Invisalign Refinements Update (18 months later) | Cracked Tray, Stained Tooth, Gums & Bite

Surprise surprise... although it shouldn't have been such a surprise. I need refinements. Here's how the process of getting refinements went.

My bite (my biggest concern going into this) continued to be rather terrible. The "it hurts in the roots of my teeth to chew on this side" kind of terrible. And despite my best efforts and continued optimism till the last 7 days... I messaged my ortho and sheepishly told him that things weren't right. He agreed. And I was sent on my way to wait for refinements. "I'll take good care of my trays" were my last words... and alas. The tray Gods heard me and immediately decided to cause a hairline crack. Now it didn't look like much, I will admit, but I knew it wouldn't tide me over for another 4 weeks. I snack a lot. And so I plodded back to the ortho's office. Where I was punished with one of the jelly moulds *ew*, to make a 'hold' retainer. It was fun to see the difference between retainers and invisalign. The take-home here was that invisalign is dainty and discrete.

Then refinements day arrived. I was curious if the stained attachments would cause permanent staining on my tooth. (as it was super high up the list of disclaimers I had to sign away in the beginning that invisalign MIGHT CAUSE PERMANENT STAINING. cool. cool). BUT NO, the o̶r̶t̶h̶o̶s̶ magicians assistant polished my teeth up beautifully. It was a good day.

Getting the refinement attachments on was easier than the first time. Now I had a slightly better idea of what was going on. My description may not be technically accurate, language may vary as I have no idea what I'm talking about. But I try my best. First step tastes like chemical acid. Then they put the attachment liquid into the dots of a tray. Then, a-la nail salon, UV curing works it's magic. The guide tray being snapped off sounds a little alarming but don't fret, my teeth all stayed put.

100 days of refinements had flown by, and I was on tray 10, the final refinement tray. [the audio on this clip is A LITTLE POOR, because I wanted to try filming on my NEW PHONE, so OOPS there are SUBITILES AVAILABLE]. The ortho had mentioned shaping my teeth a little to make them prettier. I wasn't wild about the idea but was open to persuasion. My front teeth on the bottom are worn down a little flat, and could see the aesthetic potential. Teeth shaping is a thing that can happen, but my ortho never mentioned it again. I was delighted by the end-point of my treatment. Exactly on schedule for the original timing plan. Then I sprinkled in some before & after invisalign shots! Yippee!

00:00 I got refinements
00:29 I thought it was over but it's not
03:53 Cracks in aligner
04:56 A new retainer to bide the time
07:52 Refinement day
09:30 So... I got refinements...
19:52 I'm 100 days into refinements
25:09 Before & after montage


Subscribe to see more of my invisalign journey.

Twitter @EmmaIsSandy



#Invisalign #InvisalignUK #InvisalignJourney #InvisalignSmile #InvisalignJourney