Invisalign update!

Hello! It's been quite a couple of months since I started on my Invisalign so here's a quick update!

Sidenote: I'm typing this out before I nap then head to my dental appointment in the afternoon haha.

If you want more info on the basics/FAQs of Invisalign, you can read my original post HERE. 

I'm currently on set #11, out of an original stipulated 14 sets!

I say "stipulated" as this number is always open revision if during the treatment you decide you need further correction. Of course you can't choose to shorten the time & magically expect perfect teeth!

Recap: Each Invisalign set is changed every 2 weeks, thus 14 sets means the course of my treatment is 7 months. And being on the 11th set means it's been about 5 months!

Gosh it's actually only been such a short time but I feel like I've had them for ages because I've gotten so used to them! Wearing them is second nature/without a thought.

Pictures below are however from my 5th set, which puts treatment at ~2 months!

Here's my dental clinic! 

- WEST COAST DENTAL -

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They have a few outlets; I usually go to Marina Square but on one occasion I went to their Bukit Timah one (located near Farrer Road). Marina Square is their newest outlet!

West Coast Dental Marina Square

Tel: 90303196

Raffles Boulevard #01-225 

Marina Square S(039594)

Monday to Friday:  10am – 8pm

Saturday: 10am - 5pm

P.H. & Sunday: Closed

On your first visit you'll get 2 Invisalign cases (for you to keep your aligners in during meals).

On subsequent visits the aligners are placed in these small pouches.

Each time you'll get 3 sets, which should last you 1.5 months! Each visit every 1.5 months is to collect new aligners & just to check that everything is going fine. Takes less than 15 minutes!

Of course if you're going to be away for a while or something like that, you can discuss with your dentist regarding getting more sets.

So on that day I received set #6, #7 & #8! Don't worry about ever mixing up the ziplocs or anything like that, as each aligner (top + bottom) has a small print stating which set number it is.

My usual close-lipped smile the last few years! 

I can't even remember how it was like to smile with teeth to be honest. Even though my teeth now are much, much straighter so I should lose the self-consciousness, I'm still not used to it!

AND SMILING WITH TEETH.... *drumroll*

Haha ok to note once again that this photo was taken after 2.5 months of treatment!

Surprisingly I can already see a difference.

The insert shows my teeth at the start of treatment, cropped from a picture in my first post!

You can already see how my front 2 teeth are less Bugs Bunnyish!

I'm not quite sure yet if it has affected my face shape! 

For some cases, protruding/uneven/whatever not jaws & lips can be corrected by getting your teeth fixed! It's hard to know without speaking to your dentist!

For my case, at the start my dentist informed me it wouldn't change my face much as I didn't do a large correction (mostly straightening & pushing back). However I'm still wondering if it has!

Unfortunately I see my face every day luh...

So can't tell hahahaha. And also I have stopped taking as many selfies as I did years ago (I swear) so I'm less up-to-date on how my face looks LOL. Previously I used to take pictures against a blank wall for adverts & so on, so a difference would have been easier to spot. In fact that was when I realised my teeth had shifted & were starting to look really obvious in pictures !*cries*

Here's a picture I took very, very recently. Clearly, on 31st December.

Don't know if there's a change! 

I'm wearing my aligners in this picture; set #11, so 5+ months treatment.

I'm out of focus so that she's in focus! #selfsacrifice

Invisalign is really great at being unnoticeable; most people get a shock when I suddenly take out my aligners before meals! (yah I have no shame I don't do it in private or anything haha)

As I have been repeating to my friends, if you're going to spend money on something it should be your teeth because that's really for a lifetime! Plus if you're going to look better, why not start younger right? And especially at your prime? Plus more years to enjoy looking better? LOL.

Call 91785634 to arrange a consultation.

Marina Square is currently still offering FREE consultations!

P.S. Quote my name to get a special rate on your Invisalign!

** Also take advantage of the fact that the Marina Square outlet is not yet charging GST! **

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And on to dinner at Hippopotamus after my appointment...

Just right opposite the clinic in fact!

When I was living in France as a child I ate at Hippopotamus all.the.time as it was one of those children-friendly family restaurants with activity books for each child at the table & so on!

So I was quite excited when it came to Singapore, though I must be honest that as a child I had no inkling whatsoever whether their steaks or even their food was good.

All I cared about were the free balloons you take home luh...

