Hi everyone, its Anna here and I’m about to start with week 4 of my Invisalign treatment – time is flying! This week I popped into the Liverpool Dental Spa for a check-up and to get sets 5-8 of my aligners. My dentist showed me a CT scan (a digital x-ray) of how my teeth will look after treatment – to see everything laid out clearly on a computer screen was fantastic.
The scan allowed me to see how my teeth will look at every stage of the treatment. It was quite surprising to see how different my teeth will look once this treatment is over!
The main difference I’ve been told will be with my top teeth. One of my front teeth is at an angle and once I’m done, this will come down and be in a straight position like my other teeth. However the scan shows no significant progress will be made here until around tray 15. This is because the space has to be created first for the tooth to move into.
Here is a front and side view of what my teeth looked like to begin with:
As you can see the side teeth are the problem here as one tooth is sticking out and the others are angled. My two front teeth are fine, but I had more of an overbite when I smiled. The red marks on the teeth are my attachments or ‘buttons’ which will help to rotate the teeth into the final desired position.
…and here is how my teeth will look afterwards:
When you look closely, you can see a big difference between the two. The teeth are much straighter on this picture and more on show. When I look at the change between the before and after pictures the difference is quite astounding and a vast improvement.
My dentist also showed me where most of the changes with my teeth will happen. The CT scan below highlights in blue where most of the movements are being made:
As you can see, most of the changes are with that tooth on my upper set of teeth. It has to go through quite a lot of rotation in order to get it into the correct position. The rest of the blue is on the front half of my lower teeth. The bottom set here have to go through a lot of movement back and forth to accommodate for the side teeth which have to be brought further back into my jaw.
This picture shows in blue where most of the change is happening on my upper set of teeth. This highlights where the pressure is happening.
Now I understand from a clinical point of view how my teeth are going to change and move. It was also reassuring to see the science behind my treatment and what to expect at each stage of the treatment.
I feel inspired now that I have seen the end goal of my treatment and I’m already looking forward to having a dazzling new smile!
Until next time,
~ Anna
Tags: aligners, dentist, invisalign, liverpool, liverpool dental spa
