After my inspiring assessment with Dr. Erwin at Proud Smile in Pacific Fair, I could hardly wait for this follow-up—and it delivered in spades. Today, I received the full breakdown of my personalized Invisalign plan to address my complex malocclusion. Dr. Erwin unveiled stunning computer simulations illustrating how the aligners will expand my narrow arches, align my crowded teeth, and perfect my bite. The plan? A moderate track with roughly 19 weeks of aligners, though he was upfront: real-life biology could extend it beyond the AI's optimistic timeline.
The best part: unlimited refinements allow for extra aligners if required, guaranteeing optimal results. He detailed the essentials, including subtle tooth-colored attachments—tiny composite resin buttons bonded to select teeth for better aligner traction and movement control. They're temporary and easily removed once done. His key advice: commit to 22 hours of daily wear, removing them only for meals and brushing to maintain momentum.
Fascinating fact: as teeth realign, surrounding bone reshapes to accommodate, and even palatal soft tissue evolves in sync—it's a full-mouth symphony of change. I'm ecstatic to launch this transformation with Proud Smile's exceptional care. Next: collecting my initial aligners and mastering the routine.
If you're navigating your own orthodontic path or drawn to real-life glow-ups, follow and enable notifications for the upcoming installment as I dive in. Who's excited for milestone shares? Share your top Invisalign query in the comments.
#Invisalign #Orthodontics #DentalJourney #SmileTransformation #TeethAlignment #Malocclusion #ProudSmile #DentalHealth #BiteCorrection #AlignerTherapy
The best part: unlimited refinements allow for extra aligners if required, guaranteeing optimal results. He detailed the essentials, including subtle tooth-colored attachments—tiny composite resin buttons bonded to select teeth for better aligner traction and movement control. They're temporary and easily removed once done. His key advice: commit to 22 hours of daily wear, removing them only for meals and brushing to maintain momentum.
Fascinating fact: as teeth realign, surrounding bone reshapes to accommodate, and even palatal soft tissue evolves in sync—it's a full-mouth symphony of change. I'm ecstatic to launch this transformation with Proud Smile's exceptional care. Next: collecting my initial aligners and mastering the routine.
If you're navigating your own orthodontic path or drawn to real-life glow-ups, follow and enable notifications for the upcoming installment as I dive in. Who's excited for milestone shares? Share your top Invisalign query in the comments.
#Invisalign #Orthodontics #DentalJourney #SmileTransformation #TeethAlignment #Malocclusion #ProudSmile #DentalHealth #BiteCorrection #AlignerTherapy
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00Hi guys, welcome to another episode of my ongoing dental journey. If you've been following the
00:07series, you know I'm trying to get my malocclusion fixed. So this is an appointment I'm really
00:13looking forward to. I've had the initial consult now with Dr. Irwin at Proud Smile, which is where
00:18I'm going now to get this fixed. Today, we're going to be locking in a plan. So that's going
00:24to be fantastic. I imagine I might be offered a couple of different price points. I'm not sure.
00:28I think I'm probably going to be going with a comprehensive plan, but it'll be really good
00:33because now I'll see the actual steps involved. I think I'll have some idea of how many Invisalign
00:39trays, I think they're called, that they'll be needing to order. So expansion, if you did
00:44watch the other video, is my most urgent issue to get my arches expanded. So hopefully Invisalign
00:51will just do the trick, but I might need expanders along the way as well. But I'm really looking
00:57forward to it. And if you watched the last one, you'll know that I spoke briefly about
01:00the benefits of getting your malocclusion fixed, including being able to clean your teeth better,
01:05improved function. So you can obviously chew your food better, but it can also affect your
01:10speech if you've got malocclusion and also hopefully prevent long-term damage on your teeth,
01:16like uneven wear and tear, and hopefully prevent cracked teeth as well. But another surprising
01:21benefit I learned last week was it can even affect your breathing because of the position
01:27of your tongue in your mouth. So that's quite a big health benefit, I think, just right there
01:32to, as a good reason to get your malocclusion fixed. So I'm excited about today. Today feels
01:38like I'm really starting this journey finally. So let's get your shoes on and let's go.
01:44Okay, here we are, a proud smile in Pacific Rim, looking forward to seeing what my plan is going
02:03to look like.
02:14Oh, it's lovely in here. It's so nice and cool. There's a little bit of a rush to get
02:26here. Traffic, the Gold Coast traffic, is not time-friendly.