So now as a discerning 24-year-old connoisseur (lol), I must say I'm impressed!

The steaks were good & really value for money! I would definitely return.

Plus the pommes gratin (potatoes with cheese crust) & mushrooms were super yummy!

Major love both my sides (you can choose others). 

OM NOM NOM NOM

Everything on my plate was yummy!

Ok bye! Meeting my friend for coffee before my appointment as her slot is 2pm & mine is 4pm haha.

P.S. Do you guys obsess about what you eat/drink before a visit to the dentist's?

Invisalign!

YAY!

Been wanting to get Invisalign since forever & now I've finally just started my first set!

I'm getting my Invisalign done at West Coast Dental! And no, it's not located in the West haha. They do have 2 outlets there, at West Coast Plaza & Bukit Timah Road, but I go to their newest outlet at Marina Square, which is much more convenient for me since I live in the North/Central area.

They're very busy at their 2 West-side clinics with waiting times of up to 2 hours, so the newest outlet at Marina Square is to cope with the increasing demand & especially for people who don't want to travel all the way there! It'll be very convenient for those working in the city area.

Website

Facebook

Marina Square Dental Clinic

Tel: 90303196

Raffles Boulevard #01-225 

Marina Square S(039594)

Monday to Friday:  10am – 8pm

Saturday: 10am - 5pm

P.H. & Sunday: Closed

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First Visit

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For the first visit I actually thought it would just be an all-talking consultation, just see-see my teeth & so on. That's why if you see my pictures below... I didn't even bother wearing contact lens. 

I rolled out of bed & went to the clinic lol.

This is because... West Coast Dental isn't the first clinic I've gone to keen to do Invisalign.

I actually went to another one last year, but they were really unprofessional & it stopped there.

Won't name them outright but initials are T.A. & located in the city/Central area as well.

At T.A., they made me go for 3 VISITS & there was NO progress.

First visit, talk talk blah. Second, take moulds for the aligners. Third, for nothing?! They basically asked me to go down after work, just to tell me that, Oh yeah we've got the moulds of your teeth, should be preparing the aligners soon. MY TIME FREE IS IT?! Was really pretty annoyed at all the inefficiency.

So for my first visit to West Coast Dental I expected a similar timeline (maybe minus the 3rd visit that was really for nothing - maybe they missed my face -) but I was really pleasantly surprised at how chop chop everything was! After it was settled that I was keen to do Invisalign, Dr Lim took the 

1) X-rays

2) moulds of my teeth

& 3) cleaned my teeth in preparation for the aligners

And ta-dah! Slightly over a month later, I had my aligners! :D

Here's Dr Lim getting the moulds of my teeth!

#chapalangcomfydressing

Doing the X-Ray!

And so here are the moulds of my teeth from which they'll make the aligners!

Then teeth cleaning in progress...

I know they say teeth cleaning should be done once a year or something like that but... I can I do it more often?! The feeling is awesome! You'll be like... "wtf I never knew there were gaps between my teeth". I mean of course you knew, but you never felt them so distinctly with your tongue.

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Second Visit

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So this is where I get my first set of aligners! :D

I haven't explained at all what Invisalign is but I think by now everyone has a rough idea right?

It's basically completely transparent & works in a similar way to braces, except that they're not glued to your teeth since you can remove them to eat, brush your teeth & change to a new set!

Each set is worn for approximately 2 weeks & then you change to a new set. Thus each set progressively moves your teeth more & more towards the desired outcome, in a similar way to the regular tightening that has to be done with braces.

The main difference is that Invisalign is completely INVISIBLE, whereas braces are extremely conspicuous. I wore braces for a year when I was 12 years old, but my teeth shifted so much in the next 10+ years because I wasn't given retainers to wear (which keep your teeth in position).

Now that I look back on it, I realise I was basically scammed. I had no tightening done & no retainers. I basically wore an ugly wire on my teeth for a whole year for nothing.

My first box of aligners! This contains 2 sets, meaning they'll last me for a month.

The cases the aligners come in! It's important to keep them in their cases at all times (Xiaxue was very, very strict in lecturing me about this haha) because it's extremely common to accidentally throw away your aligners when you place them on tissue/by your plate/on your food tray/etc!

Trying on the aligners for the first time!

Very easy to put on & take off!

The black words on the aligners will say something like, U 01, which means Upper Aligner #1!

