Smilelign update: Finishing my lowers

It's been a few weeks since i've written an update on how i've been getting on with my Smilelign treatment. In my last post i mentioned how I had to have further moulds taken as my upper aligners kept snapping in half. I went back to my dentist to collect the new upper aligners which would finish my treatment off. These aligners were a better fit and i'm now on my second aligner out of five and they haven't snapped yet - success! I've also noticed that these aligners have been moving my uppers better and my two upper canine are now starting to tuck in nicely. 

When i went to collect my new upper aligners my dentist was happy with the whitening of my lowers and talked me through the next stage of the treatment. My front two lower teeth were smaller than the others so he decided to do some work to build them up; after about a hour in the dentist chair he showed me the final results! I was SO pleased! I couldn't stop looking at them in the mirror! They are perfect, he's done such an amazing job and the build up work he done on my front teeth look very natural which i wanted. We also discussed the best way to keep my teeth in their new alignment and i decided to have the small metal wire glued permanently onto the back of my lower front six teeth. I have to admit I was very nervous about this; I was worried that I would hate having the wire behind my teeth and that it would annoy me! I will be honest it took a few days to get use to it been there but now it's been a few weeks I really don't notice it there at all! As my lowers have been finished I no longer have to wear my aligners during the day as I have the mental wire but i still have to wear my final aligner at night which really doesn't bother me. 

Now that my lowers have been completely finished I can honestly say that having the Smilelign treatment is the best thing i've ever done! I have a few weeks left until my uppers are finished but i could not be more pleased with my lowers. 

Below i've put a few pictures of before and after which i still can't stop looking at! If you have any questions just leave me a comment and i'm more than happy to answer! 

App: Lapse It

A quick post on this app that I brought from the app store the other day. I was sitting in the office on Friday afternoon and I was looking out of the window and noticed that it looked like we were in for a beautiful sunset so i decided to prop my phone on the window and video the sunset. I wanted to create a time lapse but on my iPhone 5 it doesn't have this video option on it. I had a look at a few apps on the app store and came across Lapse It - it was £1.49 which wasn't too bad and the five star reviews swayed me into the purchase. Who else actually reads some of the reviews and looks at the star rating before purchasing an app or is it just me? The app is very user friendly and it didn't take too long to compress my video and speed it up to the final edit that i was happy with.

Here's the final edit of the video below. Enjoy! 

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Birthday Weekend.

So last week i celebrated the grand age of 24! I had a busy weekend planned with my family & fiancé; we started the celebrations by visting Warner Bro's Studio Tour - The making of Harry Potter in Leavesden just near Watford. I've been to the Studio before in August but at Christmas they make it extra special by putting the event on 'Hogwarts in the Snow.' If you were thinking of visiting i would definitely recommend going whilst this event is on, it will leave you feeling very christmasy. I won't talk to much about it or ruin any surprises in case any of you are thinking of going but here are a few pictures of our day below. 

When we got back home we then decided to hop the train to Winchester and have a look around the Christmas Market. This was VERY busy and this year we even had to queue to get into the market. We all kinda shuffled around the market area in a single file as it was so busy - it wasn't too enjoyable. We also tried to get on the ice skating rink but this was sold out all evening so we just stood and watched people fall over! 

On Sunday Iain had booked us a hotel in London to spend my birthday on Monday in London. I'd gone on a few times about staying in the Citizin M Hotel near South Bank and he decided to book us a room there. I have to admit if you ever find yourself looking for a hotel in London then i'd defiantly recommend this one - it's easily the most modern hotel room i've ever stayed in. 
I woke up to a lovely view from our bedroom on Monday morning and we headed to The Breakfast Club for breakfast and then i went shopping to spend my birthday money! We hit Oxford Street and then went to Covent Garden!

I was really spoilt all weekend and had a lovely 24th birthday! 

  

Meet our latest family additions!

In my household we are all pet lovers except for my dad. Who never gets his own way when it comes to a new family pet when he's got 4 girls going on at him! 

So meet our latest addition to our family, Buddy & Chester. We've had them for the last 3 weeks but we've just been getting to know there little personalities and having lots of cuddles!  

Here's a few pictures of them together! I will keep you updated on how they are both getting on & growing! 

Anxiety Techniques.

I know I've posted about this in the past but lately I've been feeling pretty anxious for no apparent reason. I've had panic attacks in work and yesterday evening I had one whilst watching the West End show Wicked I can't think of anything that triggers these attacks but I've come up with a few "coping techniques" that seem to work for me and thought I'd share them with you.

