Well this is a post I never thought I’d write! 

Ever since primary school, I’ve always been self-conscious of my teeth. I vividly remember standing in line at school when another girl made a comment, and me in my innocence thinking, ‘what’s wrong with them?’ Forever after that any time I laughed I covered my mouth with my hand, and consciously tried not to smile too widely. Sad to remember, but then I’m not the only one! As I’ve got older and have gained a little more wisdom (not teeth, they’ve been removed) I’ve learnt to own my flaws.

But I still used to notice other girls’ lovely teeth and carefree smiles - I always think a carefree smile is the most beautiful! 

Tried to find some ‘before’ images which was actually pretty hard. The bottom row was out of shape and the top row was pretty narrow/ prominent. I don’t have many examples in images but you can really see the difference in video.

I’m very lucky that my ‘hang up’ as such has been pretty small and meaningless on the grand scheme of things. I’m very thankful for all I have and to be in good health, of course! However I still think it’s fair enough to admit if you have hang ups or feel self-conscious about something.

As I got older and had kids I felt that it didn’t bother me as much -  but I’d still use my tongue to cover my teeth or laugh with my hand over my mouth…

Back in 2019 both an orthodontist from Belfast and an invisible braces company online happened to get in contact and asked if I wanted to help them promote their business. Sounds ideal; but the thought of sharing ‘before and after’ images, storying the journey or even the thought of sharing in-mouth shots……I just didn’t feel comfortable. So I declined the great offer.

Fast forward a little while, and a friend of mine had been to Kennedy Orthodontics in Ballymena. I loved her newly aligned teeth and had eagerly followed her journey, so I decided to book a consultation.

Martha was only three weeks old when I first visited. I had dropped the big girls to school and the two of us headed in. Martha began to scream just as I was called (typical, as she’d barely let out a peep since she was born) but the team couldn’t have been nicer! They even offered me a quiet room to feed her and dropped in a bottle of water I know I was there for braces but some moments will just stick with you. The kindness of others speaks volumes. 

There were a few options for braces, metal braces on the NHS (I would have qualified as my teeth came around the corner before I did), clear train tracks or Invisalign braces. These are like a clear retainer you wear throughout, only removing to eat.

My orthodontist David chatted me through the options and told me the level of success without surgery (which would be restructuring my jaw etc…I wasn’t that unhappy with my smile to go through that!). It was clear that for me I felt that Invisalign was the best option. 

I’d just had a baby and knew they would be more comfortable, but also at over 30 I felt that I would just feel more confident with the Invisalign braces too.

The drawback? The price! It’s what held me back eight years before - it was the price of a decent family holiday! It would have gone a long way towards the work in the garden too, so to be honest I felt a little selfish and self-indulgent as it wasn’t a necessity.

It was my ‘to me, from me’ gift and looking back, I wish I had taken the leap sooner as it’s given me more than just straighter teeth and a wider smile. It’s given me confidence I didn’t have before which has been invaluable, especially in my career.

Within 12 weeks I saw a noticeable difference and my family mentioned it too! Result! 

I wasn’t a model student for braces though, as feeding Martha made me constantly hungry and I snacked all the time I had them out more than they were in some days; only actually wearing them overnight, which is definitely not recommended. However, (my slackness notwithstanding) I still was on target and my retainers changed well each week.

The average time to wear them is 9-12 months and you change your retainers weekly. I got mine in batches of 8-10 and got check ups at the end of each set which consisted of a quick 10 minute appointment so it didn’t feel time consuming.

The pandemic added a slight delay,  so I kept the same retainer for a while until it was ok to go in again. I just wore it at night like I would a normal retainer so it didn’t actually have any real impact.

I recently had a tooth removed that was causing a bit of bother so I’m going back to my orthodontist, David to check if there’s any possibility for further movement. With an online braces service you wouldn’t actually receive any personalised aftercare, so to be honest the whole process with my ‘real life’ dentist experience has felt exactly that; personal. No revisions available if I’d gone to an online one!

I often get asked if I could share my experience and also if I would recommend Invisalign and I absolutely would. I can’t recommend the team at Kennedy Orthodontics enough. What I would definitely recommend is to have a consultation before, so they’re able to give a forecast of what’s achievable with each product, plus you can make sure you’re comfortable with the dentist too. As someone who would happily put off a trip to the drill sergeant it was vital I felt confident with the team.

I’ve tried to scroll back to find some before and after pictures. They were hard to find when looking for them, though when not looking I come across them all the time, typical!

I want to show my girls that we should be proud of our bodies and own our imperfections, but if there’s a safe way to improve things for their confidence, then do it! 

With three little girls looking up to me I’m grateful to have a lot to smile about…and I’ll not cover that up.

Invisalign treatment from Kennedy’s Orthodontics, Ballymena but they also have practices in Magherafelt and Belfast too. This is not an ad or discounted treatment…just a great experience I wanted to share and worth every penny.

I have attached the before and after Invisalign plan below. Maybe someday I’ll ask for the proper before pics!