02:37I was very impressed the first time I came here to Proud Smile at Pacific Fair. When you
02:42fill out the form as a new patient, you can tick or nominate your favourite Netflix show
02:48that you can watch while you're having work done.
02:56So this one's on the screen, which is not ideal. This one is working on a really interesting
03:03hobby, the Loon Man's Bracelet. Hello, here's the man behind me. Thank you. So this is Spencer,
03:11and this is my daughter, Amity. All right, I've got the kids with me today. Let me get your
03:18bags and we'll give you up. Up, up, up. That's okay. You need a strong back when you're in there,
03:27Todd, Mike. He's my weight-bearing exercise.
03:32So last time we were talking about the teeth, and one of the biggest things that we spoke
03:48about was expansion, because at the moment you have very narrow arches, which then I think
03:53was causing you to bite on your tongue, and there's not a lot of space for your tongue actually.
04:00I always bite my tongue, like multiple times a week, even daily probably, inside of my cheek,
04:05lip, tongue. Okay. So I think for you the biggest thing is expansion, which means moving your back
04:12teeth outwards and broaden your arches, because they're narrow at the moment. That will then hopefully
04:18improve with the tongue biting and all that sort of thing. There is a bit of an unpredictable
04:25component about that, because we don't know how your tongue bite is going to deal with it.
04:30But obviously, if we have more space, then we would think that things can only get better.
04:41So at the moment, that's where you are. If you look at your top teeth.
04:46You know, I can actually see that on the scan, that the teeth are coming in.
04:49Yeah, it's like, yeah. And if you look at this scan, you can see how sort of narrow it is like that.
04:55So it's almost like in a V-shape. Usually we want more of a U-shape, which is this kind of thing.
05:03Oh, right. So this is what we're planning. So the soft tissue, that's one thing I wasn't really clear about.
05:10You're actually hoping to move some of this soft tissue in the palate.
05:13Yeah, everything. Once the bone moves, the teeth move, the bone moves with it, and then the soft tissue
05:20follows that. So everything just follows the movement.
05:22Oh, right. So you really are actually reshaping about.
05:26We can reshape. Obviously as adults, there's a little bit of limitations as to how much we can reshape.
05:31Had this been done when we were a child, then we would have been able to do a lot more.
05:36Yeah. But I think it would be sufficient for your case.
05:40So this is where we're right now. This is where we should get to the final end result.
05:45And now on the bottom, we've got a similar situation. There's a lot of crowding.
05:50Yeah. Yeah, I noticed that with the floss. The floss breaks a lot when I'm trying to floss.
05:55And then we're also doing some expansion there. The bottom is not so bad as the top, but still we can get some alignment there.
06:04Looking from the front, we can go from here to here. So you get more of a flat surface.
06:10Yeah, yeah. And then when you're top looking from the front, we can go from here to here.
06:20Oh, yeah, yeah. We do have a bit of this chip on the front. Yes, I do.
06:24But we can, at the end, maybe look at doing a little bit of filling on it.
06:28Or even maybe sometimes just reshaping the teeth to make it flat as well.
06:34Yeah. Yeah.
06:36How interesting about the soft tissue. That's answered another bit. I learn something to eat every time I come to.
06:41Yeah. Yeah.
06:42Now you do have a bit of an open bite as well. So you actually don't touch your front teeth.
06:47And during the assessment process, I was trying to see if we can close that open bite.
06:53But the problem with you is you are a little bit, you show a little bit too much gum when you smile.
06:58Oh.
06:59So you are what we call a gummy smile. Which, I mean, to some people, it's fine.
07:05But aesthetically, it can sometimes be a little bit not so great.
07:08Yeah.
07:09Because then you would like to see more teeth and less gum.
07:12Yeah.
07:13And so to be able to correct the open bite, we would have to actually bring these teeth down.
07:21Which then results in you showing too much gum.
07:24So I've actually chosen to keep it as it is because it's actually not a huge problem.
07:29Yeah.
07:30And open bites are actually quite relaxable.
07:33Like sometimes you correct it and it goes back.
07:36So it's usually, it can sometimes be related to a heavy, it's like tongue thrust and muscle
07:43stiffness and things like that.
07:45Yeah.
07:46Yeah.
07:47And what else?
07:48And then if we look at this image here, this is like an approximation of how it could potentially
07:53look in your own mouth.
