Yup so here's another diary on someone's invisalign journey and all the experiences that come along with it. As with others, I wanna record my personal journey down because firstly, it's gonna be almost life-changing for me! :) And as YOU may also be considering this, I hope what I've noted down about my journey will help shed some light about how the invisalign treatment plan could be like. Maybe it'll facilitate your decision-making on whether or not to go ahead with invisalign :)
And of course, I spent a lot of time deciding and a LOT of money on this treatment so I really wanna remember as much of it as possible. Simple. :P
So here's some background.
I'm 24, and I wanna fix my buckteeth and have a smile that is less protruding and of course, straighter as well. The thought of straightening my teeth had been on my mind for eons because people have commented about it and in fact, I did enter my name into the waiting list for traditional braces at National Dental Centre (Singapore) when I was a teen, but eventually rejected the thing when it was my turn simply because I was afraid I'll look hideous with braces on. (I still have that fear, though) Years passed, the thought re-emerged and got pushed aside again, and now it finally came closer to reality as I've stepped into the workforce and am able to finance the treatment cost better. Further motivation came when I decided I really wanted to smile confidently and beautifully for my wedding photos in future :)
However, no offense, I am not keen on having metal in my mouth, nor am I keen on extracting my premolars, as with the usual teeth-straightening plans. (Why would you wanna take out teeth that are perfectly healthy and normal??) I also wanted a treatment that would be as un-noticeable as possible because............................................... okay I'm vain :(
So I did my research on invisalign and called up a number of clinics, got the approximate price ranges and the type of "packages" that various clinics offer, went for a consultation to check if invisalign would be suitable for me (thankfully yes, it can be done!), and .... after an entire year of consideration ... finally chose Orchard Scotts Dental for my invisalign treatment because I feel they offered the most comprehensive package so far :)
For one thing, their dentists are platinum elite providers for invisalign. IMHO, if you're deciding on it already, there's no point trying to scrimp on the treatment cos invisalign is gonna be expensive in general anyway, so why not just focus on the credentials of the dentists that are offering it? :) Plus points for good customer service as well!
The OSD package also includes retainers, which most of the other clinics I checked do not include. (If I don't remember wrongly, they're an additional $300-$500 at the end of ur invisalign treatment). The package, however, does not include other services such as dental cleaning/polishing, replacement of fillings, teeth extraction, teeth whitening etc, although invisalign patients do get a discount for these services :)
Lastly, invisalign is possible for me WITHOUT the extraction of my premolars! That is a huge relief for me, really. I will, however, need to remove my four wisdom teeth (which are also starting to decay and which I had been procrastinating on) to create the space at the back for my teeth to move into, and have each tooth scaled to create space as well. This alternative may sound like I might as well be extracting my premolars, but personally, I think it's good enough.
For me, invisalign treatment costs $8000 (w/o GST), and will take about 2 years to complete. I have 59 aligners to go (that's a lot, yes), will have attachments bonded to my teeth from the 2nd aligner onwards, and elastics to be included from the 5th aligner onwards. My lower teeth will also straighten much earlier, in about a year. There was a computer simulation to show me how my teeth would be moving during the treatment, and that was helpful in visualising the end results and makes me look forward to that! It was also awesome that there was a 24-month instalment plan available for the credit card I use, so it makes the budgeting slightly easier.
And so, with the end in mind and all factors considered and understood, the decision was made and the treatment plan was signed. Hello, invisalign! :)
