Wow, its been a long time since I last blogged!

Hello....
Yes its been AGES since I last blogged! So thought I better post some after pics etc etc etc!
Its been 8 months since I have finished treatment.... so happy to be finished! My teeth are still perfectly straight and haven't moved at all! I have been wearing my vivera retainers faithfully each night (although I did forget twice and realised when I woke up and my teeth were naked!!!).
Brett did an amazing job with my bridge work and the whole process has been money well spent!
For any of you who are wondering if you should go for invisalign... just DO IT!!!!!! and for those of you who are currently under going treatment..... it is well worth it and it really is just a moment in time!

 Before treatment

After treatment

Top arch before treatment

Top arch after treatment

My bottom arch prior treatment

 My bottom arch after treatment

Before

After

Me with Brett

 Me with Lee-Ann

A little update.....

Hello.....
Well, its been well over a month now since I finished straightening my teeth. I'm very used to the wires now, they don't bother me at all and I have no problems flossing - I use Oral B super floss which has a stiffened end to easily poke through.
Its great not having to watch the clock anymore and eat whenever I want for how long I want and its even fantastic not having to brush my teeth at work anymore!
I am currently wearing my last trays as my retainers at night until I get my vivera retainers (after my bridge work is done) but one night I completely forgot to put them on!!!! ARRRRRGGGGHHHH! and I only realised the next morning when I woke up and couldn't feel any plastic with my tongue! but my teeth didn't move over night thank goodness!!!! (its great also having the wires on my teeth to keep everything extra straight! its like a back up incase you do forget!).
I whitened my teeth using 2 tubes of something starting with O? sorry, I can't remember the name of it but I found that it has given my teeth a natural looking whiteness. I decided not to continue to do more tubes because it does cost $50 per tube and I don't want my teeth to look unaturally white/glow in the dark! So I'm happy with it all.
Today I had my teeth prepared for my bridges. Brett my dentist spent a lot of time drilling/filing/removing a layer off my back molars (next to the missing teeth) and then placed temporary crowns on those teeth which will stay there until my next appointment (in 3 weeks time - next available appointment) for when I get my bridges cemented on. I have to be really careful in what I eat over the next 3 weeks (no hard foods and no gum!!!) because these temporary crowns are made of plastic and simply glued on. It didn't hurt at all, it was just a very long process (1.5 hours!). I can't wait until I get my bridges done cos then I will be officially done, my smile will be COMPLETE!!!!!

First official full day of not wearing my trays!

Hello. 

Thought I would give an update on how my first official day with no trays was like! It felt weird my teeth being all naked with no attachments and no trays (just the wires behind my teeth). I've gotten used to the bottom wire quite quickly, it feels nice and smooth. The top wire feels strange, like I have a bit of chewing gum stuck up there!? but I'm getting used to it, I have taken a pic of the top wire so you can see what it looks like (it was the first time I saw it too).
I was able to actually have a snack for morning tea at work without worrying about having to take my trays out or rushing off to the toilets to brush my teeth etc! My lunch break felt extra long without the whole brushing/flossing routine! YAY! I chewed gum after lunch and kept rinsing my mouth out with water, a little paranoid about not having clean teeth! After 15 months of brushing after every meal, you get used to having such clean teeth, so now its back to brushing just morning and night.  I also kept checking in the mirror that my teeth haven't moved! LOL! talk about paranoid!!!
I got some Oral B Superfloss to floss underneath my wires, this superfloss is fantastic! It comes in a box of 50 ($10 NZ) and each floss has a stiffened end to easily poke in between my teeth under the wires which is perfect!!! I was a bit worried about being able to floss and keep things clean with these wires in, so I highly recommend Oral B Superfloss!
My current trays feel a bit loose without my attachments and with bits cut out to accommodate the wires.  Lee-Anne said they can make up a retainer (takes about 20 minutes) if my current trays break or get too yucky (been wearing them now for 4 weeks and won't be getting my vivera retainers until after my bridge work has been done end of November).
The other pic I have up is my current trays (#30 on the right) next to my 1st trays just so you can get an idea of the changes. The bottom first tray was very wonky with teeth that were pushing inwards and my top first tray shows a narrow arch and the big gap between my 2 front teeth.  You can also notice how far my overbite was!

