I can't stop smiling: My two-year journey to perfect teeth

I AM finally nearing the end of a long journey with my teeth. This stage has been ongoing for the last two years, but in reality, the journey started in my teens.

I have always had wonky teeth. When I was younger the top set were the issue and I had teeth like fangs when I was a teenager. I got braces for the top and it’s funny because I can vividly remember the conversation with the dentist where he was assessing my bottom teeth, that at the time were a little crooked, but he dismissed the need for braces, saying that no one ever sees your bottom teeth.

That conversation came back to haunt me in later life when, during the various pregnancies, my teeth went on a journey of their own and ended up overlapping significantly.

I had been thinking about getting braces for years as an adult, but when I was in the trenches and the children were small, I just couldn’t get my head around it. Maybe you get to a point when the children get older where you can start to think about putting yourself first.

Living rurally, even just a few short years ago, there were less orthodontists or Invisalign dentists to choose from too. There is also the expense, they are not cheap but with my dentist (and I assume many offer this service) I was able to spread the cost over a year.

I started this current process about two and a half years ago with Dr Darryl Barry in Beecher Street Dental in Mallow, who does Clear Braces (which is an umbrella group of dentists doing Invisalign). I had train tracks when I was younger so I felt drawn to the Invisalign because it is slightly less noticeable.

Initially, I had to go for an assessment during which moulds were taken (that element of the process has changed now with no need for moulds anymore it’s all digital imaging) and sent away to see my suitability for Invisalign.

I also had several x-rays taken which built out the picture of how my teeth were likely to move.

Aside from the obvious overcrowding on the bottom of my teeth, I also had a cross bite and some of my teeth at the back weren’t meeting correctly so my bite needed work too, therefore it was never going to be a simple straightforward process. Before I began with the aligners, I had to have a tooth removed on the bottom to make space, and honestly it’s a very painless process, so if you are reading this and the thought of getting a tooth out worries you, I can assure you it is not worth the worry!

I started with a set of 20 aligners and initially I wore each one for ten days before moving onto the next. To ensure my teeth moved, I had to have little grips attached to my teeth and these do tend to discolour a little over time, the longest I had one set on for was eight months, but in between the dentist was able to clean them a little. However, I felt mine were quite noticeable when the aligners weren’t in.

During the first few months there was so much movement it was amazing. It took about six months for the gap on the bottom to close up and a further six for the teeth to straighten into place there. I had to wear the aligners for 22 hours a day, so you basically just take them out to eat. When I first got them, they felt very invasive and sore, and during those first few months of big changes, each time I moved onto a new aligner it was slightly uncomfortable.

They were also awkward to take out at first, so if you were eating out with friends, you’d have to pop to the toilet to wrangle them out of your mouth. Over time, though, it becomes second nature and it actually feels strange when you don’t have them in.

I had a second set of about 20 aligners as the gap at the bottom still needed work, as did my top in terms of straightening them out, and the second set also set worked on my cross bite.

I then had a third set of 29 aligners, which to be honest were the ones I found most tedious because it was the bite at the back they worked on so it was slow progress. There is an order to how teeth are moved too, so that element couldn’t have been done earlier in the process, and regardless of how tedious it was, I was going to stick at it until it was right.

Finally, two years later I got the grips off my teeth and now I just have a plain retainer to wear every day for the next number of months. After that, I will have to wear a retainer at night probably for the foreseeable future but I don’t mind. My teeth are absolutely beautiful, they are so straight and perfect. I am so glad for every single second of the last two years and I can’t stop smiling!