07:54Oh, wow.
07:55This is before and it's after.
07:57Oh, wow.
07:58Yeah.
07:59That does look so different.
08:00Because at the moment I feel like I've got rabbit teeth or something like that.
08:05Yeah.
08:06At the moment they're quite pronounced at the front.
08:08Yeah.
08:09Yeah, exactly.
08:10We want to broaden it so that we've got more attention towards the back.
08:13Well that is a lot better.
08:14And less of the proclamation at the front.
08:17Obviously this is an approximation image but we expect it to be closer.
08:22It's a lot better than just seeing those two front lines.
08:25Yeah.
08:26But what about the chewing though?
08:28So with that.
08:29Yeah, the chewing was improved because we are, let's go back on this one now.
08:34At the back we're going to be improving the contact between the teeth.
08:37Yeah.
08:38See at the moment, at the moment with your back feet you have a near cross bite on this.
08:43Oh.
08:44So it's like quite, it's quite just.
08:47Once we move it like this, then what happens is your top cheek pushes your cheek out.
08:54And then, and then, and then that way sometimes you don't get the bite cheek in your tongue.
08:59Cheek bite.
09:00Cheek.
09:01Oh, I agree.
09:02Which I don't know if you have it but.
09:04So, so yeah, the bite is also expected to be improved.
09:07Yeah.
09:08With this.
09:09And then the good thing about it, it's only coming up to 19 alignments which pretty much
09:15means 19 weeks of treatment.
09:17Oh wow.
09:18Okay.
09:19That's cool.
09:20Yeah.
09:21It's quite fast.
09:22Yeah.
09:23In saying that, I do anticipate we needing more than that towards the end.
09:26Yeah.
09:27We need this line, whatever we plan on the solter doesn't always happen in the mouth.
09:30Yeah.
09:31100% of biology doesn't always follow what we humans.
09:35I know.
09:36You know.
09:37I know.
09:38Perfect.
09:39Yeah.
09:40You know that coming from IVF.
09:41I know.
09:42We may be there with the first go we know we won't get.
09:45Yeah.
09:46But then we can actually keep adding more alignments.
09:48Yeah.
09:49And the good thing about the moderate package is you actually get unlimited alignments.
09:52So we can pretty much keep going.
09:54Kind of like IVF.
09:55So just keep going.
09:56Yeah.
09:57Until you get to the result that we want.
10:00I think in your case, from experience, I do find that you will most likely need probably
10:04one or two revisions.
10:05Yeah.
10:06Okay.
10:07Which means we're going to keep adding alignments there.
10:09But even if we're adding, I think we're still working like probably like a year maximum.
10:14That's great.
10:15That's really good.
10:16Possibly.
10:17Well, if everything goes well even on the first go, then potentially could be only 19
10:22weeks.
10:23I think it would probably be more like 25, 30, I would say.
10:29I think your estimation is more realistic.
10:31Because as well, wearing them a lot.
10:33Like I know you can't wear them when you eat.
10:35But looking after a toddler, there's a bit of that grazing happening.
10:38Yeah.
10:39Like just running after him.
10:40Yeah.
10:41So now with the aligners, you do need to wear them as much as possible.
10:44Yes.
10:45So pretty much only remove them to eat and brush your teeth.
10:48I know.
10:49You're going to have to watch that grazing.
10:50Because that's going to be a pain.
10:51Like, oh, I want a snack.
10:52It's like, oh, I'll take those out.
10:53Yeah.
10:54A lot of our patients say that they end up losing weight because they can't be bothered removing
10:58the trays to eat.
10:59Yeah.
11:00To snack.
11:01To snack.
11:02Yeah.
11:03And what else?
11:04In your case, we also need some attachments which are these sort of things here.
11:09Oh, no.
11:10They are not pink though.
11:11It will be tooth colored.
11:12But they just help with the movements of the aligners.
11:15Oh, good.
11:16And they get removed, I think, after the tray.
11:19Yeah.
11:20And on the bottom, I have also allowed you some IPR, which is these little numbers here.
11:25Yeah.
11:26You can see how when your teeth get straight, like this is before.
11:29Yeah.
11:30When you have crowding, the teeth actually push the gum down.
11:34When you then straighten it, the gums don't always go up anymore.
11:38And then you end up with this little space between the teeth.
11:41We call it black triangle.
