Category Archives: Teeth

As those of you with very good memories may recall, at around this time last year, I started using Invisalign clear braces to straighten my crooked, gappy teeth. I actually finished my treatment a few weeks ago (I would actually have been done much quicker, but there were a few long gaps in the treatment where either I was on holiday, or couldn’t get to the dentist for some reason, and that made it last a little longer than anticipated), so I figured now was a good time to look back on the experience and tell you how it turned out.

(This is long, so I’ve put most of it under the jump. If you want to know more about Invisalign in general, you’ll find my other posts on it here.)

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I can’t quite believe I’m writing this, but after what seems like a very short amount of time indeed, my dentist told me yesterday that my Invisalign treatment is now complete on my top teeth! I will have to continue wearing the aligner for the next two weeks, just to make sure the teeth stay in place, but after that it basically becomes a retainer, and I’ll be brace-free during the day.

Before I go any further, I should point out again that the reason my treatment time was so short  was that I was using Invisalign on the upper arch purely to close a gap between two of the teeth. It was a very straightforward issue, and the rest of my teeth were straight, which meant that not only did it cost less, I was able to complete the treatment in around two months, which I believe is significantly shorter than the average treatment length.

It’s not quite the end of the line for me yet, though: I will continue to have treatment on my lower arches, which are a much more complex case, for many weeks yet, but as I reach one milestone, here’s my advice for anyone still thinking about using the Invisalign system:

1. It’s much less visible than I expected it to be

I knew the whole point of “invisible braces” was that they’d be, well, invisible, but I still expected people to notice them in some way. Actually, though, I was very impressed by how unobtrusive they are: I don’t feel self-conscious at all when I’m wearing them, and although it took a couple of days to get over the lisping, they haven’t affected my speech either, so I’m totally happy speaking to people while wearing them. I really don’t think anyone would notice them unless they were specifically looking for them (friends who didn’t know I was having the treatment have confirmed that they couldn’t see any difference, and had to look really closely before they saw the braces), which makes it that bit easier to comply with the 22-hours-per-day wear.

That said, when my lips are closed, I do notice that the braces make my lips protrude slightly, which I have been a little self-conscious about. Mr Dollface confirms that this is, indeed, the case, although he doesn’t think it would be noticeable to anyone who didn’t know me. I have developed a kind of mouth-half-open look to try to prevent this, and it’s the main reason I’m so glad to be done with the top brace, because when I wear the bottom one only, it doesn’t have this effect.

2. You do get used to the feel of it

I must admit that for the first couple of weeks, I really didn’t think I would ever get used to the sensation of having the braces in my mouth. It’s not painful, but it is a strange feeling at first, and, for the first week, I experienced a bit of nausea, and worried that the braces would make me gag. I kept reading other people’s reviews, in which they talked about how quickly they’d gotten used to it, and I just didn’t believe that would be the case for me, but while I think it took me a little longer than most (It was about two weeks before I stopped noticing the braces in my mouth) I’ve now reached the stage where I genuinely don’t think about them. I have no qualms whatsoever about wearing them as retainers, because it’s now second-nature to me, and I’m just not aware of them.

3. Total compliance (wearing the braces for 22 hours per day) can be tricky, but isn’t impossible

For most of the time I’ve been using Invisalign, I’ve managed to keep them in for roughly 22 hours per day, which is the recommended time, although I must admit that as time has gone on, I’ve been getting a little more blasé about i,t and leaving them out for longer. In my case it’s not such a big deal, because I wear each set of trays for slightly longer than the recommended two weeks (this is purely the way it’s worked out because of the difficulty of arranging dental appointments at intervals of exactly two weeks, plus the fact that I took a three week vacation), and if you’re willing to that, you can leave them out for a little longer each day, as long as you’re aware that your total treatment time will be longer as a result.

Snacking wasn’t really a huge issue for me, as I don’t tend to snack a lot anyway (although I obviously snack more than I thought I did, because I lost weight in the first few weeks of using Invisalign, without thinking I’d made any changes to my diet), but I did find it a little frustrating at mealtimes, because I’m quite a slow eater. I enjoy long, leisurely meals, and I like to take my time and sip a huge mug of coffee at regular intervals throughout the day, but, because you have to remove the braces to eat and drink, I often felt like I was having to rush my meals in order to get the braces back in. Again, this is one of the reasons I’m looking forward to the end of the treatment: being able to linger for as long as I like over a meal or mug of coffee!

4. Eating out can be a pain

For me, the biggest challenge has been eating out, particularly during my recent vacation, where I was eating out every day (often more than once per day) and also having to manage the Invisalign trays while eating on aircrafts, at the beach, during long car trips, etc. I won’t lie: there were times where this was just an absolute pain. Public restrooms aren’t the nicest place in the world to have to clean your teeth, and people often stare at you as if you’ve grown a second head when they see you whip out a toothbrush in public.