The first and most important thing is to BREATHE! I know it sounds ridiculous but when I'm in panic mood I oftern am so busy thinking of the things that are happening around me and the feelings I go through it is quite easy to forget to breathe and take deep breathes. I find that breathing definitely helps calm me down it helps to slow everything down. I oftern find myself going off to the toilet or out of the situation for a few minutes and just taking that time to calm myself down. Although I can't always say this as sometimes I don't do it but it's so important that you remove yourself from the situation and always go back in to the place that made you anxious when you have calmed down. From previous experiences I have found myself leaving the situation although this is what I'm screaming to do at the time of a panic it's often the worse thing to do as the next time you return to that situation you associate your anxiety and feelings with that place. 

I always find it useful to try and drink sips of cool WATER. When I'm feeling anxious my mouth always goes very dry which I don't like so drinking small sips of water always helps to suppress that feeling for me. 

Another thing I've found useful is an app I have on my phone called RELAX (ANXIETY & STRESS RELIEF.) It helps control your breathing to calming music. I always try and have headphones in my bag for times where I just need to take five minutes to relax and breathe. You can adjust the timings on this app as to how long you want it to play for and the timings between inhaling and exhaling. I normally keep mine set to 5 minutes as that seems to be enough time for me to relax and calm down. 

The last thing I always find helpful is TALKING. When I'm feeling anxious or having a panic attack all I want to do is not talk to anyone and just be on my own which seems to work for me but I've began to realise how important it is to talk to a family member or friend after an attack. I never use to tell anyone when I was feeling anxious or had a panic as I just didn't want to talk about it and just ignore it. For me this is the worse thing you can do, it's always good to have a little chat to someone you love and tell them how you feel as it will help you to stop bottling up your feelings but it will also help your loved ones understand what you are going through. I always find it best to talk to someone a good few hours after I've calmed down so I will sit and talk about it during dinner after I've finished work and I oftern find when you talk about your feelings out loud it tends to make sense and listening to others advice is always so important to me. 

It's so important to remeber you aren't alone and there are so many people who are suffering just like you. I always tend to forget this because at the time it only feels like I'm the only one in the world dealing with these feelings and emotions but the more people you talk to the more people know someone or maybe themselves dealing with anxiety just like you. 

Smilelign Update & Teeth Whitening

Since i've last posted i've been back for a visit to my dentist as he had to take further moulds of my upper & lower teeth as my upper aligners kept snapping in half.  He explained that Smilelign weren't happy with how my canine teeth weren't moving which i wasn't too bothered about at the start of the treatment as my main focus was getting my two front teeth straight but the more my front teeth have started to move i've slowly started to become more aware of my upper canines as they aren't perfectly inline with my other teeth. Smilelign have recommended me to have a further five upper aligners which i will wear over the next 15 weeks to complete my treatment and bring my canines more inline. I was given the first upper aligner out of the five when i went for my check up last week and i have to admit the fit of this aligner is perfect, it fits my upper teeth perfectly and doesn't look like i'm wearing aligners at all. My last aligners all fitted well but this one just feels stronger and a much better fit. The best news is that i've been wearing it for over two weeks and it hasn't snapped or broken in half!  It was an optional decision to take the further aligners but i decided that i've come this far that i will carry on and take the last five upper aligners. As far as Smilelign are concerned my lowers are completed and with a little building up on my front two teeth they will be perfect.

My dentist has kindly included teeth whitening treatment within the course of my Smielign treatment. I started the teeth whiting process that evening and as recommended i am starting on my upper teeth first. I've been whitening my upper set for just over two weeks now and i have to say that the difference between my upper and lower set is amazing! It's a very gradual process and as i am very inpatient i was expecting to see results after the first evening but two weeks down the line i have started noticing results! I still would like my upper set to be whiter so i am going to carry on whitening them every evening until i see my dentist this Thursday and see what he recommends.

Here's a picture of the teeth whitening product i'm using. I will do a full updated post on how i'm getting on with the whitening product in a few weeks.

Smilelign Update

Just a quick update to let you all know how i'm getting on with my treatment.  
I'm currently on my last lower aligner; number six. I'm due to finish with aligner number six on Thursday and i should also be finished the whole of my Smilelign treatment but i'm not too sure if that's going to happen now. 

I've had a few problems with my last upper aligner. Firstly it cracked and then snapped in half so i went back to visit my dentist and he took some more impressions which he got them sent off so i'm currently waiting on my new aligner which is due to come in when i visit him on Thursday.  It's  so annoying as my uppers are so close to been finished! I have the smallest movement left with my upper two front teeth and then they will be finished! I'm currently wearing half of the upper aligner that broke, i was told it's better that i should carry on wearing half of the aligner to stop my teeth moving further whilst i wait for the new one; the only problem is, is that it gives me a bad lisp and has cut the side of my mouth a few times.  I'm hoping once i get this new aligner that it doesn't crack again and that i only have to wear it for a few weeks and then i'm finished!

I'm still so happy with the results I'm seeing. I guess I'm  just getting impatient and wanting to see the finishing results! It will all be worth it in the end to have perfect straight teeth! 

I will post a quick update with how things go when i go for my visit on Thursday.