As you may know... or more likely, you may have seen, I wear Invisalign.I started this treatment back in September, after having all four of my wisdom teeth removed.
*Sidenote, don't listen to anyone who tells you that it's not that bad, and you only need a few days to recover! Maybe I had dry sockets, or I am huge baby, but I thought it was really painful.
I have always had quite bad teeth, clean, but not straight. Actually, whenever I met someone, I would instantly feel very conscious about my teeth. This definitely worsened when we moved to Canada from England. I think 'perfect' teeth is less of a big deal; however, this is not to stay that we only brush them once a year! Especially in West Vancouver... and even more so at Rockridge Secondary, everyone and I mean everyone, has worn braces and has perfectly straight teeth.
I had been told by my English dentist that I should have gotten braces, but my fear of never finding a boyfriend always stopped me. Last August, I went for a regular check-up, and was as usual prepared for the usual braces shpil. The hygienist had a really hard time cleaning my teeth because they were so crowded. The very next day, I got in touch with Mr. Invsalign!
The name of the clinic is called Fresh Smile. I had all of my pictures taken from every possible angle... horrifying. Soon after that, I had my mould made. They do this by putting a long plastic thing in your mouth with scanner on the end that takes lots of images of your teeth. All of these images are put together so you get a 3D image of your teeth... my image resembled that of a werewolf.
Next, I had little plastic attachments.... glued...lasered... stuck? I'm not to sure, onto my teeth which are very sharp and you can't imagine ever getting used to them. Then they gave me my first few aligners. The first pair I wore, I walked around lisping and shushing for a few days, and then gradually I got used to it. Inside the aligners, are small cutouts so that the attachments fit. Because I have attachements on almost all of my teeth... unfortunately my Invisalign is not so invisible.
I put in a new aligner every 2 weeks, which sometimes hurts and other times it's not so bad. Your teeth are a little sensitive for a day or two, but then they adjust. Although, I just put in aligner 19... and this is by far the most painful.
You should wear them for 22 hours a day, but anybody who can actually do this must be an angel. I find that some weeks are better than others... I try to aim for about 15 a day. I have been for a few check ups, and everything is fine so far, so I don't feel that bad about it.
In 8 weeks, I have my attachments removed, and then another 10 weeks after that I should be done. In total, it will be just over a year, and it is possible that at the end they may still want to make some further changes. I don't mind wearing them for another month or so, if I can get fantastic teeth!!
Although it has been expensive, I think it is totally worth it but you have to commit to it. I'm sure so many must start and not finish, but you have to just keep thinking of the end result. Even if I have a bad day and I only wear it for 10 hours... it is better than not wearing it.I am so excited to be finished, and to have a confident smile. I think it will make a really big difference. I would totally recommend Fresh Smile; Dr. Daher is so friendly and professional and the clinic works like clock work, really efficient, organized and punctual.
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