The Finishing Touches

Last week I was back with the lovely people in Ace Braces to get my retainers fitted. I have a tiny wire on the back of my top and bottom teeth now to help keep them in place. They felt a bit strange at first but I quickly got used to them. I also have clear retainers (they look like my Invisalign aligners) that I wear every night. It's so worth it to make sure I keep my lovely new smile.

I have also been using the whitening kit that I got in Ace Braces. It has really been the icing on the cake and I'm thrilled with the results! I have some of the bleach left so I can top them up when they start to go dark from all the cups of tea! 

It's brilliant to be finished my treatment just before Christmas. The only downside is that I've spent a fortune on lipsticks to show off my new smile! I feel like it's a new accessory to my outfits now! Below is a picture of me heading to our work Christmas party at the weekend. Smiles all round! :) :)

The Perfect Smile :)

I can't believe it!!! My Invisalign journey has come to an end and I couldn't be happier with the results. At my appointment in Ace Braces yesterday, I got the attachments taken off my teeth. This is a very quick and painless procedure. When they were off we could really see the full results of the treatment. It was even better than I'd expected. I haven't stopped smiling since!

My new smile :)

When I had finished admiring my new smile in the mirror, I got impressions taken for my retainer, which I will wear every night to make sure my teeth stay in place. I also got a small wire put on the back of my teeth to provide extra insurance that they won't be move. It would be devastating now if they ever moved out of place. The permanent retainer behind my teeth will take a little bit of getting used to but I'm sure after a few days I won't even notice it. The only disappointment was when I came home and nobody noticed I had got the braces off! They said the Invisalign aligners were so clear that they didn't notice I was wearing them anyway!!!

Close up of the finished result!! 

For anyone considering Invisalign I can honestly say it will be the best thing you ever do (I'm not just saying it!!). The whole process has been so easy from start to finish. Kevin and the girls undoubtedly had a major part to play in this. They have been a pleasure to deal with. For a friendly, efficient and expert service, I cannot rate Ace Braces highly enough. There's always a friendly face to greet you in Ace Braces or a friendly voice on the phone if you need to reschedule appointments or have any questions about your treatment. Kevin and the girls take great pride in their work and are perfectionists when it comes to providing their clients with their perfect smile.

I was also delighted to hear that Ace Braces can provide teeth whitening kits, which is a perfect way to finish off the perfect smile. I started the process last night, which I'm very excited about. It will really be the icing on the cake! It just involves

placing some clear gel into my retainers at night for 14 nights, or less if I'm happy with the shade. I will let you know how it goes and post some before and after pictures too of course!

Tayto Park

I've had yet another busy couple of weeks (just how I like it!!). 2 weeks ago I went to Edinburgh for a weekend, which was a lovely break. We did all the usual touristy things and ate and drank far too much as there was a food festival on! I was popping in and out my Invisalign aligners so often to taste all the different foods that I'm now a total pro! As always I had the box for them in my bag and was able to discretely take them out without anyone noticing. Over the long weekend I went to Tayto Park with my little sister and her friend (I was more excited than they were!). I had never been so I really enjoyed it.

Even Mr. Tayto has Invisalign!!!!

I am wearing my last pair of aligners from this set now. I found this pair tighter than usual for around 3 days but I see it as reassurance that they're moving! I'm going back to Ace Braces next week to check my progress and decide if I will be making anymore refinements. I'm absolutely delighted with the results so far. I don't think my smile could get much better. I'll take a close up picture for you over the next couple of days so you can see the improvement :)

Back on the road...

I am now wearing my fifth set of aligners from this set. At this stage, it's just second nature to me to wear them and take them out before meals. I usually carry the box for my aligners around in my bag when I'm on the wards so that when I'm going down for tea or lunch it's so quick to pop them out and put them somewhere safe. I got loads of compliments from some of the nurses yesterday on how clear the aligners are and how straight my teeth are looking now. A couple of them are talking about going to Ace Braces for a free consultation. I'm starting a trend!!

In other news, I'm back on the road again! I got a new car last week and I'm really enjoying being independent again. I'm going to Dublin on Saturday to see the "Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime" play. I'm not usually one for going to plays but it got excellent reviews so I'll keep you posted on how it goes. Apart from that I've been keeping fairly quiet as I'm trying to rest my back in the evenings after work. Between my super quick recovery, my new job, my new car and my new teeth, though, I just can't stop smiling! :)  

New Job :)

I'm delighted to report I am now back on my 2 feet and will have completed my first week of my new job tomorrow. I'm loving the challenge so far and have really settled in already.