Also, having to visit the restroom to remove the braces, and then visit it again at the end of the meal to replace them got annoying, especially in very busy restaurants: in fact, I would often just duck under the table and whip the trays out, which wasn’t ideal, as I should have been cleaning them when I removed them. I figured it was OK on an occasional basis, though, when I just couldn’t face the crowded restroom more than once per meal. My worst experience came on the two long-haul flights to and from the States. Having removed my braces for the meal, I found that there was constantly a huge line for the restroom afterwards.I’m terrified of flying, and like to remain buckled into my seat as much as possible, and I just couldn’t face the line, so I’m going to put my hands up here and admit that I did exactly what you’re NOT supposed to do: I swilled my mouth out with water and just slipped the braces back in, making sure to clean both them and my teeth thoroughly as soon as I could. Again, this isn’t recommended, but as I’ve only done it once or twice, I figured it couldn’t do too much damage – I did visit my dentist yesterday, and he confirmed that my teeth are perfectly healthy, so I guess I got away with it.

To help with all of this, I purchased a bunch of disposable toothbrushes before we went away. They’re the type that come with toothpaste already loaded, and I found it easier to just toss a handful of those into my bag every couple of days, rather than remembering to transfer my own toothbrush and toothpaste from bag to bathroom a few times per day.

5. Having impressions taken is the hardest part of all

Every few weeks, I have to have new impressions taken of my teeth, so the next few sets of braces can be created by the Invisalign labs. I have never been frightened of the dentist, and am not particularly squeamish, but I will be totally honest and say that I dread these appointments. I would rather have almost any other procedure than this, because having the large metal tray filled with what feels like putty of some kind inserted into my mouth makes me want to gag. My dentist is extremely good about this, and really takes his time to make me feel as comfortable as possible, but, for me, it’s the worst part of the whole procedure.  Having said that, I know other Invisalign patients who have no issue with impressions at all, so I suspect it’s a totally personal thing. In my case, even the smallest tray hits the back of my throat and triggers my (fairly sensitive) gag reflex, and that may not be the case for you.

6.  It has been worth it

I’m not going to post photos of my teeth, because I’m still having treatment on my lower arch, and also want to have them whitened, and perhaps some other work before I’ll be 100% done, but so far I’m absolutely thrilled with the results, and think it has been well worth what I paid. The gap in my upper teeth has bothered me for my entire adult life, and dentists had consistently told me there was nothing that could be done about it, and that unless I was willing to wear metal braces, I would just have to learn to live with it. That obviously turned out not to be the case: the gap has totally disappeared, and my only regret is that I didn’t discover Invisalign sooner.

As for my lower teeth, they’re still as crooked as a row of tombstones, and I have a long way to go before they’ll be perfect, but I’m already starting to notice a difference, and am confident that I’ll be just as pleased with them as I am with the top arches. As I’ve said before, Invisialign isn’t what I’d call an “easy” option, because it does require changes to your lifestyle, and a lot of commitment on your part, but I feel it’s ultimately a small amount of inconvenience for what will hopefully be a great result.

So far, then, so good. Roll on the end of the treatment, though!

Oh my holy hell.

After a few weeks of wearing my Invisalign brace on my lower teeth, I thought I was totally prepared for the first tray for my uppers. Sure, the first week or so had been harder than I’d anticipated: while the brace wasn’t painful, it had taken me a while to get used to the sensation of having something in my mouth all the time, and at first I’d frequently found myself thinking I was going to gag (I didn’t). After about a week of this, though, I was completely used to it, and was barely even thinking about it any more, so I headed off to collect the next tray for my lower teeth and the first set for my uppers feeling fairly confident that this would be a fairly easy transition.

I was wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong.

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My journey towards (hopefully) perfect teeth moved on a stage this month, when I had my fitting for my first set of Invisalign braces.

The appointment lasted about forty minutes, and after an examination of my teeth and some scraping to remove a bit of tartar build-up, the dentist took some x-rays of my teeth and jaw to allow him to look at how long the roots of my teeth are, and see if there were any problems which might prevent me having braces.

Luckily everything looked good (well, as good as wonky teeth can look, I guess), so we moved onto the next stage: taking impressions for the braces.  I’ve actually been through something like this before, when I had my teeth whitened, and had impressions taken for the trays I used, but I’d forgotten how unpleasant it is for those with an easily-triggered gag reflex. Like me, for instance.

Although I’m only having a brace on my lower teeth (for now), I had to have impressions taken of both the top and bottom sets, so that the Invisalign lab who make up the braces can look at the bite. This involved the insertion of huge trays filled with a putty-like substance into my mouth: luckily each tray was only there for a couple of minutes at most, but I spent that time convinced I was going to gag. Hopefully it’ll all be worth it in the end.

After that, the dentist went over exactly what will be happening next, and I had some time to ask questions. The good news is that I’ll only need to wear the brace for around six months, which is less time than I’d been expecting. Having looked at the x-rays and done a more detailed examination of my teeth, my dentist also thinks Invisalign may be able to close a gap I have in my top teeth, which has bothered me all my life. Time to get saving, I guess!

I’ll have my first brace by the end of the month. Hopefully I’ll have my straight teeth six months later!

Totally not my teeth

For as long as I can remember, I’ve dreamt of having teeth like the woman in this photo: perfectly straight, perfectly white, and hey, don’t they look great with bright red lipstick?