But it's impossible to mix up your aligners (between top & bottom at least) cause they're just too different since they're unique to your upper/lower teeth at that precise moment.

Whether it's possible to mix up aligners between weeks... That one I dunno & don't intend to try lol.

With Dr Lim & Candy, who will be responding to consultation queries!

By the way... I haven't mentioned that there's a TV in front of your seat to keep you occupied haha.

After all, it's pretty boring to just sit there. I wish hair & nail salons would all implement this too!

On my first visit I remember they were screening Ice Age 2 but can ask them to change/start over!

With Dr Lim again, the main dentist at West Coast Dental! He graduated from NUS Dentistry & has been practising for 24 years. He's very popular with his clients & I can see why! He's very gentle & very approachable & will explain things simply for you.

West Coast Dental at Marina Square!

The first time to West Coast Dental at Marina Square might be a bit confusing because Marina Square is so big & walk one end to another like can die one.... I don't really know how to explain it but I knew the area because I always identified this section to have more aesthetic services such as slimming, nail salons & waxing parlours than others.

Follow directions ok? See the mall directory.

Or you can call the clinic if you get lost!

I can only say that it's situated opposite Hippopotamus restaurant (fml I misspelt that)! It's not too far from Coffee Bean as well as a ton of other cafes which means I end up eating with each visit :x

I don't know if anyone noticed that I smile with my mouth closed ALL THE TIME.

I used to smile with teeth, but at some point (around 2 years ago) I noticed my teeth were shifting & I became really self-conscious because I felt they were so obvious in pictures.

And let me tell you... it's impossible to Photoshop bad teeth!

The most I can do is make my front 2 teeth slightly smaller but that was it. I couldn't make them look straighter, or overlap properly, or not make my smile look so Bugs Bunny T_T

#wouldlook10timesbetterifmouthwascovered

#buaytahanfront2teeth

What especially annoys me is that stupid gap/unevenness on the right side >:(

My bottom actually looks okay when you see it on its own.

But the top... annoying >:(

AND THE MAIN PROBLEM IS THIS.

When I close my gums, part of my bottom row overlaps the top row wtf!

My upper row USED to overlap the bottom fully (which is correct) but slowly it became like this wtf.

TEETH, U THINK VERY FUN TO KEEP MOVING IZZIT?!

And the worst part was that because I could no longer bite down in the same way, my lower jaw had to move forward to accommodate the new overlap. Which means... MAKE MY JAW LOOK EVEN LONGER & POINTIER %#&^@^$. Teeth, you will be the death of me.

*shakes fist*

Trying on the aligners myself!

Wearing the aligners!

My usual pursed-lip smile.

Can't see them right?

Here's my teeth close-up. Still not really visible!

Only if you look reallyyyy closely (which would be kinda creepy) can you tell there's a clear layer over the teeth, but otherwise it's inconspicuous. I've had my aligners for almost a week now, & no one noticed I had them till I removed them for meals!

Pretty much forgotten how I look like smiling with teeth. Looks so foreign to me now! O.O

P.S. By the way I thought maybe I was over-stressing things about my teeth shifting but I casually mentioned it to Qiuting & she was totally like YAH I can see it in all your pictures. So since then I stopped showing my teeth lol.

Onwards to a nice smile!

Oh some FAQs (I assume):

* Personally I should be wearing Invisalign for 7 months, but it will differ from person to person.

* My teeth felt achey for about 2 days, but it was frankly nothing compared to the first day of braces. I remember they hurt so bad I had problems eating & sleeping.

* YES you must be disciplined & wear them as much as possible! It's recommended to wear them for 22 hours a day. Just keep telling yourself the more you wear them now, the faster you'll be done with them! When I was tempted to take them out due to the ache, I told myself that if I did that it's just dragging out the achey feeling. Better 2 days of moderate ache than 7 days of ache-a-bit-here-there.

Plus the more you wear them, the faster your teeth will be shifting to their rightful positions!

* From what I know, Invisalign costs around $8k for the full course, but it will depend on person to person & how long your treatment is & so on! So the best is to go for a consultation for your teeth...

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Quote my name to get a special rate when you do Invisalign with West Coast Dental!

For the months of August & September, CONSULTATION IS FREE.
It's the best occasion to get all your questions answered as well as a quote on your teeth!

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Contact 90303196 to arrange a consultation!

P.P.S. Thanks to Xiaxue for the recommendation!