IT’S been about a month since I shared the first part of my Invisalign brace journey. Read ‘New Year, New Teeth’ here.
Since then, moulds of my teeth have been to Los Angeles and back with my first set of aligners ready and waiting at Smile Stylist, House of Fraser Manchester.
The appointment to get the aligners fitted was a doddle. You’d imagine it would hurt, take a lot of practice to put them in myself or take a long time to fit, but it was a swift and easy process.
Watch my video diary below:
The aligners snapped in place in a matter of seconds leaving a ‘tight’ feeling in my mouth. Obviously the reason for having braces is to push your teeth in place, so the tight feeling is a sign that it’s actually working. The aligner isn't shaped to fit your teeth exactly, it's shaped to fit the alignment that your teeth need to have at the end of the two weeks when you're finished wearing it.
After a few days the tight sensation eased off and as Dr Kumar explained, this is the reason why a series of aligners are used over the months – each one a fraction different to the last until the teeth are in their desired position in a approximately 12 months. It will be interesting to compare the aligners as time progresses.
It’s now been a few days since I got my first aligner, and no one has noticed. Colleagues, friends and family have all gasped when I’ve taken my braces out to show them because it didn’t look like there was anything there. It’s actually very easy for me to forget the braces are there too and while I did feel like it was affecting my speech initially, this has worn off as I’ve got used to having ‘foreign’ objects in my mouth.
Chris' Invisalign brace at Smile Stylist Manchester
As advised by Dr Kumar, I wear my aligners for 22 hours a day, taking them out only to eat and brush my teeth. This felt a bit inconvenient at first but you do get used to it, and if anything it helps stop me snacking unnecessarily.
In two weeks time, I will return to Smile Stylist to have tooth attachments put on some of my teeth. This is an important part of the process due to the way my teeth need to manoeuvre. Dr Kumar explained the attachments work like little handles, allowing the aligners to 'grip' onto the surface of the teeth. At my next appointment they will be bonded to some of my teeth using a tooth coloured filling material, meaning they’ll be barely detectable according to Dr Kumar. Check back next month to see how they look and feel...
Invisible brace packages at Smile Stylist currently start from £1,300. Please visit www.smilestylist.co.uk for more information.
Follow Chris on Twitter @cbrowncolbert and Dr Sandeep Kumar @smilestylistUK to ask any questions about Chris' progress.