Today I put in my 3rd set of aligners, which I will wear for the next week. They feel a little bit tighter now tonight, naturally enough, but by tomorrow I won't even notice them. The girls in the office only noticed I was wearing them today when they saw me take out of the box after lunch. Below is a picture of me heading off to work and wearing my aligners of course! It's like a "first day at school" picture. My Mum insisted!!

According to the pedometer on my phone, I have gone from taking an average of 10 steps a day over the past five weeks to 10000 steps a day now that I'm working! So at only 9pm, it's bedtime for me!

Goodnight all!

Call me Grace!

My recovery since the accident has been going really well. I am walking without the crutches now. All sympathy and breakfast in bed is well and truly over!! Sitting around all day doesn't really suit me anyway. I'm delighted to be back on my feet. I have also had some extra motivation to get back up and about as I have been offered a 3 month contract as a speech and language therapist in Naas Hospital. Although it's a short contract I'm absolutely delighted to get the chance to gain some postgraduate experience. It also means I don't have to leave the country just yet. My family are very relieved!

A few days ago I had my appointment with Ace Braces to get my next 8 sets of aligners. Again, I will change each set of aligners every week so in 8 weeks I will go back to Ace Braces to assess my progress. At this stage I am so used to wearing the aligners that I barely notice they're there. Sometimes, when I'm talking, I notice that my mouth becomes quite dry when I'm wearing the aligners. This is a very minor inconvenience to have to deal with, though, in fairness.

With the accident I didn't get a chance to share photos of a job I did in the Shelbourne Hotel in August. It was definitely one of the highlights of my modelling career to date. I had the huge honour of modelling one of Grace Kelly's original dresses from the Newbridge Silverware museum. I doubt Grace Kelly had Invisalign but Rachel Kelly does so, as always, I wore the aligners for the whole evening and nobody passed any remark on them!

Still Smiling!

I have just had an eventful few weeks to say the least! I started a new part time job in an insurance company but unfortunately this was cut short as I was involved in a car accident on my way to work the week after I started. Luckily, though, I walked away (not literally!!) from the accident relatively uninjured.

I have a few fractures in my spine and a fractured shoulder but they are healing very well and I am starting to get up and about again thank goodness. My poor little car, however, is gone to Dacia heaven! But most importantly I don't have any permanent injuries and all of my lovely new smile is still in tact. All of the nurses in the hospital were intrigued by my Invisalign aligners as they hadn't seen them before. They are definitely a great conversation starter apart from everything else!!! 

Thank you Ace Braces

My new bedroom!!! 

When I was in hospital I received a beautiful orchid from Ace Braces, which was such a lovely surprise.  They have also been more than accommodating in letting me rearrange appointments. I am now wearing my 8th set of aligners. I have 8 more to go after this. To be honest I found it difficult to wear them as much as I should in the hospital as I was totally bed bound and couldn't get up to brush my teeth as much as I usually would. Now that I'm home, though, it's been much easier to put the aligners back in after meals. I am being extremely well looked after here! My parents have put a bed in the sitting room for me so that I don't have to go upstairs! I have watched almost everything on Netflix at this stage so if anybody is looking for recommendations just give me a shout!! 

The Refinement Stages

I don't know where the time goes but I am now wearing the 3rd set of aligners in this refinement stage of my Invisalign treatment. As I am now changing the aligners every week, they have been feeling a little tighter than previous ones. However, I've had the nurofen on standby each week and it hasn't been sore enough to take one yet! The headache of job hunting, and completing paperwork in preparation for emigration has been much worse! I thought emigration was the easy option. I thought, throughout college, that if I couldn't get a job in Ireland I would just get a cheap flight to the UK and get a job there. How naive of me! I've been told it will take at least 4 months before I'm even registered to work in the UK. For the moment, though, I'm not getting disheartened. I'm using this time to do everything I wanted to do when I was stuck in the books for the last 4 years. I went to Lisdoonvarna last week to visit my friend who is a resident musician in a hotel there for the summer.  Anyway, how could I not stay positive with this new smile!! :)

An update on travel, graduation and the final Invisalign phase

Firstly, sorry about the lack of updates here in the last month. Since my last post I have been to Thailand and back, I have graduated, started a new job and I have started into the last phase of my Invisalign journey.

