End of my Toronto Invisalign Treatment!

I can finally say that I have completed my Invisalign treatment! It's been a few weeks since I finished my last aligner and moved onto retainers. I did have a filling re-done on my upper central incisor. That same incisor is very prone to moving forward throughout the day which is why I opted for a permanent fixed retainer behind my front four teeth. One of our hygienists Emma bonded the retainer for me. It is secured in with resin (glue) on each tooth and a wire that is bent to the grooves of my teeth. It took me about 3-4 days to get used to the retainer. I will admit that I didn't like it at first. I almost regretted getting it, but now it's really smooth and I barely notice it. After I had the fixed retainer bonded, an upper impression was taken to make a same day retainer (temporary). Emma then took an iOC scan of my teeth for Vivera retainers. Those take a few weeks to come in which is why I had a temporary one made at our clinic lab. Here are a series of photos taken that day!

Step 1: Bond the upper fixed lingual retainer. I have 2 cotton rolls under my upper lip which is why it looks funny!

Step 2: Retainer is bonded. Emma is taking an upper impression of my teeth to make a same day removable retainer (looks just like an Invisalign aligner)

Step 3: An upper and lower iOC scan for Vivera retainers

Step 4: While we were taking the scan of my teeth, my impression was poured up and a model was created. I then made a temporary retainer with this model!

Now for the most exciting part! Here are my initial and final photos! My teeth have come a long way! I started my treatment in January 2012 and completed everything by April 2014!

Tadda! What do you guys think? I have been receiving many compliments on my new smile! Having that perfect smile that everyone longs for truly does improve the way you carry yourself. I am no longer trying to cover my mouth when speaking or laughing (yes I used to do that!).  I am so grateful to have gone through this experience and achieve the smile that I have been waiting 10+ years for! Thank you to Dr. Tam and our amazing MCO team for helping me through my treatment!

P.S. Our hygienist Emma is in treatment with metal braces. She also writes a blog about her experience as an adult with braces! Feel free to check it out! http://stouffvillebraces.blogspot.ca/

Thank you for reading and following me throughout my Invisalign journey! 

....as always, keep smiling =) 

AcceleDent with Invisalign!

I am happy to say that my Invisialign treatment is almost complete! I will be having one of my fillings re-done this week. Once this filling is done, I will post before and after pictures to show you the final result. 

I wanted to talk about a product called AcceleDent. It has been around for a few years, but was just recently introduced to North America. AcceleDent is an extra oral hand held mouth piece. It has accelerated micro pulses to speed up the bone remodeling process during orthodontic treatment. It is used for only 20 minutes/day (consecutively) and great for anyone who has Invisalign or braces. Acceledent will help reduce your treatment time anywhere between 30-50%. This is huge for many of our patients, especially adults! It also has the benefit of reducing any discomfort and soreness. We have been offering AcceleDent to our patients for the past year and the response has been nothing but positive! We have patients in both Invisalign and braces treatment using it. The mouth pieces come in different sizes and forms to best suit your mouth. It is personalized to you. I wish AcceleDent was available when I started treatment! I was over 50% into my treatment when we started using it, so I wouldn't have benefited from it. For anyone who is interested in orthodontic treatment and concerned about the treatment time, definitely think about AcceleDent as an option. Here is a the link to the AcceleDent website if you are interested! http://acceledent.com/

I can't wait to share my final photos with you! 

Thanks for reading :)

Progress Photos With My Refinement Aligners

I am coming very close to the end of my refinement aligners and wanted to post progress photos from my first refinement aligner to now (stage 10). Here is a before and after picture: 

In December, my front teeth were not completely aligned, especially the centrals. You can see how my front teeth have straightened out very well and also look "rounder." I only have 2-3 more aligners of over correction to go! I can't wait to share my final photos with all of you! Thanks for reading!

Keep smiling :)

My Invisalign Toronto Update

This week I went into my 6th tray! Time has gone by really fast! I am halfway through my refinement aligners and can definitely notice a difference with my top 2 front teeth. My bite feels a little different on my front teeth now, especially when I am eating. Like I previously mentioned in my last post, my aligners have the new smart track material which feels much lighter on my teeth and also less tense. For this reason, I am noticing less tension headaches and soreness on my teeth. I also had some interproximal reduction (IPR) done between my upper centrals at week 3 of refinement. The weeks literally fly by and I don't feel any sort of discomfort with the aligners. I've come to a point in my treatment that I feel strange when I don't have my aligners on! I will be posting some progress photos soon to show you how far I've come with my treatment. Thank you for reading!

Keep smiling =)

Smart Track Invisalign Toronto Refinement Aligners

I started my Toronto Invisalign refinement aligners last week and they feel great! In late January 2013, Invisalign changed their aligners to the smart track system. With these aligners there is no sudden soreness/tension when you switch into a new set. The tension is gradual which has helped me when biting into foods that are more dense. These aligners are also very flexible and feel great on my teeth. My previous aligners sometimes felt very bulky, but I adapted to them. After trying on my refinement aligners, I was pleasantly surprised as it feels like I have nothing on my teeth! I have a total of 13 aligners with the last 3 being over correction. Below is a video of me showing the flexibility of the aligners.  Also go and check out one of my co-worker's blogs for her Richmond Hill Invisalign experience.  Enjoy!

Keep smiling and have a great weekend! :)

Goodbye to my Toronto Invisalign Attachments!

I am happy to say that my attachments have come off for my Invisalign in Toronto! I forgot what it feels like to have "bump-less" teeth. My teeth are so smooth now and not to mention, MUCH straighter! I've been getting a lot of compliments from patients, co-workers, family and friends! The process of removing the attachments was fairly quick. This was my second time having attachments removed. I took a short video of the way attachments are removed. I also have some updated progress photos. In my photos, you might notice that my upper anterior teeth still need some slight adjustments. I will be going into refinement aligners in a couple of weeks from now which will help align those teeth.  I was forewarned that not having attachments on my front teeth would mean a good likelihood that they would not be done after these sets, so I'm ok with this.  I also have a small filling on the mesial tip of the upper right central incisor, which is making it look more crooked than it actually is.  I might need attachments for that stage depending on what my orthodontist treatment plans for me. For now, I am just so excited to feel the smoothness of my teeth again! Enjoy the pictures and video!

What do you think? I have the biggest smile on my face right now after seeing how much progress my teeth have made. It's amazing! Thanks for reading!

Keep smiling! =)

Treatment Update with my Toronto Invisalign

Hi everyone! Last month I mentioned that my Invisalign attachments are coming off in a few weeks. The time has come and they will be coming off in 3 days! I will be posting a video of how the attachments are removed and some progress photos as well! I still have 2-3 more sets before I have another iOC scan for my refinement aligners.

On a side note, I've had less than 10 people notice my aligners since I began treatment! If you are someone who is concerned about people seeing your "braces," Invisalign is a great alternative! It's definitely something to inquire about with your orthodontist! Thanks for reading! I will have my next post up in 3-4 days!

Keep smiling :)