Toronto Invisalign...Brand New Year...Brand New Smile

Happy New Year! Hope you all enjoyed the holidays and had a wonderful new years! Just like BBQ season in the summer, the holidays are full of dinner parties and lot's of food/treats.  Once again, this was a little challenging with Invisalign, but I made it work.  As funny as it sounds, I made sure I had a travel toothbrush on me whenever I went to a dinner party at someone's house.  I would sneak into the bathroom and have a quick brush before putting my trays back on.  This worked a little better when I was at my close relatives homes because I didn't have to sneak around to brush my teeth.  I also went to New York City this past week and it wasn't as hard to keep the 22hours/day as I thought it was going to be.  Luckily I was always close to a bathroom (private not public) so it was easy for me to have a quick brush if need be. I would say the only hard time was when I went out for dinner or a night out in the town.  During those nights, I would have a thorough rinse with water, put my trays on and brush both my teeth and aligners when I got home. 

Right now, I am in the process of midcourse correction.  Just before the holidays, we did another iOC scan to help adjust/change my treatment.  This is very normal and can happen to some people.  Unfortunately for me, I missed my IPR (interproximal reduction) date which caused my next aligners to not fit as snug.  Although this happened, I'm not worried at all in terms of my treatment.  I know I'm in good hands and my treatment is still progressing well.  It will almost be a year since I first started Invisalign. My teeth have aligned really well so far. I'm actually starting to get a lot of compliments and many of my friends and family are noticing a big difference with my smile and top two front teeth.  It's definitely a self esteem booster! 

I will be posting some progress photos of my teeth before the end of this month to mark my one year of wearing Invisalign. Hope 2013 is off to an amazing start for all of you!

Keep smiling =)

SMILE! Say Cheese.....with your Toronto Invisalign attachments!

Ever since I started Invisalign, two of the most common questions I get from patients about attachments are, "are they very noticeable in the front?" and "will they stain easily?"  I actually have 4 attachments on my top front teeth (lateral incisors and canines). I have gone through numerous 25 min Invisalign appointments talking to patients face to face (no mask), about 1-2 ft apart and they still never knew I was wearing Invisalign! I usually tell my patients that I have Invisalign at the end of the appointment because it puts them more at ease knowing that it's barely noticeable even 1 ft away. My attachments are slightly stained and that is due to my love for green tea and Chinese/Indian food! When drinking green tea, I usually use a straw to reduce the amount of staining. I also suggest to all my patients that they have a very thorough brush right after eating/drinking foods/liquids that will stain their attachments easily.  I would recommend using a whitening toothpaste as this may help with the attachments slightly. 

For everyone who is self conscious about stained attachments, or just attachments in general, I've posted a collage of close up smile pictures (of myself) from Feb 2012-present. I tried to find pictures of myself with and without the aligners on to show you the difference. Most of these were taken at restaurants so you'll notice that I wasn't wearing the aligners at the moment.  Here are some of my Invisalign attachment pictures :

Real life Invisalign attachment pictures

I would love to hear your feedback on how you feel about your attachments! Thanks for reading! 

Keep smiling =)

50% Done Invisalign with Unionville, Ontario Orthodontist!

We had such a busy last few months leading into September at MCO's Unionville Orthodontist office.    Most parents don't want their kids to miss school, so summer is a really busy time at the office.

Outside of the office, we had some great weather.  So now that the summer bbq's have come to an end, I'm secretly happy because I don't have to constantly take my aligners on and off! As stated in the title, I am about 50% through my treatment! My teeth have moved a lot! My upper two front teeth (previously overlapped) have shifted so much that I'm actually comfortable smiling from ear to ear.  The overlapping was always something I was self conscious about.  I honestly can't wait to see what they will look like in 5, 6, 7, 8....12 months!  

One topic I wanted to write about today was headaches.  I am very prone to getting them (3-4 times a week) and I realized it only got to this number after I started treatment.  I was expecting this to happen because 1) I was already getting headaches and 2) Ortho treatment can cause headaches due to the movement of the teeth.  I will admit that every time I change into a new aligner I get a headache.  Even though I always switch into new sets at night time, I find myself waking up with a headache.  Invisalign is not the sole reason for this, but they do cause tension on the teeth which can lead to headaches.  This is also the case with braces.  When switching into my last 2 sets, I took some Tylenol before going to sleep and it did relieve the severity of the headache when I woke up in the morning.  Some of our Invisalign patients at the office told me they experience this as well, but they know it's only temporary during treatment.  If you are prone to headaches/migraines, I would recommend you switch into your new aligners at night time and use chewies often to reduce any soreness.

Speaking of chewies, many people are not familiar with them.  For anyone who has Invisalign or is planning on getting it, I definitely recommend you ask your Orthodontist to provide you with chewies.  Chewies are rubber like rolls (looks like a cotton roll) that you chew on to stimulate your blood flow and relieve any discomfort.  Here's a link to a video made by Dr. Tam a few years ago (not sure why the video is so shaky, but you'll get the point):

Aside from all the shifting and aligning, more people are starting to notice my Invisalign.  Maybe it's because I'm constantly smiling?  It's not my family or friends that are commenting, it's the cashier at a local pharmacy, my banker, sales associate at a clothing store, and even my high school teacher! The one thing we all have in common is Invisalign! All of us are currently in treatment.  The sales associate actually stopped me in the store and asked me several questions regarding Invisalign (She knew I was a hygienist).  We ended up talking for 20 minutes!

I had some progress photos taken today to share with all of you.  You can see the direct comparison of how my teeth looked when I initially started to now...

I'm loving the progress so far! 

Hope you guys are enjoying the Fall/Autumn season! 

