Annual Check, another cavity

Well, I’ve just returned from my annual dental checkup and so far all good news. Teeth are still in place and with the exception of a little plaque buildup in-between my teeth at the back, and a tiny cavity, all seems to be okay. I don’t blame the invisalign for the cavity. It’s in a position that’s extremely hard for me to reach when cleaning my teeth. However, my dentist has shown be how I can clean my teeth better to avoid anymore damage in this way.

All-in-all I’m pleased with the visit. I’ll be visiting the hygienist for a clean and then to dentist to fill in the little cavity. After this work I’m going to whiten up my teeth again as they’re looking a little faded and darker. More than likely this is due to my bad coffee and red wine habits.

I will post some more pictures closer to the whitening.

Thanks for reading.
Adam

A year and a half later…

WOW – has it been that long already? I cannot believe it’s been 18 months since I finished my invisalign treatment. I just thought I would leave a quick update to let you know how things are going. I have to say I’m overwhelmed by the number of visitors I’m still receiving. Thank you.

I have an appointment with my dentist for the end of december for a checkup. I’m hoping there’s no further problems with my teeth, since the cavity incident. I’m also going to visit the hygienist for a clean and then when they’re checked and clean I’m going to book in for some LED whitening to brighten them up. Since I had them whitened before they have faded somewhat again (my love of coffee and red wine doesn’t help). I will come back and let you know how the checkup goes, and then after the cleaning I will post a picture so you can see how my teeth are looking now, 18 months later and as a comparison to before and after the whitening.

Thanks for reading.
Adam

Invisalign finished, before and after photo’s.

Well, It’s been a loooong journey! Since I started this blog, I’ve been travelling around the world with Invisalign, I’ve played sports with invisalign, I’ve had an interview with Invisalign and started a new job. I’ve gone through a lot of experiences since I started and I have to say it’s been pretty easy with all things considered.

Many people feel the pain at the beginning when starting Invisalign to be too much. It was painful at first, but after a while you get used to it, and towards the end you’re feeling satisfied that you’re hurting as you know your teeth are moving into their final positions and you cannot wait to finish.

I’m having whitening done soon, so these before and after photo’s are without whitening. As you can tell, they’re not Hollywood piano teeth, and they’re not perfect, but for me, from what I went from, and what I have now, I couldn’t be happier! I had the bottom of the top teeth shaved ever so slightly to remove the appearance of a chip in the tooth, and I think they’ve turned out great. I love how they’ve turned out, and I’m so confident and always smiling in pictures now. In a recent job interview I was smiling all the way through and it was commented that I was confident in front of the interviewers, which was down to Invisalign giving me the results I wanted and the confidence with it.

I will come back here to update every now and again if there are any updates or developments as I go along, but for now, I will leave you with my penultimate before and after photo’s. Please leave me a comment if you have any questions.

My Invisalign pictures, before and after.

Thanks for reading
Adam

My Invisalign refinements could be finished

I had my final appointment with my orthodontist today. My front tooth wasn’t completely turned, and I’d suggested one more refinement, however, he pushed a small bump into the aligner to force extra turn in the tooth, which I think is a new technique because I’ve never had it before. It creates a small bump either side of the tooth to add further rotation, and it feels like it has done the trick, I think refinements are over.

I’m due to book one final appointment for a couple of weeks time, where I will get impressions for my retainer, and also have another filling done (which I am not happy with). I’m going to speak to him to find out his views on Invisalign causing cavities because it’s concerning to me that 5 cavities have shown in the past year.

Once I have been for the final check I will post some pictures here for you to see the final before and after results. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Thanks for reading
~Adam

Does Invisalign cause cavities?

It’s a simple question. A question I would like to put to you, any experienced or new Invisalign users. I’ve just discovered my 5th cavity in the space of a year, since starting Invisalign. One or two cavities I could have put down to coincidence, maybe even three, however, five in a year just seems odd. I’ve done some research on the internet, as you do when these things happen, and I’ve found other people to have similar problems to me, they’ve discovered cavities whilst on Invisalign. I know the warnings are there, that you should take care of your teeth, and I do. I clean, floss and try to look after my teeth, but still I have these cavities. Other people have reported up to eight cavities since starting Invisalign.

So I wanted to ask opinion here, and see if anyone else has come across a similar problem to me, a similar problem that cavities seem to be a serious side affect of Invisalign. I know it’s a warning, but a very serious one that I think people don’t take into consideration when chosing orthodontic treatment.

Anyway, I just wanted to put that one out there to see what reactions I get. It could all be coincidence and I could be unlucky, as could a lot of other people…

Thanks for reading
~Adam

Ouch… I needed a few fillings during Invisalign!