I will spare you from hundreds of holiday photos but Thailand was truly amazing. You can't really go wrong with a bungalow on the beach, sun all day long, and amazing food and cocktails for a euro! When we were there we also went elephant trekking, zip-lining in the jungle and we learned how to cook like the Thai people. On our last day in Bangkok we visited a huge market, which spanned over 27 acres. I wish I had a picture of me trying to pack my backpack before home that night! Luckily they weren't as strict on the baggage allowance as Ryanair! 

 

 

2 days after I arrived home, I graduated from college. I am now officially a speech and language therapist! We had a lovely day and the sun shone all day, which is very unusual for Galway! I'm sad to say I won't get a job in Ireland for the forseeable future, which is a shame given the huge demand for therapy services here. However, I have applied for some jobs in the UK and I am hopeful that I will get work there soon. In the meantime, I have started a new waitressing job. I had forgotten how long and tiring the hours are but, at the same time, I'm grateful to have something to keep me busy for the moment. 

 

During this time I had been wearing my Invisalign aligners at night to keep my teeth in place as I waited for the next sets of aligners. Yesterday, I was back with the lovely people in Ace Braces to get started with my new aligners. I will have 16 more sets of aligners but I will now change them once a week, rather than every 2 weeks. This will speed up the process so I will be completely finished in no time. I got the attachments put on my teeth yesterday and I am wearing the first set of aligners. The attachments are slightly bigger this time but still very invisible. It will take me a couple of days to get used to taking them in and out when I'm eating and having hot drinks again. 

I'm off to work another 12 hour shift now so I better go and get a good strong cup of coffee into me! Enjoy the sunshine this week if it comes! 

Happy Birthday to me!

The celebrations continued this week as it was my birthday and I also found out I passed my final exams. Best birthday present I could have asked for!

My birthday meal

I also had my appointment with the lovely people in Ace Braces since my last post. I got the attachments taken off my teeth and I am absolutely thrilled with the results so far. Now, there are just a couple more refinements to be made to give me the absolute perfect smile. This will require wearing a couple more sets of Invisalign aligners. I got some more impressions taken and they have been sent off for the last few aligners to be made. In the interim, I am aligner free during the day and I just wear them at night to hold the teeth in place until I get the next aligners. I keep forgetting that I don't have any aligners to take out when I eat and drink now! I had become so used to it.


I am heading off on my travels to Thailand for 3 weeks in 10 days time. I will try to refrain from posting hundreds of holiday photos when I come home!!

Another reason to smile!

I have so much to smile about this weekend, apart from it being a bank holiday! Yesterday I handed in my thesis, which means no more college for me! I'm not really sure how I feel about this yet! While the exams and thesis have meant days of hibernation in my room, I've loved my time in Galway. Now, the daunting task of hunting for a job begins... But first, I am taking a well deserved break and I'm heading to Kinsale for the weekend with 9 girls from my class. To say I'm excited would be an understatement!

My Invisalign journey may also be coming to an end quite soon. It only seems like last week since I started! I am now wearing my 12th set of aligners and I'm loving the results so far. My classmates hadn't seen me for a while until yesterday and they couldn't stop complimenting my smile! I have an appointment in Ace Braces next Tuesday to assess my progress and decide if further aligners will be needed to make some extra refinements. Exciting times overall!

*Video* - Taking in and out my aligners

Below, I have attached a short video of me talking about my Invisalign experiences so far. I also show you how easy it is to take in and out the aligners. As I said before, the aligners must be taken out before drinking hot drinks.

When things go a little awry!!

I put in my 11th set of aligners last Friday but, as I took them out before dinner that night, one of the little attachments on my tooth fell off! Oops! I continued wearing the aligners as usual over the weekend. I was a little worried that having an attachment missing would slow down the process. This was the first time anything like this had happened since I started the treatment in October. 

Anyway, it turns out this was no big deal. First thing Monday morning, I rang Ace Braces and got an appointment to come in straight away. It only took 10 minutes for them to put the attachment back on - a very painless experience! 

Almost a week on now, and all attachments are still in place, and my teeth are really starting to move. I haven't stopped smiling all week! (This sunny weather is helping too of course!!). 

Pink hair, don't care!

So an update on my Invisalign journey and life in general...

I finished my final exams last Friday and the sense of relief is wonderful! I also moved on to my 10th set of aligners on the same day. The aligners felt tighter than any of the previous ones for the first couple of days. Nevertheless, I still went out to celebrate on Friday night and ate a sirloin steak with all the trimmings without any trouble!

