how to use the chewies and aligner removal tool and an overview of the tooth whitening kit. I came away very informed and happy about what I have been given and what to do. I was given my entire set of aligners (23 uppers and 16 lowers) and I am changing every 10 days.

I was given lots of goodies too!

• Drawstring bag with my aligners in their box
• At home teeth whitening kit (enough for a few applications but I can request more)
• Chewie
• Aligner removal tool
• Invisalign starter kit with 2 aligner cases
• Various leaflets
• Mini toothpaste
• Tiny travel toothbrush and toothpaste kit
• Little bag to carry the case and bits around in
• Denture cleaning tablets

So far I have added a nail file to my bag for the rough edges and dental floss on a stick. I also placed on order online for a clear aligner cleaning set including a sonic cleaner with retainer brite, mirror, chewie, tool, fresh and go toothbrush/paste, interdental brushes, little mouthwash and another case all for £16. I plan on having a kit at home, work and for my handbag.

My ortho is happy for my to drink non-sugary drinks with them in including hot drinks as long as they are not boiling hot.

My next appointment is in 8 weeks (beginning of August) and a few days before I see my regular dentist. Be interesting to see what my regular dentist has to say about my treatment, as he has never commented on how my teeth have moved in the 6 years since I finished my NHS treatment.

As I have all my aligners I will post progress photos although I have already been comparing my first set to my last uppers set! Looking at my clincheck the majority of the movement is in the first 10 aligners with the next getting them in the right position.

Clincheck

Oh the excitement of the clincheck!

3 weeks after I had my initial consultation and impressions done/photos taken my clincheck was ready. Sent a sneaky e-mail to my ortho end of last week just checking it was ready and found out he had already done some tweaking with Invisalign to improve the process and movement.

This appointment lasted about 20 minutes and was more of a progress update. My uppers will take about 7 and a half month and the lowers about 5 months based on changing the trays every 10 days (and wearing them for 23hrs a day) plus probably another 2 months at the end for the refinement process.

I have 4 attachments on the top and none (yay!) on the bottom, although my ortho said he only puts them on if he feels its necessary and even then its about half way through the treatment plan.

My uppers and lowers:

Check out how much wider my arches get?!

Whitening is included in my package so my ortho is keen to start that straight away, its nice to know my teeth will be improving in colour before they even start seriously moving! Have always thought my eye teeth (big pointy fang teeth) look far dingier then the others and there is only so much whitening toothpaste can do.... Still, I don't smoke and I don't drink tea or red wine so they probably could be worse...

Had a quick chat about retainers, they will either be Invisalign retainers or he can glue my teeth together. Quiet extreme but can work very well!

My next appointment is in another 3 weeks when I meet my aligners :-)