Invisalign Was The Best Purchase I Ever Made

Sometimes people ask me what the best purchase I have ever made was and I can say without even thinking about it, my Invisalign treatment for my smile makeover (closely followed by my amazing mattress, ha ha!).

I’ve shared my Invisalign journey with you in a couple of previous posts, and I keep meaning to put together a completed video Q&A about it for you, but now that I’m a couple of years into my completed journey, I wanted to update you and really give you an insight into what it has been like after it was all finished.

I was always really conscious of my teeth whenever I would smile. I think it actually made me lack confidence and I was more shy than I should have been as well. I was afraid to smile, I would always cover my mouth when I laughed, and I even felt conscious just talking to people as I felt that people were staring at my crooked teeth. I always took really good care of my teeth, they’re healthy and in great condition, they were just so crooked that it let my entire smile down.

I knew I wanted to do something about it, and I’d always wanted braces (even when I was younger), but I was scared to go through with traditional braces because of having healthy teeth removed and the pain that you can endure when they tighten them. When I learned about Invisalign and how they don’t remove any teeth, the fact that it’s much quicker of a process, and you can take the retainer trays out when you want to (which was useful during moments when I had headaches), I was sold on the idea! I saved up money, went for a consultation and the rest was history. I even paid in installments.

The whole process was really straight forward. I was putting in the next set of aligners every 7 days. My teeth were slowly shifting positions. You do get little porcelain attachments stuck to your teeth to help them move, and those can feel rough, but you get used to them. I got some of them filed and shaved down a little bit so that they could move easier, then the gaps were closed at the end. I did miss one of my appointments for filing my teeth down due to travel and my teeth didn’t move into the correct positions they were supposed to, so I ended up having a new set of aligners made and it added extra time to the process, but other than that, it was seamless. Some of the aligners did hurt my teeth and cause aching for a couple of days, and some did give me headaches as they were tight, but that’s a normal part of the process.

After my final appointment, when I learned that I was finally done with my Invisalign journey and I’d have straight teeth from now on, I couldn’t have been more excited! I had a fixed upper and lower retainer fitted to keep my teeth in place, and I also have to wear a hard plastic retainer at night time to stop me from grinding my teeth, which also keeps the entire arch in position, so they don’t shift back into their crooked position.

I also had composite bonding at the end of my treatment to make sure that my top front four teeth were all the same length. Cosmetic dentistry like this can be done anywhere, but you always want to make sure you are using a reputable dentist. There’s places like Dental Care Hillsborough in the United States with amazing reputations, or other practices in the UK that I use (I go between both countries). Since we’re not all in the same place, do your research on locations and reputations!

I have been super religious about wearing my retainer every single night, there hasn’t been one night where I’ve missed wearing it! I want to keep my perfect smile forever! It actually feels weird to me if I don’t wear it when I take a nap as it’s part of my entire sleep routine. The after care has been really easy too, there isn’t any. You just have to make sure you’re keeping the fixed metal retainers on the back of the teeth clean. I use the Tepe brushes every day to fit between my teeth, I use dental floss, and I brush twice a day. I also get hygiene appointments every 6 months.

I do think I will need to have my composite bonding redone on the top front four teeth at some point as it doesn’t last forever, but other than that, I’m super happy! It really is one of the best things I ever spent money on. I smile really wide now, I never hide my mouth, and I’m much more confident when I speak to anyone as I don’t think they’re looking at my teeth. In fact, I get compliments on them now! I think it’s changed me a lot as a person and I’ve really grown, just from having straight teeth. If you’re conscious of your own smile and want straight teeth, I definitely recommend Invisalign. It’s a really simple process and you don’t have to remove any teeth! If you have any questions, please let me know!

The photos below show my teeth before at the top of each angle, and after at the bottom of each angle.