Teeth straightening officially finished!

Today I had my dentist appointment to remove all attachments (NOT PLEASANT AT ALL!!!! FEELS LIKE MY TEETH ARE BEING DAMAGED!!) and wire put on behind my bottom 6 teeth and behind my 2 top front teeth. My teeth are officially straightened now! So here are a few pics without my attachments and with no trays......  Next up is whitening and I have decided I will get bridges for the gaps at the back, very expensive but will be worth it to complete my smile :)  YAY!!!!

I can't believe that I have finished! The time went by soooo fast! I now just have to wear my trays at night until I get my vivera retainers which will be after my bridge work has been done. My teeth feel so smooth without all the attachments!
P.S - I will put up further pics when my bridge work has been done (November).

Final tray - update and pics

Thought I would quickly add a pic with me wearing the very 1st tray compared with a pic of me wearing my current last tray so you can get an idea of how far I have come! Yes I know the first pic is totally HIDEOUS!!!! but it shows how bad my teeth actually were! Once I am completely done (buttons removed, whitening etc) I will put pics up of the final result - without the trays.....

Also..... I popped in to see the dentist yesterday to get 'dimples' put in my top tray behing my 2 front teeth just to help nudge them together a wee bit more. This morning I have taken them out to eat breakfast and can see that the dimples really work!!!! My 2 front teeth look perfect now! I'm really happy. Also I have decided to get a valplast denture (fake teeth) to wear so that my smile will be complete.... it is way cheaper than any of the other options (about $1.1K). Oh and I am having a 'Celebration for being finished with braces' party in a couple of weeks! YAY! Sooooo looking forward to being able to eat whenever I want for how long I want without having to worry about rushing to brush my teeth and pop my trays back in!

Final tray!!!!

Well, yesterday I had my dentist appointment with both Leeanne and Brett, hadn't seen Brett for months so he was very amazed at my teeth and how far I have come!
My teeth are exactly where they are supposed to be and still do not need refinements! YAY!
So last night I changed over to my final tray # 30!!!! As I was putting it in I felt a twinge of excitement knowing this is the last tray ever! Very soon I will be free!!!!!
I have to wear this last tray for 4 weeks instead of the usual 2 and that is to help the teeth settle into their final position so that I will be able to wear retainers at night without worrying about teeth shifting during the day.
My teeth are quite sore today, feels extra sore than usual...... this last tray is supposed to be moving only my 2 front teetht to bring them in line with the rest of my teeth (they are currently ever so slightly in front) so thats good!
I am very happy with my results but thought that the gaps where my missing teeth were would be more minimal than they are now (for those who haven't read my whole entire blog from start to finish, I had 2 teeth pulled up from my top arch prior starting invisalign to make room move my teeth back etc to get rid of my overbite) and they are still obvious when I smile big! No-one else is really going to notice this unless they are close up to me but I can notice it. I got a quote for bridges $6.5K (to do 2 x bridges) and a quote for implants $7.5K per tooth!!!!! OUCH!!!!!! So I think I will just have to leave it and accept the gaps. The main thing is all my other issues have been fixed - overbite, narrow arch, crowding, protuding front teeth with diastema and I will get them whitened when I am completely finished. So I am very happy, especially when I compare to my first trays - my teeth really were shocking!!!!!!
Anyway so I will post again in 4 weeks time with pics and details of my retainers etc :)

So close to the end!!!!

Just had an appointment with the dentist (Leeanne) and she is very happy with my progress. She doesn't think I will need refinements at all! I am due to change over to tray # 28 (out of 30) tonight which means only 3 more trays to go!!!!!! WOO-HOO!!!!
She said she will assess again at my next appointment in 4 weeks time (when I am due to change to my last tray) and if I do need refinements it will probably only be 1 or 2 trays!!! but at this stage she thinks I won't be needing any refinements! YAY.
She did clip the inside of my top aligner to help one particular top tooth move better (there was some name she gave it but I have forgotten what it was called). I will need to pop in sometime next week with my remaining aligners for her to clip them (she is away until then).
She also said wearing the rubberbands at night have really helped with my jaw alignment! YIPEE!!!! I am just sooooo happy that I am so close to the end!!!!!! All my gaps that I was worried about in my last post have nearly all closed and will do by my last tray.