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Invisalign in Bangkok

So I’m on ‘tray’ 22/31 which means I’m over two-thirds through my Invisalign Journey here in Thailand. I can honestly say meeting Doctor Ken, Thailand’s best Invisalign guy, at Thantakit Dental Centre 9 months ago was one of the best things to have happened to me in recent years, honestly, it’s had that much of an effect.  Having spent years super self-conscious about my teeth I’m so delighted to have finally taken action. For anyone who has had insecurities about their smile, you’ll know how it feels. Smiling with your mouth closed, speaking to people face to face but kinda angling your head away from the conversation, these things becomes second nature to us. It’s really terrible.

On top of that, people’s perceptions of you can be deeply affected all due to this lack of confidence. You smile less despite the fact you may be a positive person, so people assume you’re not so cheery. And then suddenly you start to fix it, smile more, get your pic taken more often, feel more positive because people perceive you to be more positive due to this new inclination to show your teeth! All of these changes, for me, have been entirely subconscious, but feel free to look at my pics on FaceBook.com/onestep4ward and you’ll see how infrequently I would smile in pics, and now during the last few months, how I have no issues with it. It’s startling, the difference, actually.

Improvement

Each month it gets better and better, and it’s so exciting. Even after 2 months or so I could notice the difference, but now the change is honestly quite startling. If I was to finish with my treatment today, I’d be pretty happy to be honest, so to have 3 or 4 months more is actually really exciting. I used to hate my front top tooth, it was a weird angle and stuck out, I HATED it, it’s almost completely shifted to where it ‘should’ be. But now I see improvements in areas I never noticed before! The midline is straightening up, the bottom teeth are almost not crowded anymore, these are little issues I never even realised I had before – but now I’m this far down the line, I want all the improvements I can get, so I’m so happy everything is coming together!

Also, from the CGI video they showed me at the clinic just before I had my first set of trays, I saw that the last quarter of the treatment should have the biggest/most dramatic change so I’m really looking forward to that too.

Losing Your Trays

So I lost my first trays this month. Eeeek. I was traveling in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Dubai and Oman this month and I was eating a delicious Shawarma in Salalah, Oman so I popped out my trays to eat, and put them in my pocket. Then I was in a bit of a rush to leave so didn’t put them back in my mouth instantly after eating like I usually do, walking back to my hotel, I dropped the Invisalign out of my pocket, I had no idea though. 5 minutes later, back at the hotel, looking for them I discovered I had lost them. Damn.

I wouldn’t be back in Thailand for another week so I was so worried that my progress would be stunted, fortunately I know what I’m like with regards to losing stuff, so I had the previous set of trays as a ‘back-up’ in my bag, so I popped those in for a week instead. Then when I came back to Thailand I immediately popped my new set in and thankfully they fit in fine, if a little snug! No damage done. My advice would be to always have the last set of trays in your bag as a back-up, especially if you’re traveling, or on holiday. Losing a tray and having nothing to put in your mouth would be stressful as hell!

Pain

For sure losing my current trays, then going back to a 2 week old set, then jumping to a new set meant the pain was worse so for a good 3/4 days a couple of my teeth were a little painful to touch but nothing unbearable.

Generally speaking, over the last couple of months I feel like the Invisalign pressue has picked up a little, so the fit is a little more snug and the pressure a little higher, but ‘pain’ would be an exagerration, it’s really fine and in fact I quite like the feeling, because it means you know the trays are forcing your teeth into a better position so it represents progress and I hugely look forward to putting each new set in!

Discipline

What can I say? Worse and worse. Aaaaagh. So for sure I brush and floss when I wake up and go to bed each day, but carrying around floss and toothbrush for lunch/dinner etc? I’ve completely given up on it, which I know is awful and can result in cavaties but a whole year or so carrying it around? I can’t do it. If you’re the kind of person who always has a bag with them (ladies?) then it’d be easier, but I don’t carry anything other than my phone and wallet so that’s a little tougher! I’m rationalising it by saying “As long as they’re straight, I’ll be delighted, I can deal with cavaties etc when they’re perfectly straight!”, awful attitude but after years of hating my smile, the thought of a nice smile but with a cavity or 2 is still a win.

So there we go! 2/3rds done and I’m  very happy, I have another appointment with Dr Ken tomorrow to get my next 4 trays (8 weeks of treatment) so hopefully that goes well, and I’ll be done by August, yaaaaay!