My Invisalign Experience (Part 1)

Sunday 12th August, 2018.

I don't think you can ever truly know how something will turn out until it has actually happened. Take getting your hair dyed, for example. You can envision a perfect shade of brown with beautiful chestnut highlights, but does that mean this is what you'll get when you put that packet dye on your head? No.

This is how I felt towards my Invisalign treatment. Yes, you've read it... I've decided to go for Invisalign.

Before I continue, I'll give you the quick basics of how the Invisalign process works.





1. You make an appointment with your dentist to speak to the Invisalign specialist. You turn up and talk through what you'd like to have done.

2. A mold of your teeth is made and sent off to the Invisalign lab, where they make a video of the step by step process of how your wonky wonders turn into your dream Cheshire Cat smile.

Expectation: a thick liquid that is pressed into your mouth... Maybe a little bit of a dull ache? Fits around nicely for a couple of seconds and comes off with ease.

Reality: a thick liquid that is pressed into your mouth and feels like it's about to drip down your throat, making you wonder if this is how you were about to die - death by tooth molding. Small mouth means that my jaw feels like it's about to fall off.

3. You pay a deposit for the video to be made.

Expectation: a Hollywood film of your teeth transformation with Michael Bay explosions and all-star cast totally to a £50 deposit.

Reality: a basic video (still quite cool though) of the gradual transformation, week by week of your teeth. "That's a £200 deposit, please" - ouch. You pay your deposit of £200 on your first visit with the molds being taken, you then receive a phone call around 2 weeks later asking you to come in to check the video and make sure everything is ok.

4. You confirm that you're happy with everything and ready to go full steam ahead.

Expectation: You're super happy with the video; you love how your teeth ate going to look. You assume you have to pay some money towards it, maybe £500? They do need to be made after all.

Reality: you're super happy with the video; you love how your teeth are going to look. "That's £1,500" - double ouch. Before the video was sent off, the Invisalign specialist did warn me that due to the overcrowding of my bottom teeth, it was highly likely that I would need to have some teeth removed. THANK GOD, when the video came back she confirmed that I will not need any teeth removed.

All jokes aside, I knew that the treatment was going to cost £2,995 overall. Standard train tracks cost not much less and so I thought that getting invisible braces for a little cost more was a no brainer.

I had done research into Invisalign, but not as much as I think I should have done. I was under the impression that they would be completely clear and would simply slot in and out for your mouth.

Now this could be the case for some people who have straighter teeth, but this was not the case for me. What I mean by this is that I actually have fixtures stuck to my teeth for the duration of my treatment (which is 9.5 months, btw - different for everyone). So when wearing the Invisalign, there are bumps along them (almost as if a train track was there) and I was not expecting this.

The Invisalign specialist had mentioned fixtures before, but I didn't really think to question it. I just assumed that considering they were supposed to be invisible braces, you wouldn’t be able to see anything no matter what you done? Either way, I was not particularly happy with the way my mouth looked once they were in.

They feel quite dry against your gums and slightly rub them where there may be some areas sharper than others. The fixtures are made up of a liquid that is then shaped and dries out on your teeth (well, I think so anyway…) and this can mean that bits leak around the teeth and make it hard for you to clench your teeth properly. If this is the case, MENTION IT. It is easily removed.

Once the fixtures were attached to my teeth, she slotted the Invisalign to my teeth and explained that this can take 30 minutes to take in and out and that it just takes a little while getting used to. 

Now bear in mind I hadn’t seen my mouth at all at this point, I had no idea what to expect. All I knew is that it felt like something was in my mouth and pushing my lips out.

When she held up the mirror, it was extremely hard to hide my disappointment. What I thought was going to be completely thin, hard to see, transparent braces actually turned out to be quite thick, shiny transparent braces – I am currently referring to myself as Jaws from James Bond.

We agreed that I would pay for the first 19 sets of braces and then I’d pay the remaining amount once I had got closer to the 19^th set. This totalled up to £675, leaving (I think) £630 for my final payment.

After having my mouth poked, shoved, prodded and invaded by all sorts of painful objects, it's safe to say I was not in the best of moods. Once I had left the dentist, I definitely had a little cry... I felt like I looked hideous and I had so much regret about having spent almost £3k on something I was so disappointed in.

For both myself and anyone reading this, I have decided to do a monthly update on the world of Invisalign, with this post being the first instalment. Although it seems like I'm slagging the whole beginning experience of Invisalign, I am currently my 4th week in and have plenty more to say (I promise, it gets better). However, I will not be posting my 1-4 week update just yet.

Until next time...