Goodbye Invisalign

It's time to say goodbye to Invisalign on here because the journey is over. Well I'm wearing the Invisalign retainers every night because I certainly do not want to undo all the hard work but that doesn't require an update every so often.

I had my attachments removed almost three weeks ago now and it just feels like yesterday. I slightly miss them but it's such a relief to have them off, to not have to remove my aligners every single time I want to eat or drink.

I'm not going to lie and say that I followed the rules completely because I didn't, every now and then I would drink through a straw instead of removing them. Or I'd have a polo without taking the aligners out (quick call the Invisalign police). I'm now debating whether I should be confessing to that just incase my dentist happens to read this...sorry Ihsan, I'm only human not perfect! :)

Despite not always following the rules I'm beyond impressed and pleased with the results...

In less than a year I've gone from ever so wonky teeth to so much more improved, straighter teeth. I started this treatment with the hopes of just lowering one tooth that was too high but once I'd got the attachments and aligners I soon realized that most of my teeth were wonky. I was just so obsessed with this one tooth.

So I've gone from hating my smile to absolutely loving it! Whenever I'm near a mirror now I end up randomly smiling like some kind of a looney tune (only when I'm alone that is).

Admittedly they aren't what some would class as 'perfect' but what is perfect? Absolutely nothing in life is perfect, everything has it's imperfections and I mean everything. The person you see online (who has the ideal life) will have their own bundle of imperfections/insecurities, I certainly have. Since posting pictures of my new smile I've had nothing but kind, lovely comments but I still pick myself apart. I'm guessing gradually I will become a little bit easier on myself but after years of picking out my little flaws it's going to take some time.

After years of having one tooth that stuck out I was worried that it had become part of me, part of my character, part of my identity and I'd miss it. Boy, was I wrong! I do not miss it at all! Admittedly I keep thinking it sticks out more than the others still but I think that's purely because I've been thinking it for years.


Teeth are weird things to look at on their own so I've decided to change the photo to black and white instead. Black and white effect makes everything look a little nicer right? I've considered whitening them but I'm slightly scared of having them whitened (plus that ruins the enamel on your teeth). I do not want to turn out like Ross Geller!

I mean seriously, look at those results! Invisalign is worth every single penny.

I'm not going to lie and tell you that it's easy peasy, it isn't. It's hard work, you need to have a lot of determination and be motivated (I wasn't always but I'm only human, not a robot). It's ok to slack a little bit sometimes during the treatment process (I'm sure you dentist wont approve of it) but if you do fall back it's ok, don't be so hard on yourself but make sure you get yourself back into things as soon as you can. My mum admitted to me a few months ago that she is surprised I managed to last the whole process. Well mum I did, I knew I was ready, in the right stage of my life, I knew I wanted straight teeth and that was going to take time and effort.

I'm so glad I stuck it out. There would be days where I just really couldn't be bothered with them anymore but to be honest I can feel like that about a lot of things every now and then so I just went with the flow. I knew my fed up days would soon be over and it would be worth it in the end, it really was.


If you haven't followed my Invisalign journey but would like to read all about it I'll leave the links to each post below.

'MY INVISALIGN JOURNEY, THE CONSULTATION...'

'MY INVISALIGN JOURNEY - THE IMPRESSIONS, PHOTOS AND XRAY'

'MY INVISALIGN JOURNEY - IT'S CLINCHECK TIME!'

'MY INVISALIGN JOURNEY - SO IT BECOMES REAL...'

'WHAT I'VE LEARNT SO FAR WITH INVISALIGN...'

'MY INVISALIGN JOURNEY - TIME FOR SOME EXTRA ALIGNERS'

'MY INVISALIGN JOURNEY  - THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE DOWNRIGHT UGLY...'

'ANXIETY AND INVISALIGN'


I've got to bring this post to an end at some point so I'll end it with a little message for my wonderful dentist, Ihsan at Bawtry Dental Clinic. If you live in the South Yorkshire/Nottinghamshire area and you want a new dentist or are considering Invisalign go visit Ihsan, you won't regret it. I'm struggling to put into words right now (I know, hard to believe?) what I want to say to you that I haven't already said Ihsan so I'll just end this post with a massive thank you, you've been incredible throughout this whole experience! Thank you for being the dentist to believe in me and make this possible. I'll see you in six months! :)

Anxiety lately...

Anxiety, you are weird. Sometimes in a little way, sometimes in a rather large way depending on what kind of day it is? I honestly don't know. Either way you are downright strange. I understand you are there to protect us, to make us aware of danger but sometimes there really is no need for you.

I'm being serious, sometimes you just aren't welcome.

I'm talking about when you are with me during my working day or when you're with me when I'm at home chilling. I'm talking about the other week when I was driving to work, feeling like a failure and I just burst into tears and turned back around. (I did later make it back into work and continued fairly normal). I'm talking about when you feel the need to make me worry about every physical sensation, the digestive system, every normal bodily function isn't a threat. So let's not treat it like one and we will get on just fine.

One minute I think I'm understanding you and the next thing you're making me question if I actually do really know you at all. I thought we was working as a team and were pretty understanding. We were getting along just fine until lately.

You're making me fear things that don't need to be feared, you know going to work isn't exactly scarily dangerous. I work with wonderful people who try their best to understand my mental illness but it's proving a little tricky to explain when I don't even know why you are like it myself some days.

Anxiety, lately you are a mystery.

One day I can manage things fine and then bam, not so fine anymore. A few times recently I've managed to get to work and then bam, something happens/hits me and I'm rushing home as fast as possibly can.

Anxiety, what is your problem?

You're making downtime a struggle, I'm talking about going to football. I've been going for over a year now but every now and then you like to make it difficult, why? I sit there so on edge, so uneasy, running through my mind 'do I really need to go to the loo now?', 'am I going to become ill and not manage to make it home?' 'what if we get stuck in traffic?' 'what if we break down on the way home and it takes someone hours to come and save us?' 'what if I'm ill in that time?' 'what if I throw up here?' 'what if I really need to go to the loo and there is a massive que?' 'what if I become seriously ill here?'.

Anxiety, you really are weird. But you know what, it's ok to feel anxious. It's ok to cry. It's ok to break down. It's ok to not be ok.

Of course, it is also absolutely ok to cry and share your troubles with someone who can't answer you back...

Hope you've all had a good day, if you haven't that's ok. Try again for a better day tomorrow.