Til' next time, keep smiling! =)

Invisalign IPR - aka interproximal reduction, slenderization, polishing, discing

Hi everyone! I'm sorry I haven't been able to post in over a month. This summer has been really busy.  I've attended many BBQ's this summer and I admit it has been a little difficult at times with the aligners. I found myself constantly removing the aligners to quickly snack and then put them back on. Eventually I would just have one meal (main course at the bbq) and that's it. I would say that was the only down fall to the aligners this summer.  I still maintained my 22hrs/ day very well. There may have been 1-2 days I only got 20hrs in. Overall, I'm still very content with Invisalign and would definitely recommend it to anyone who can find an experienced doctor to work with. I'm still going strong with only a handful of people noticing! I'm hoping I can keep this up for another year!

A few weeks ago I had 1PR (interproximal reduction) done. Dr. Tam, my Toronto Invisalign orthodontist and boss :), used a thin disc (like sand paper or a gritty floss) to create 0.2mm of space between some of my upper and lower anterior teeth. This space is barely noticeable and it helps the teeth move in a certain direction for the following stages. I posted a video to show you what the IPR procedure looks like. Feel free to comment or ask any questions!

I just realized that I only have 50 more weeks to go until I'm done treatment! There are so many changes happening to my teeth and I can't wait to see the end result! 

Thanks for reading everyone! 

Keep smiling =)

Markham Invisalign Journey So Far...

Hi everyone! I apologize for my overdue blog post. I am currently halfway through aligner 9 and noticing some changes. According to my simulation, my anterior teeth are all being pushed forward to create room for movement. The posterior molars will not be shifting because they are already aligned.  My once inseparable lower front teeth now have an even larger space between them! I'm definitely not used this. Although its 100 times easier for me to floss in this area, it's also the number one food trap! I've also noticed that my smile is starting to look a little different now that the teeth are slightly pushed forward.  A few people have also commented on this.  It doesn't really bother me because I know it's part of the process.

As for my attachments, they are not as white as they were in the previous pictures I posted.  I am an avid green tea drinker and as we all know, tea in a culprit for staining teeth. I'm also East Indian, so a lot of our ethnic foods stain easily. My attachments are slightly stained, but nothing out of the ordinary. I also try to drink all my liquids through a straw to prevent staining.  I noticed that using a whitening toothpaste directly on the attachments reduces the staining slightly. I've been using whitening toothpaste for several years now with a Sonicare electric toothbrush. I brush for the normal 2-3 minutes and then spend an extra 30 seconds - 1 minute just on the attachments. This stain reducing method may not work for everyone, but it has been for me so far.

Here are some progress photos that were taken a week ago.

By the way, no one has noticed the aligners yet!

Keep smiling =)

Invisalign Progress ! =D

I know it's been a few weeks since my last post so I thought I would give an update as to how I am doing with Invisalign in Toronto. I am currently midway through aligner #6 and I'm noticing some movement.  There is a slight space between my lower incisors and I can feel my upper canines starting to move as well. It's all so exciting! I've realized that each aligner has different pressure points.  For instance, with aligner #5 I felt more 'tightness' around my lower incisors, whereas with aligner #6 I'm feeling pressure on my upper canines. As strange as this may sound, I actually enjoy the soreness that comes along with the aligners. It makes me feel more at ease because I know my teeth are moving. Even though there is only slight movement so far, I find myself in front of the mirror staring at my teeth several times a day. I will post pictures next week to share my progress with all of you.

On a side note, it's week 11 and no one has noticed yet! I'm hoping I can keep this up for another 73 weeks =D

My MCO Invisalign Experience: Invisalign Attachments

I had my attachments placed on one week ago at MCO Orthodontics.  Attachments are little bumps that are bonded to specific teeth to help move them in certain directions throughout your treatment.  The number of attachments varies per person.  In my case I needed 13! Thankfully they aren't very noticeable.  After getting used to the first two aligners, it was a very strange feeling to have 13 little bumps on my teeth.  When I first put on aligner 3 with the attachments, it was so difficult for me to remove the aligners due to the 13 attachments.  I'm still using the same removal technique as shown in the video, but I found a pattern that works better for me.  Everybody will find a technique that works for them.

Here's a video all about attachments made by Dr. Tam with my co-workers Aya and Mandy:

I bite my lower lip sometimes because of the position of one of the attachments.  Because I’m so used to having the attachments, I don’t realize I have them until I bite my lip when I’m chewing.  The feeling is comparable to “accidently biting on your lip.”

I can definitely feel my teeth starting to move now.  The aligners fit much more snug around my teeth and sometimes cause soreness.  However, I was expecting this to happen.  Traditional braces or invisalign will definitely cause some soreness because your teeth are shifting. The first 3 days of wearing the new aligners with my attachments on were a little discomforting because of how tight they fit.  Now that it’s been almost a week, I don’t feel a thing.

These past couple of days have been a lot better.  I’ve gotten used to having the attachments, but now I’m so paranoid that they will stain yellow if I don’t immediately brush after my meals. So far so good! Like I mentioned before, nobody has noticed that I’m wearing invisalign. I hope I can keep this up for the next year and a half!


I've posted some pictures of me getting the attachments placed on. There are a few steps involved.  Enjoy!

 It is really important that the saliva does

not touch the surface of the teeth in order

for the glue to adhere properly. This is why 

I have those white cheek retractors in my mouth.

 After placing the attachments on a blue UV light is

used to help harden the glue. 

After removing the trays, all the attachments must 

be properly trimmed to allow the aligners to fit

correctly. This is the most tedious part of the 

appointment because the attachments shapes must be 

very accurate. 

Voila! All my attachments are on and I am wearing

aligner 3. You may be able to see the attachments 

up close, but you definitely can't from far! It's great!

Thanks for reading!

Keep smiling =)