THE latest update in my 12 month Invisalign journey is that I now have attachments on eight of my teeth. These look like little tooth coloured squares and they help the aligners grip into place. Have a look at my video diary below where I show you a close up of these bad boys.
Now in place, the attachments act as little anchors, allowing my future sets of aligners to 'grip' onto my teeth, giving a much more predictable result in the long run.
Not every Invisalign patient has to have attachments, it’s all dependent on how your teeth need to manoeuvre. When I first heard about the attachments, I’ll admit I was a little apprehensive.
My main reason for favouring Invisalign over traditional braces was because you can’t really see them. But the idea of attachments on each tooth made me think it would inevitably look like a traditional brace.
The good news is the attachments aren’t noticeable and the even better news is they will make all the difference to the progress of straightening my teeth.
The appointment to have the attachments put in place was a little longer than previous appointments because Dr Kumar had to spend a bit of time filing in between some of my teeth in order to create space for them to move into position. It may sound painful and a bit odd, but in actual fact you don’t feel much. It’s more the ‘sawing’ sound that’s off-putting and the sight of blood afterwards. However we all know that meddling between one's teeth, around the gums tends to result in a bit of blood.
The file used is actually miniscule and resembles a little nail file. The space created by the file isn’t visible whatsoever. We’re talking a fraction of a millimetre. The attachments were then temporarily bonded to selected teeth using a white filling material to match the shade of my teeth.
Now in place, the attachments act as little anchors, allowing my future sets of aligners to 'grip' onto my teeth, giving a much more predictable result in the long run.
I can already feel the difference the attachments are making. My aligners now feel much tighter and firmer. It’s more difficult to take the aligners out because of this, but it’s something I am getting used to. Check back in a few weeks to see how I’m getting on...
See below a recap of how my teeth are going to move over the months. I
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.