On Sunday, I modelled for a hairdressing championship in Dublin, which was a great experience. For the competition I had to have some pink dye put in my hair, which I was a bit apprehensive about. Surprisingly though, I've grown to like it! Maybe I'll keep the new hair to go with the new smile! When I chose to begin my Invisalign treatment with Ace Braces I thought the main attraction for me was that I could take the aligners out for my modelling jobs. However, the aligners really are so discrete that I have never bothered taking them out for a photo. I'm wearing them in the photo from the competition below.

My new pink hair!

Invisalign on tour!

I can't believe it's St. Patrick's Day tomorrow already. Time is flying. I'm now over 4 months into my Invisalign treatment and I've only 6 weeks left in college.

I'm now wearing my 9th set of aligners and I think I'm smiling more than ever! I actually like how lovely and shiny the aligners make my teeth look!

I've been to Barcelona since my last post and of course my Invisalign aligners came with me. I had just changed my aligners the night before the trip and I can honestly say that I did not have one second of pain or discomfort. I ate out a couple of times each day and knowing that I did not have to worry about what I ordered for dinner was a huge bonus. I had the conveniently sized box for the aligners in my bag all the time and I would just pop in and out the aligners before meals without even thinking. I will be posting a video of me taking in and out the aligners later, just so you can see how effortless the process is. I know it sounds too good to be true!

Before dinner in Barcelona

Congratulations Ace Braces!

I had my appointment in Ace Braces on Monday to get my next 5 sets of aligners. When I was there I was delighted to hear of their recent success at the Irish Dentistry Awards. At the awards they won, not one, but FIVE awards!!

It's great to see their lovely team and hard work being recognised and I must say, I'm very proud to have the "Best Dental Team" straightening my teeth!

I continue on with my 8th set of aligners this Friday. I'm also off to Barcelona for the weekend :) I had a Ryanair voucher that was burning a hole in my pocket!! If anyone has any suggestions of what to do and see in Barcelona please comment below... Adiós!

My 7th Set of Aligners

Hope everyone had a lovely Valentines weekend! I hit the slopes of Kilternan in Dublin for my first ever skiing lesson, which was very exciting! I'm very proud of the fact that I managed not to fall or break any bones! We were in a class full of very young kids so there was unbelievable pressure to not make fools of ourselves!!!

I am now wearing my seventh set of Invisalign aligners and I honestly could not fault the whole process. This week I am really noticing how much my teeth have moved since I started the treatment. And they have done so with minimal discomfort or effort on my part. This has been so important to me as I am extra busy this year with my final year of college and would not have had the time or patience for any pain or restricted diets! 

Speaking of college, I am finishing my final year placement this Friday. I've really enjoyed it but can't believe how quickly the time is going. I'm heading back to see all the lovely people in Ace Braces next week to get my next aligners. I'm always excited to get my next set of aligners as it means I am one step closer to having perfectly straight teeth.  

The quiet life...

Time is flying by! I can't believe January is nearly over already. I'm loving placement but it's tiring so I'm in bed before 10 every night and have my head in a book the rest of the time. To be honest, I'm kind of liking the quiet life!

I did get married last week though!!

ONLY JOKING!!! I was working at a wedding fair in the lovely Bridge House Hotel, Tullamore. By the time I do get married I'll probably wear grey like Marian Finucane as I'll have worn so many white dresses!! 

Again, the Invisalign aligners stayed in for the big day!! I can't believe how comfortable I am with wearing them now. I've had my 5th set of aligners in since last week. They were quite tight for the first day but after that I could forget I was wearing them once again. Today, my friend commented on how nice my teeth are looking already. Made my weekend! 

Happy New Year :)

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas! I know I did! My cousin got married on New Years Eve, which was a brilliant start to 2015.

I'm very sad Christmas is over for another year but there's been no time for the January blues here as I started my final college placement in an acute hospital yesterday. I'm really enjoying it so far and am excited about the new experience. I even had my first admirers of my Invisalign!! One of my supervisors has braces and she is very jealous of how discrete my aligners are! I also found a great foldable toothbrush that I got on a night train in Europe last summer. I have it in my bag now in the hospital, which is very handy for when I'm putting my aligners back in after lunch!

I'm currently on my fourth set of aligners. At this stage I feel more comfortable with the aligners in, rather than out! I'll be putting in my fifth set of aligners next weekend. I'll keep you posted but so far so good! :)