Say Cheese!

I’ve never been fond of my teeth – I’ll thank my dad and his wonky teeth for that! At the start of the year, like everybody else on the planet, I thought I’d head in to 2013 with the best intentions of getting in shape, cutting down the junk food and finally sorting out the only thing I’ve ever really felt self-concious about – my teeth. Well, the former hasn’t worked out too well so far (this girl just loves cheese far too much) but I’m already a few weeks into shaping a brand new smile, and I couldn’t be more excited about it.

As you might have seen me mention on Twitter, I took the plunge and decided to get Invisalign braces. If you’re not familiar with them, they are clear plastic trays that you pop over your teeth, aligning them over a certain period of time. Based on the responses I got – a fair few of you have had Invisalign yourself, or were interested in getting it, so I thought I’d write about my experience so far on here and answer any questions you might have about the process.

You might have noticed (there are a fair few pictures of my mug on this blog) that I don’t smile with my mouth open, period. As soon as a camera comes out, I’ll find myself covering my mouth or feigning that closed-mouth smile I’ve become accustomed to. But I got fed up with that – I want to be able to talk on camera or have a candid shot taken without worrying about it. After a little bit of research, I found Invisalign to be my best option. I didn’t have braces as a teenager (I was offered them aged 16, at which point I was far too interested in boys to agree to a mouth full of metal), so I was worried that my teeth would be too overcrowded for the procedure – but after visiting my practitioner, I was told I was a suitable candidate. Yay!

Now, I’m far too self-concious to show you a picture of my teeth in their current state, but if I tell you that on my bottom set I have a tooth sitting in front of the others, I hope you can understand. Give me a few more months and some progress to share and I might just set myself up a YouTube account and show you ; )

After getting the green light, my practitioner (Azamay, for anybody in North London – they have been amazing!) took pictures of my teeth to send off. Then it was time to have impressions of my teeth taken. This involves biting down on goopy blue plastic stuff – not much fun! When the results were back, I was told that I would be wearing my Invisalign for two years, but this can vary based on how much work your teeth need. A few weeks later, my trays had been created and it was time to start getting used to wearing these big bits of plastic in my mouth every day.

I’m currently wearing my second set of aligners, and have SO MUCH more I could write, but think it’s best if I open up the floor to questions or I’ll be here all night! So, if you’re interested in Invisalign and have any questions, drop me a comment – I’ll compile them in to a super FAQ post – and perhaps even a video if I can muster the courage. If you’re wearing Invisalign, or braces, do get in touch too! I’d love to hear your tips and experiences – this is tougher than I thought it would be!

Thank you for making it through a post that isn’t full of pictures! x

I have been given a discount on my treatment by Align Technology, creators of Invisalign, in exchange for writing the above, however the views expressed here are my views only and not those of Align.