Invisalign - Clincheck

My Invisalign journey started two weeks ago, but my ‘perfect smile’ story probably began in my early teens. I think teeth are so important and have always been in awe of that perfect Hollywood smile (think Kate Beckinsale). While all my friends had braces I felt like the odd one out as I didn’t ‘need’ them. This is incredibly silly as really there was nothing wrong with my teeth and I should have counted myself lucky, but as ever, I wanted them to be better! Fast forward ten years and as my wisdom teeth started coming in all of a sudden there was not enough room and I noticed some progressive movement as my front two teeth began to crowd in a little more than before. This was coupled with me grinding my teeth in the night (probably due to stress), making my bite a little uneven and exacerbating the issue. So, when Invisalign contacted me to ask if I would like to try out and review the system I jumped at the chance! I have had so many questions from you guys when I mentioned it on twitter so I will be doing lots of updates throughout my journey.

For my first consultation my teeth were examined by the dentist to check if they were healthy and suitable for treatment and we talked through what I was looking to achieve. I must at this point reiterate that mine may be a minor case, but there was definitely room for improvement to straighten the front teeth, close a small gap on one side, realign the arch and push my teeth forward a little to create more space. After this my teeth were also x-rayed to check that the bone was strong enough and just to once again make sure the roots were healthy.

A few weeks later the ClinCheck process began with moulds of my upper and lower teeth being taken and sent away to create a 3D image. To do this my mouth was injected with a gel that set around my teeth. This was a little bit uncomfortable, much like getting a mouth guard fitted at school, but it only took a few minutes. The specialised ClinCheck software is an integral part of the treatment to review and determine the goals for each stage. ClinCheck builds a 3D mapping of the teeth and allows to demonstrate the series of movements that the teeth will go through as the treatment progresses, reviewing each stage and showing the final expected results of how the teeth will look at the end. You can see my little video below that shows what my teeth look like now and where we are hoping to get to in 6-9 months.

After discussing the images with my dentist I was happy to begin the treatment. I think the final results look great and I can’t wait to see the movement at each stage. It took a few weeks for the trays to come and to set up my appointment for the first ‘fitting’, but I will be updating you all shortly with how it is going as I am currently on tray number 1! So far most people haven’t noticed, though I do feel somewhat self conscious. Lots of photos to come in the next post so please do check back if you are interested and if you want to know more about Invisalign please do check them out here.

Are you looking to achieve the perfect smile? Have you heard of Invisalign? 

*I have been given a discount on my treatment by Align Technology, creators of Invisalign. The views expressed here are my views only and not those of Align :).*