MY INVISALIGN TREATMENT HAS COMMENCED. IT’S OFF TO A GREAT START.
Well, it’s been so fun having you all follow along at home on my Invisalign journey with Straight Smile Centre. So, I had my scans, which you saw, and also my consult. Now, it’s time to start the treatment. It took about four weeks for my aligners to come through post that initial consult. Then I came in to see the team for an education session to learn how to fit my aligners, and how I would monitor them using the dental monitoring app.
As a part of that education consult, I had some smart force attachments applied to my teeth. They are actually what the aligners grip onto. Aside from that, it was just practicing putting my aligners on and off. I’ve got a series of 37 aligners, so I need to get really good at it. 37 aligners means hopefully I’ll get through my treatment in 37 weeks. I’m actually setting that as a goal, so I’ve got to be very well behaved with wearing them approximately 22 hours every day.
So what is life with aligners like? A lot of you have been asking me. Well I’m wearing them right now, so they practically are invisible. I do feel a little more self-conscious than I normally would, but I think even now, a week after I’ve started wearing the aligners, I’m starting to feel more relaxed and caring less about wearing them.
In terms of speaking, sometimes you might get a little bit of a lisp, but mine isn’t too bad. The reality is, if I am filming, I can choose to take the aligners out and my speech would be completely normal. I’m talking with them in right now and I guess it’s up to you if you can notice.
In terms of any other impacts on my life, I do find I’m snacking less, which can only be a good thing because I just can’t be bothered taking them out. I’m brushing my teeth a lot more, so if I do, if I’ve taken the aligners out and eaten, I will brush my teeth every time I put them back in.
Someone did ask me if I’d had my lips done, which I was kind of happy about, but no, I haven’t. That’s just because the aligners are pushing my mouth out a little bit more than normal. Aside from that, I’ve had no disruption to my sleep. There was some slight discomfort, probably for the first three days when I was first wearing my aligners, but now I feel completely normal.
I’ve got 37 aligners, which if my treatment goes to plan, I should be changing every single week. If I had to come into the practice to have an appointment to check if I was okay to go to the next aligner, it actually would not happen. Life is too crazy with family and my business. Great thing is that I can use the dental monitoring app to actually check if I’m okay to proceed to the next aligner from my bathroom at home. I take the scans, and I submit them and see if I’ve got the all clear to go ahead.
In terms of face to face appointments, or coming here to Straight Smile Centre, about three times over the 37 weeks, but the team have assured me if I’ve got any questions, or if I want to catch up face to face, I can pop in, or make an appointment. One thing that’s keeping me really motivated is having access to my clean check scans. I can actually see, week by week, how my teeth will move, my smile will broaden, and my bite issue will resolve, so that’s really exciting and keeping me super motivated.
If you’ve thought about Invisalign, you can contact Straight Smile Centre like I did. They’ve got eight locations around Adelaide.