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POPPY’S INVISALIGN BLOG

I hope you’re all soaking up the sunshine and enjoying the beautiful weather!

I’m so excited to share that it’s time to kick off my Invisalign journey! After years of dreaming about the perfect smile, I’ve decided to take control and start working towards my dream smile. So, if you’ve ever been curious about Invisalign or are on your own smile journey, follow along with me as I document the process and share my results.

From a very young age, I never had a dummy, but I did have a thumb-sucking habit that I leaned on for comfort. While it was soothing, it did leave a lasting mark on my teeth – especially my top front teeth, which shifted over the years due to the pressure. At age 12, I was fitted with fixed braces in an attempt to straighten my teeth, and I wore them for around 3 ½ years. The moment I got them off, I was ecstatic to see a noticeable difference in my smile. But, I still wasn’t quite there yet. My smile wasn’t perfect, and I was determined to get it there.
Being so young at the time, I decided to wait until I was a little older to revisit my teeth alignment – knowing I’d be able to maintain that ideal smile once I got the treatment I needed.

Fast forward to November 2022. I joined Christchurch Dental, and that’s when I first heard about Invisalign. I had never considered it before, but I found the concept fascinating. The idea that Invisalign aligners are clear, comfortable, and removable made it sound like a fantastic alternative to traditional fixed braces. Over the past few years, I’ve seen many others go through the process and achieve beautiful results – and now, it’s my turn!

After an initial consultation with Dr Abdullah and a few minor treatments in 2024, it was finally time to move forward with Invisalign. This time last year, my dental journey took its first step, and now, my first aligners have arrived! My dental monitoring system is all set up, and I’m ready to begin the process.

It feels so exciting to officially begin this journey, especially knowing I’m doing it just in time for summer! There’s something incredibly motivating about starting fresh when the season feels full of possibility.

I’ll be sharing my experiences with Invisalign along the way, from the highs to the challenges. Whether it’s the process of getting the aligners, seeing the gradual changes in my smile, or just the day-to-day experience, I want to keep you all updated. I’m looking forward to the next few months of this journey and can’t wait to show you the final result!

Thank you for following along with me.

Stay tuned for updates, tips, and everything in between as I work towards my perfect smile. If you’re considering Invisalign or have any questions, feel free to leave a comment or get in touch – I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Tabby’s Invisalign Journey – Part 4

Hi everyone and I hope you have all had a wonderful Easter period! (Although this feels like a lifetime ago now!)

I spent the Easter bank holiday weekend down in Devon with my partner and his family which was lovely, although the weather wasn’t the kindest to us but we still had a wonderful time together. The week before Easter, I was away in Val D’Isere in France skiing for a week with my partner and my family – somehow the weather there, at 2,000m above sea level within a valley of mountains with snow all around, was much more pleasant and I even came back with a slight ‘goggle tan’!

Obviously, during the days and times when you are out of your normal routine is when you must adapt to make things work, and being on holiday can make things very difficult. I found that this was especially the case whilst being away during my Invisalign journey. I found my evening meals were extended during my time in France because of the various food courses we were having, so this did mean my time wearing my aligners was reduced. However; I think even Derek would choose the cheese and wine course over wearing the aligners for an extra hour!! Going on from this, it’s extremely important to use the chewies as this is what seats the aligners in place. As I was averaging about 20 hours a day in my aligners instead of the 22 hours as suggested, I was very cautious to use the chewies at regular intervals to make sure my aligners were seated as much as possible even in my reduced time of wearing them.

This is now my 4th Invisalign update for you all and I am currently in my 4th stage of aligners in my refinement process. I only have 7 aligners for this refinement so essentially, if my maths is correct… this leaves me with just 3 weeks to go! The whole process has gone by very quickly and I am still so impressed with how the treatment has worked. I remember when my attachments were first fitted to my teeth, I thought how am I ever going to get used to these, especially as I have one attachment on my tongue side of the tooth! But it’s crazy how the mouth, being such a sensitive area, adjusts to its new normal. Although, I say the attachments feel normal to me now, I am still very much looking forward to the sensation of running my tongue against polished, smooth teeth!

