In April of last year, I finally took the plunge and did something I had been wanting to do for a very long time - I made a consultation appointment at the Ollie and Darsh clinic in Liverpool to talk about my teeth options.
After making the decision at the age of sixteen that I didn't want a brace to put 'right' my overcrowded top row of teeth, I had pretty much regretted the choice I made ever since. As time went on and I got older, I became more and more self conscious - purposely refraining from smiling in pictures and feeling miserable when I did and then saw the results.
For quite a while I had been toying with the idea of getting veneers, but had heard mixed reviews and wanted to see what other options were available. With the help of the lovely Suzy during my first consultation, we decided that the Invisalign treatment was much better suited to my needs and from there on in everything got moving rather quickly.
Essentially with Invisalign, once moulds of your teeth have been taken, these are then sent off and a week or two later you will get to see an animated computer model of your treatment - showing what you can expect to achieve with your teeth from start to finish.
If you are happy with what you see then the clinic will let Invisalign know who will then create a custom set of aligners ready for you to pick up during your next appointment. Each set of aligners that you receive will differ slightly, meaning that every two weeks when you are required to switch aligners and put in a new set, your teeth will be moving a small amount further towards achieving your end goal.
Personally, I had to wear a total of 23 aligners meaning that my treatment lasted for just over a year in total (56 weeks). Throughout the entire experience I was amazed at how I suffered no pain whatsoever and can also honestly say that not one person noticed I was wearing the aligners.
Of course it takes a little while to get used to them. For instance, I noticed I spoke with a little lisp at the start of my treatment but that soon went away. And then of course, there is the fact that each time you eat you will need to remove the aligners and brush your teeth afterwards. Ultimately though, this just lead to my developing a far better dental hygiene routine with healthier, whiter (thanks in part to the free at home whitening provided at the end of my treatment) teeth at the end of it all.
If you are currently considering undergoing the Invisalign treatment then I would highly recommend it. It really has changed my life in that I am so much more confident now that I have a smile I feel proud of rather than one I want to hide.
On the Ollie and Darsh site at the moment, they are also running a 'One day only offer' where they are offering Invisalign treatments on 29.01.2015 with a £1000 discount compared to what they normally cost. So now really is the time to act!
If you've any other questions about my experience or what the Invisalign process itself involves, then please feel free to ask in the comments below.