I thought I would post a small update, from over here in Bratislava, Slovakia. I’m on my Christmas holidays and had a check up with a Slovak dentist here (a very good family friend), and it turns out that I needed some fillings. I knew I needed at least on filling but my orthodontist told me that he wouldn’t do any treatment on my teeth whilst I’m having Invisalign.

After the check up with the dentist out here, it turns out I needed 4 fillings in the top teeth. I have to say I was a little shocked, having never had a filling or any work done on my teeth in 28 years. However, it needed to be done, no matter how worried I was. I’d only ever seen the TV with horror shows depicting dentists as nasty places to go! Lest face it, no one really likes having their teeth drilled now do they?

So I had the four fillings done, and my teeth feel a little weird now, but the good news is there’s no impact on my Invisalign trays with the fillings in. I only have one more tray to go after this one anyway, so I thought it would be ideal to get them now, or rather my girlfriend did

Okay, so that’s a small update – I’m off now for some more awesome food, mulled wine, and snowboarding.

Thanks for reading
~Adam

A small update before I’m done.

So I realised I’ve not been around here for a while. I’m well into my refinements, and they’re looking good – however, I’m not going to post any pictures just yet.

I am on number 7 of 10 trays for my refinements and am really happy with how they’re turning out. They’re looking really straight. The only issue I have at the minute is the uneven bottom for the top front teeth because of the movement it’s highlighted some chips, but I’m hoping to have this sorted out when I go in for my final review in January.

As for now, I’m getting ready for the holidays, flying out to Bratislava to spend Christmas with my girlfriends family. So I will return in the new year, with new pictures for what I hope will be my final comparison for you..

Thanks for reading.
~Adam

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My refinements have arrived.

Okay so last week my refinements finally arrived. But it took a call from me to find out – apparently they’d been sitting at the dentist waiting for me to call to make an appointment, but how was I to know that they were ready.

Anyway, I’ve got to have another 7 aligners on the top, and no further ones on the bottom. But I also have another 3 added to the 7 for ‘space saving’ which is where they move the teeth in closer together if required at the end of treatment just to finish it all off.

So in all I’m a little dissapointed that I’m going to end the year as I started it – in braces – but I’m looking forward to now having a clear ending in sight.

I’ve one attachment now for the rest of the aligners on the side, so fortunately nothing on the front of my teeth again.

I won’t post any pictures now because they’re the same as the previous post, but will update again in 6 weeks after I’ve been for some more trays.

Thanks for reading.
~Adam

Final before and after photo’s… However…

….I’ve not completed.

I knew for a while that I didn’t think the final results would be the end of my Invisalign journey. I could tell I’d still need a certain about of work done to my teeth after I’d finished the prescribed course. Well today I visited my Orthodontist and he confirmed I was eligable for the refinements and we began the process.

We discussed what I wasn’t happy with, and specifically a couple of the upper teeth had not rotated correctly, so we’re going to correct that, then cap/level out the bottom of my teeth as a few chips in them give them an uneven look to them.

I will start with showing you the before and after Invisalign photo’s here; then discuss what I had to go through to get the refinements.

From the front:

From the side:

From the other side:

View of the arch bottom & top:

As you can see I’ve come a long way from the original look of the teeth, and all this achieved in just under 9 months. I am very pleased with them, and constantly smiling, however I don’t think the pictures do them justice. However they do a good job of highlighting the inperfections, which I would love to get corrected. These being the uneven tip teeth and the various chips in my teeth.

So as you might be able to tell, I’ve had the attachments/buttons removed from my teeth, this was a little painful actually, I think the constant suction drilling of the attachements to remove were the cause of this.

So moving on, in two weeks I should have my new trays, I’m unsure how many I will need thus far, but will come back with an update. I’m only amending the top, and going to sort the bottom with a little more cosmetic dentistry.

As always if anyone has any questions, please do leave me a message and I will do my best to get back to you.

Thanks for reading.
~Adam

One final tray to go!

So tonight I’m switching to my final aligner on the bottom, My teeth are not to dissimilar from the pictures below in a previous post, so I wont post any more up yet – however I will be posting my final before and after in the next two weeks. This will also then serve to be my before – middle – after once I’ve finished refinements.

I have been tracking a lot of other blogs recently, and have updated my blogs list at the top so make sure you check them out – but for me, I will be back in a couple of weeks after I’ve been back to the dentist on my final review – the appointment is on the 2nd July, so I will make sure I get some pictures up the night before.

Here’s to finally getting to the end of the initial treatment, and I’m looking forward to getting to the next stage of refinements

Thanks for reading
~Adam