Hi everyone, it’s Anna here with a new blog post about my Invisalign journey.

WOW! I really can’t believe that I’m on tray five now! That’s a quarter of the way through my treatment already.  For this blog post I’d like to let you all know a little about how it actually feels to wear Invisalign and how my perception of it has changed so far…

Progress so far

For starters, you may recall on Week 1 of my treatment, I was in a lot of pain after a few hours – although initially I didn’t feel anything at all when I put them on. Then, after three hours of wear, I really started to feel my teeth aching, so I knew they must be working.

Taking the trays in and out was a chore because my teeth, especially my bottom set, felt so sore.  The first thought that went through my mind was ‘I’m in agony – I hope it’s not going to be like this the whole time!’

Thankfully, by day three my teeth had started to adapt and I noticed that the pain had subsided a great deal.  That said, I haven’t really felt any intense pain with Invisalign – it’s more a dull ache when I do feel it. But because the pain means my teeth are moving, it’s an almost reassuring kind of pain – it has a purpose!

While tray three was painful, tray four was relatively painless overall, with some minor discomfort on the first few days. On Monday night, I moved to tray five and whilst tight at first, they are already beginning to feel a little slack.

Plastic fantastic

One of the things I have noticed with Invisalign is the taste of plastic you have for the first day after you wear a new set of aligners. It’s hard to describe, but when they are ‘new’ you can really taste the plastic. Is it just me? Have any of you noticed this as well?

It’s a feeling which soon subsides the longer you wear the aligners and after a day or two I often find myself forgetting they are even in my mouth!  (I’ve had numerous slip ups where I’ve drank hot tea or ate something, forgetting they are in). I think this is testament to how comfortable Invisalign aligners really are!

Until next time,

~ Anna

Hi everyone,

It’s Anna here with another update about my Invisalign treatment. You might have recalled me talking about moving on to tray 4 last week. Well, tray 4 is feeling super comfortable now!  It’s starting to feel as though I’m speeding through the treatment and beginning to see some really good progress.

When you have long term treatment like Invisalign that require daily maintenance, you can’t help but develop unique habits and quirky routines. So for this update, I thought I’d share some of the funny experiences I’ve had with Invisalign so far…

–    Rubbish: During my first month of treatment I nearly threw my aligners in the bin! I had put them on a paper towel on the kitchen table before eating dinner and forgot they were there when I was cleaning up afterwards. They don’t call them invisible for nothing!

–    Staring: I’ve had many double takes and funny looks when brushing my teeth during the day in the ladies’ bathroom. People must think I’m a bit obsessive compulsive! But at least I have a good reason to be

–    Toothpaste guzzling: Going through tubes and tubes of toothpaste because I’m brushing my teeth around 3 or 4 times a day now.  I’ve found that the small tubes only last me a week, so I’ve been bulk-buying the bigger tubes.

–    Explaining: Having to explain to my boyfriend’s grandma why I’m straightening my teeth and why it’s not a metal brace I’m wearing –that it’s virtually invisible. She was amazed!

–   Countdown: Counting down the days to the next aligner as though I’m waiting to go on holiday. I get really excited when I realise there’s only a few days left until the next set of trays.  It’s really nice to have these milestones in my treatment – every tray shows my progress and that really keeps me motivated!

These are just a few examples of the funny things that have happened so far!  I’m sure there will be more in the coming weeks.  Next week I begin on Tray 5 – wish me luck!

Until next time,

~ Anna

Hi everyone, here’s my latest update on my experience with Invisalign to date.  I’m now on my third week of treatment and so far – so good! Some days I even forget they’re in there as they feel really comfortable now. If you look at my pic you can ‘see’ just how invisible my aligners are! I love them!

I started on my second set of Invisalign trays on Tuesday. I made sure to put them in the night before and take two paracetamol before I went to bed.  This is a technique which the dental nurse at the Liverpool Dental Spa advised me to do as she herself has been through Invisalign treatment and said the initial first couple of days are the worst when it comes to putting on a new tray as they feel so tight.

Progress with the second set of trays

I’ve now had the second set of Invisalign trays on for around 3 days and I can say they are no longer feeling so tight, which again, can only be a good sign. The good news is that the second set – even in the initial first few days, were nowhere near as tight as the first set. They are easy to take on and off and wearing them for 22 hours a day no longer feels so daunting.

Admittedly, it can be hard to make sure to put it back on straight away after eating and I’m finding that I’m eating and drinking everything I want during this time, so I can avoid having to remove the aligners later on, only to have to brush my teeth.

This has meant that my snacking time has been greatly reduced, though I will admit on Valentine’s Day I did take them off for a bit longer than I was supposed to – (the chocolates were just too tempting!)

Drinking with aligners on

I also learnt last weekend not to drink anything but water with the aligners on. I went to the pub on Friday night and drank lemonade through a straw with my aligners in, which I thought would be ok, as I was reluctant to go drinking alcohol, incase of staining.

However after a few minutes I could feel the sugar from the lemonade under my aligners and my teeth just didn’t feel all that clean after that! I therefore think it might be safer to take them out if you’re planning on drinking on a night out. I know this can seem like a lot of wasted treatment time, but I think so long as you brush your teeth and put them back on before bed, you should be ok. However this might mean extending your treatment time of each tray by a day or two.

Overall, I’d say my progress has been good although it’s hard to tell if there’s been that much of a difference at this early stage.  Hopefully in the next couple of weeks I will get some pictures taken which can demonstrate some differences in my teeth (no matter how small).

Until next week.

~ Anna