Hello - so as promised, here are a couple of pictures that were taken that show off my newly improved teeth and smile by Invisalign. 

Since I completed my trays and had the attachments removed in February, I have been wearing my retainer every night before bed and then taking it out in the morning and during the day which is working out great! I love being able to smile without being self conscious...out of habit, I sometimes do still  think twice when about to laugh in a group or smile at someone, then remember I don't have to worry about my teeth anymore and smile even wider! 

I am really happy with the treatment and end result and wish anyone deciding to use this fantastic treatment too - the best of luck! xxx

Treatment complete - My Invisalign Journey has finished!

Hi guys,

So this is it! After going back to see my dentist Dr Suki last week she told me my teeth are all perfectly aligned and my treatment is complete! The day has come and perfect timing right before Valentines day!

At our appointment which lasted a little over 30mins, my dentist filed down the attachments which was easy and pain free. No pulling off or anything like that from what I had heard from other peoples blogs. Also no staining from where they had been, (again from what I had heard from a few other peoples blogs and was worried about!) I'm not saying this doesn't happen, but I drink a lot of tea/coffee and my teeth are totally perfect like the attachments were never there.

My fangs and front two teeth were also filed down as mentioned before which I have always wanted as the fangy ones always really bothered me. I got a little sensitivity on my front tooth with that, to which point the dentist decided to stop. I am soooo happy with them!


 So here are some before and after comparison photos for you to see -

Ta da! That's the Invisalign results within 7 months and 14 trays of treatment and a fabulous Dentist who listened to my concerns, addressed them and gave me the best teeth I could possibly have! I am a very happy lady and Invisalign patient!

Also notice how much whiter my teeth are in the comparison photos? I think that is purely from changing my brushing habits from twice a day to brushing after every meal, snack and tea/coffee.

So before leaving my dentist for the last time, she provided me with my final retainer which is suggested to be worn day and night for the first 6 months, night time only for 3 months and then occasionally every few months or so after that. It looks a little bigger than the normal aligners but actually fits so perfectly and without the attachments looks even less visible.

I have also been sent home with the Opalescence Tooth Whitening System at 16% which I am so excited to use! Its a tub of 4 syringes full of their whitening product to be placed onto my retainers at night. I used this for the first time last night and immediately felt a bubbling effect happening, which my dentist didn't warn me about but when I googled it realised its just the product working - not an allergic reaction or something scary that I was worried about- phew!

I will update with some more photos once my whitening treatment has finished to show you how that's going.

Thank you for reading and for following me on this amazing Invisalign journey to straight, white teeth :)

Alisha xx

My last tray update..14/14

Hi all,

Sorry for not updating since tray 9 but there really wasn't too much to update on! As you move onto each tray the routine doesn't change its all very much the same and the dental visits were very quick literally just to collect my next few trays and off I go to take charge of carrying on with treatment :) nice and simple.

Although the exciting news is that I am FINALLY on my last tray! 14/14! I say finally like its taken forever but it has actually just flown by either way I am still so happy its almost done.

So at the end of my 14th tray, I went in to see my dentist Dr Suki for her to check on my progress. The results? I am still on tray 14 for another 2 weeks! Although I've completed all the trays quite often there may be some final tweaking and refinements made just to make sure your teeth are totally perfect, which I am more than fine about.

She had a small device that she used that makes some tiny puncture marks on the existing aligner which helps make these final movements happen. So tray 14 feels like a new tray because I have the tightness, which proves its all working as it should :)

So in 2 weeks I go back to see what she thinks, I may need some more final refinements but if all is how it should be the attachments will be off and that will be the end of treatment!

My dentist and I discussed in the beginning of my treatment just slightly filing down a few of the front teeth as my canines are pointed and the front too are slightly longer than the rest so it will look a lot nicer if they are all more aligned and similar in length. ( I think this is called enamel plasty?) So once the attachments are off, that should be performed which I think will also make a huge difference to the overall appearance of my teeth as I've never liked having vampire fangs!

Its so funny how in the beginning of my treatment the end results and tray 14/14 seemed so far off, and I was so aware and conscious of speaking with it in and worrying about anyone noticing it. but once you get used to using Invisalign after a couple of weeks, you honestly do just forget its there and stop thinking about it so much. That's why I couldn't complain about the refinements at all, Invisalign has just become normal to me, I can honestly say I have enjoyed this treatment (just not if you would have asked me on tray 1!)

Who would of thought that about "braces"!  Invisalign IS different and I am so lucky I won this and so grateful and pleased with the whole process.

I just thought I would mention something I forgot to mention before, which is that about 10 years ago I consulted a dentist for veneers. Luckily it was far too expensive and I never pursued which I now am so happy about but I wanted a "quick fix" and didn't know of any other way other than the big metal braces. Once you have veneers they shave down your real teeth to almost nothing. I am now sitting here with my real teeth totally straightened how I wanted but without causing any damage to my real teeth and without the worry of a veneer popping off and the expense of having it fixed if it did. I wish the dentist at the time would have told me about Invisalign as I would have fixed my teeth a long time ago, but I suppose I am actually very  luckily to be here now with my teeth how I wanted and for absolutely free!

I also started a treatment called Inman Aligner in 2007 which just didn't work for me at all as the tray sat on the top of my mouth and my speech was awful for weeks with no improvement so I stopped treatment after about 1 month which was an awful waste of money although I was partially refunded.

Maybe 5-10 years ago Invisalign wasn't as well known as it is now and I hope more dentists recommend Invisalign to people like me, whose teeth are healthy and CAN be straightened  healthily and conveniently. I hope my blog has helped anyone out there thinking of their options with improving their teeth and smile :)

I will update in a few weeks with my refinement progress and some before and after photos!

Alisha xx