My Invisalign Experience Week 1 - 4

Tuesday 21st August, 2018

So it's 4 weeks later (since starting my invisalign treatment) as I'm writing this post and it's been a very interesting 4 weeks at that. There have been ups and downs with the teeth and I'm going to be brutally honest when saying I'm still not a massive fan of how they make me look.

Week 1
Going back to the moment I had the Invisalign first fitted; it's hard to explain how I looked and felt, as people said I looked no different, but I definitely did. The thickness of the Invisalign was causing my top lip to push out more and created the most obvious lisp in the world. It was actually very hard to speak and I found I was often tripping over my words trying to get them out (it doesn't help that I naturally talk very fast).

The first day was without a doubt the hardest. It was Thursday 19th July and I had them fitted during my lunch. The moment I got back I made my way towards a 'learning week' session and it involved a lot of talking - it was horrible. I was doing my best not to talk, despite the best efforts of others and I felt like having a go at anyone that was trying to make me talk more, as it was VERY CLEAR I DID NOT FEEL COMFORTABLE.

Obviously throughout the day there were moments I HAD to talk. Because my gums were not used to them, I found that by the end of the day they were insanely sore and ripped to shreds, the same as my tongue. My lips were swollen and my tongue was swollen... I really was not prepared for this.

On Friday I got myself some Orajel to help with the pain, and it worked an absolute treat (for the 5 minutes it lasts, anyway) but I was still left insanely down from the £3k loss and horrible plastic shit in my mouth.

I was away for that weekend and for the most part didn't wear the braces. I avoided wearing them as much as I could and when I wasn't wearing them I felt a fraction better... But I still had the fixtures attached to my teeth, which were making me very self-conscious. Unfortunately I found that it did effect my mood for the entire weekend and I think even winning the lottery wouldn't have made me feel better about myself. Thankfully, despite the annoyance of my braces, I still had a lovely time (as I always do when I'm away where I was) and despite my flickers of moodiness, he was still super chill (don't expect anything less).

Having not worn my braces for the weekend, my gums and tongue had healed and from Monday the braces were back in full time and the ripping of my tongue and gums never occurred again.

I would like to note that it is advised to wear the Invisalign 22 hours a day for best results.

Wonky bottom teeth

Week 2
Each week is a new set of Invisalign, with the shape of the brace changing ever so slightly. Almost unrecognisable.

For the first week, my teeth actually had no pain. I did notice the braces were there, and yes every time I spoke to someone I did have my hand over my mouth (and looked like a right knob doing so) but I had no pain.

I was also relieved that my gums were back to normal - the speech thing, not so much.

From the mood the Invisalign put me in for the first week and a half, I found that I was skipping meals and setting back into bad habits. Admittedly, it had caused me to lose 7 pounds. I had been told that some people lose weight as a result of the Invisalign (it's a great way to cut out snacking because it can be painful to clip them in and out) but I didn't think it would cause such a drastic weight loss for myself.

From taking them in and out and eating in between, you can find that towards the end the brace starts to become discoloured and is actually a little gross once you compare it to the next set ahead. Because of this, I highly recommend carrying a toothbrush and toothpaste around with you so you can get all the food out of your teeth before putting the braces back in (imagine how gross it is trapping food for a full day against your teeth).


Week 3
At this point, I've found that I look forwards to each Thursday of the week because (despite it meaning a day of tooth pain) it meant I was one week closer to having straighter teeth and not having to wear them again.

I've found my coping mechanism is to refer to my teeth as a pregnancy. Pregnancy is 9 months and I have 9 months left... I am holding hands with a pregnant lady and waiting for a happy ending.

I'm still talking to people with my hand over my mouth, but I'm also getting a little more used to them. I'm not going to say I love them, because I don't but I have started to get used to and accept that they are going to be a part of my life for the next 9 months.

I have started to compare each set to the previous set and have noticed that they stain very quickly - it's actually quite gross, really. I do brush my teeth two times a day and I often brush my teeth midday after food (it is really easy to stain the invisalign)

Week 4
I have found that this week is the hardest week so far in terms of getting the invisalign on my teeth. Even though there doesn't look like much of a difference, there definitely is one. This only lasts for the first day of putting them in and then I find my teeth adapt very quickly.

There is no pain whilst they're in, but a lot of sensitivity when I have taken them out, so drinking cold water can be quite painful and I find I have to wait a good 15-20 minutes before eating something (otherwise it feels like my teeth are going to fall out).

There's not much difference this week to any other week other than I am starting to notice the difference in terms of putting the first set in.

Overall it doesn't appear like much is different, but it is starting to feel it.