I don’t have teeth like that, though. In fact, while my teeth are strong and healthy, the bottom set in particular are a little on the crooked side, and this is something that’s always annoyed me. If I’d grown up somewhere else, I’d probably have had braces as a child, and would now have something approaching the kind of teeth I want. For some reason, though, here in the UK there just isn’t much of an emphasis on straightening teeth (or at least there wasn’t when I was a child – things may well be different now for all I know), so while I had all of the usual check-ups, etc, the issue of straightening them never came up, and by the time I reached adulthood, and started to feel self-conscious about my teeth, I assumed that I was more or less stuck with them.  Obviously I knew I could still get braces if I wanted to, but I assumed they’d have to be huge, highly-visible train-tracks, and that I’d have to wear them for years, and I’m just going to be honest: I didn’t want that.

The consultation
Last year, though, I started doing some research online, and discovered that there are now lots of different options when it comes to straightening teeth as an adult, and that not all of them involve the traditional “train track” braces. So I did some more research, found an orthodontist near me who offers a huge range of teeth-straightening procedures, and booked an appointment for a consultation. This wasn’t purely an Invisalign consultation: I knew it was one of the options available to me, but there were a few others I was also interested in, and although I’d spent literally hours online reading up on the different techniques (Inman Aligners, Six Month Smiles, traditional braces, veneers…) I’d reached the point where I needed to actually speak to someone who was an expert on the subject, and who could look at MY teeth and MY issues, and tell me what would and wouldn’t work for ME.

And that’s exactly what I got. The consultation was very in-depth, and, as well as a thorough examination of my teeth, the dentist also took lots of photos of them, which he put onto a screen to show me exactly what he was talking about. (This was actually fairly traumatic for me. If you’re at all self-conscious about your teeth, then seeing them blown-up to ten times their actual size is… painful.) There was absolutely no pressure on me to go down any particular route, or even to do anything AT ALL: I was just given lots and lots of information, and some impartial advice on what might work best for me.

I’m not going to go through all of the options I discussed, because we’d be here forever, and this post is already long enough. What I will say is that Invisalign wasn’t the cheapest option available and it wasn’t the quickest: and nor was it the most expensive or the slowest, come to that. It was the option I chose, however, and before I tell you why, let me first of all explain what it is:

What is Invisalign?

Invisalign is a system of totally clear, removable braces, which slips over your teeth and is removed for eating and drinking anything other than water. The braces are replaced every two weeks, and gradually re-position the teeth: this can take anything from 6 months to a couple of years. (Read more about it here.)

Pros and Cons of Invisalign

Cost
Obviously there are pros and cons to this system. The biggest drawback is the cost. Invisalign isn’t cheap: prices start from around £1,500. I’m fortunate in that my dentist offers a discount to practice members so by joining up and paying a small monthly fee I save a chunk of money (and also get free check-ups and hygienist visits into the bargain). It’s still expensive, though, as are all of the other methods of straightening teeth, and I suspect the cost will be the biggest drawback for most people. Most dentists seem to offer schemes where you can spread the cost over a year or more, though, which is also something to consider.

Time
The other drawbacks for me are the time I’ll have to invest in dentist visits. I’m not afraid of the dentist, but this one is on the other side of the city, and I’ll have to go there every two weeks to have new braces fitted, which will take up quite a bit of time, and require some juggling of my schedule. I will be wearing my brace for at around nine months, so it’s quite a big chunk of time: how long it takes depends on the complexity of the case, though, so some people wear the braces for much longer, and some are finished with them quicker.

Eating and drinking
Finally, there’s the issue of having to remove the brace to eat and drink. I’m not much of a snacker, so I THINK I’ll be OK with the eating part, but I am addicted to coffee, and as it won’t really be practical to keep removing the brace to guzzle down another mugful (you can drink water with the brace  in, but no hot beverages, sugary drinks or liquids that could stain the brace), I’m going to have to cut down. Which will be hard, but hopefully worth it.

Appearance
As for the reason I chose Invisalign over the other methods out there: well, it comes down to simple vanity, I’m afraid. Invisalign is, as the name suggests, almost invisible. In my case, I will only need one brace, for my lower teeth, so it will be even less visible. All of the other options would mean wearing wires on my teeth, and all of them would have been noticeable. I did consider ALL of my options carefully, but ultimately I think it’s important to be realistic: this is a big investment, both in terms of money and time. Whatever I decided to go for, I knew I’d be wearing it for a long time, so I needed to know I’d be able to keep on using it, and that it wouldn’t feel so self-conscious about it that I’d want to minimise the time spent wearing the brace, or give it up altogether. Knowing myself as I do, I just don’t think I’d deal well with visible braces, so I decided to go with Invisalign.

Just to be clear, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with metal braces, and I don’t think anything bad about people who wear them (Actually I just think, “Good for you: you’re going to have perfect teeth.”), but as I said, if you’re going to commit to something like this, I think it’s really important to be realistic, and to know what you will and won’t be able to deal with.

So! That’s the first part of my journey towards perfect teeth. Next step: the fitting.