I hope you are all enjoying these updates and it has given you an insight to the Invisalign process and if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me and I will be more than happy to help you!

Tabby’s Invisalign Journey – Part 3

I’m back to give you another Invisalign update! Now this feels crazy to say but I’ve finished my first set of 20 aligners! It’s incredible to see how much my teeth have changed over the past 20 weeks; I can not only tell the difference in my smile but also in cleaning my teeth and the amount my food trapping has reduced. I have noticed using interdental brushes and floss to be much easier and quicker because of the positioning of my teeth now being straighter.

During my treatment, there have been 2 teeth that have been stubborn and have been flagged a couple of times whilst I have been scanning using the Dental Monitoring app. I spoke to Dr Derek about these and he recommended that I go for a ‘Refinement Stage’ where these teeth would be focused on to get them into their final position. I was happy to go ahead with this even though it meant having a few more aligners for a little bit longer. Therefore, I booked in to see Gabi to have an intra-oral scan completed and for her to take some photos to send off for my account with Invisalign. Dr Derek will then discuss with one of the team members from Invisalign my case and will be able to decide on how long my refinement may take and see what can be achieved. So, I am currently in my last aligner and will discuss with Dr Derek soon about what the next stages are and have my new aligners fitted.

How have I been maintaining clean aligners when I’m wearing them 22 hours a day?
I have been using a ‘Zima Pod’ to keep my aligners fresh and clean during this process. This is a cleaning device which uses ultrasonic frequencies to clean the aligners. The Zima Pod actually advertises to clean multiple intra-oral appliances, such as mouthguards, nightguards and even some dentures! It has been useful in giving the aligners a full clean alongside what I do daily with a soft brush and soapy water. I will continue to use my Pod once I have my ‘Vivera Retainers’ fitted at the end of my treatment and have already got other members of my family to try out the Zima Pod with their own nightguards and retainers!

Hopefully, I will have my refinement aligners fitted soon and these will complete my Invisalign treatment and I’ll be able to inform you with my end results the next time I write an update for you all!

Tabby’s Invisalign Journey – Part 2

Hi everyone!

I am back to update you all on how my Invisalign journey is going and any tips/tricks I have picked up along the way.
I am currently in my 12th aligner (over halfway there!) of my treatment plan and I have started to pick up on noticeable changes with my tooth movements and how things feel when I brush my tongue against my teeth.

It has also been very interesting to see how little of my friends and family noticed my Invisalign aligners when I talk. I often find that only when I was removing my aligners to eat/drink that people notice I was going through the Invisalign process!

During my treatment, I have been using ‘Dental Monitoring’ to help aid my Invisalign journey. This is an app which requires you to scan your teeth (using your own phone) and then by using digital AI it flags anything important to me, as a patient, and also allows Dr Derek to monitor my progress remotely. This means instead of having to book an appointment with Dr Derek, I am able to rely on Dental Monitoring to do the tracking for me and reduce my time in the dental chair. Obviously, this isn’t so much of a bother for me because I am at the practice Monday-Friday anyway, but I’ve realised how valuable this would be if I was working elsewhere and didn’t have the time available to be able to have regular visits to review my Invisalign progress.

A trick I have been doing during my Invisalign process is keeping a large Tepe in my Invisalign travel box, I use the Tepe as a brush so that I can quickly clean my aligners after removing them to ensure there isn’t any bacteria harbouring in these when I’m not wearing them. This helps to reduce staining on the aligners too and avoid any unpleasant tastes/smells.

My next blog post will be coming up around the end of my treatment plan. However, even though I say ‘end of my treatment plan’, I may go through a ‘refinement’ process if I want to make slight changes to my end result. This initial refinement is something that is complimentary to all Invisalign cases here at the practice. The refinement process is another set of aligners but is usually on a much smaller treatment plan as only small adjustments are needed. Only once I finish my current set of aligners will I be able to judge if I want to go through a refinement stage.

As always, I will keep you all up to date with my progress and I am always at the practice to answer any questions you may have.

Tabitha