11:42Oh, okay.
11:43Because it's in the shape of a triangle.
11:44Oh, yeah.
11:45To minimize that, we can do IPR, which is actually trimming a little bit of the tooth on
11:51the contact point.
11:52Yeah.
11:53And it's only like three mil, so it's quite small.
11:56But that then helps the teeth sort of touch better and reduce the black triangle.
12:02Oh, okay.
12:03But you will still be left with some of it, unfortunately.
12:06Okay.
12:07I've been saying that sometimes your gums do the move around.
12:11So this is always the computer trying to predict where your gums are going to be.
12:15But sometimes once the trip is finished, the gums can remodel and close some of those
12:21spaces.
12:22But you do need to be prepared for possible having these little spaces there.
12:26And that's unfortunately because of the crowding.
12:29Yeah.
12:30Which again, had this been done correctly earlier as a child would, we wouldn't have this issue.
12:37But I mean, I think it's a small compromise for the bigger picture.
12:42Yeah.
12:43Well, like a doctor I interviewed said about even heart attacks, the time for prevention
12:49might have already passed the best time, but the second best time for prevention and
12:53treatment is now.
12:54Yeah.
12:55I mean, it's actually not to do things for ourselves.
12:58Something.
12:59Yeah.
13:00So there's always a benefit.
13:01Yeah.
13:02So that's pretty much done.
13:04So this is an audit package.
13:06The cost of modget is 6,500.
13:08Yeah.
13:09So it actually came back from the lower brackets from what we discussed.
13:13That's a lot friendlier.
13:14Yeah.
13:15Because the bigger one is around almost 98.
13:17I know.
13:18Yeah.
13:19That's more doable now.
13:20And then the good thing about the modget is like I said, even if you end up needing more
13:24aligners, there's no extra cost anymore.
13:26So this is a one-off fixed fee.
13:29That's wonderful.
13:30What about retainers then?
13:31Retainers.
13:32Because it's for the rest of your life type thing once you've...
13:35Yeah, you do need like that, night retainers for once the treatment's finished and ID for
13:40the rest of your life.
13:41Yeah.
13:42The good thing about that as well is it actually protects your teeth from acidity, grinding,
13:47all sorts of things and also prevents your teeth from moving again.
13:51Okay.
13:52So there are a lot of other benefits than just being retainers, you know.
13:56Yeah.
13:57They actually a lot more like protection devices as well.
14:00That's great.
14:01So the retainers are, I think it's 300 at the top and bottom, but that only happens after the
14:06treatment's finished.
14:07Oh, thank you so much.
14:10That's really positive.
14:11Like that's, you know, because yes, we did have a few rounds of IVF, so budget is a real
14:17issue as well.
14:18But yeah, just to, but that's, I think that's something we can definitely do.
14:21It's not going to take like, because I think you said seven, how many did you do?
14:24Some AIFs?
14:2533 rounds.
14:2633, okay.
14:27It's definitely not going to be 33 rounds on this one.
14:29I'm thinking more like maybe two or three.
14:31Yeah.
14:32And also when I say round, it's not like you're starting from scratch.
14:36Like there will be an improvement and then we'll do another improvement on top of that.
14:39So it's not like you're going back to the original results.
14:42Yeah, exactly.
14:43So we're always moving forward from one point.
14:47So from here, it's pretty much now I'll leave it with you.
14:50You just let us know when you're ready.
14:52Yeah.
14:53For payment, you can actually do payment plans.
14:56Yeah, that's good.
14:57We can finance up to, I believe, three years interest-free.
15:00Oh, right.
15:01And deposit-free as well, if you plan to deposit.
15:04Yeah.
15:05You just have to apply with the girls in the reception.
15:07Thank you so much.
15:08Are you the proper help?
15:09We do, but not dental.
15:11No, dental's probably the one I really need, because I do always need.
15:16And what about general dentistry then as well along the way?
15:19Because I'm Dr. Robin.
15:21Dr. Robin, yeah.
15:22Yeah, he's great.
15:23He said that he's the one for-
15:25He can do your general dentistry.
15:26Yeah.
15:27I think he only saw you for-
15:29Just an initial, yeah.
15:31And I do have dental records.
15:33I did have a regular dentist in Surfers Paradise, but he changed.
15:38He left.
15:39He went and did.
15:40I think along your lines, I think maybe he went to study implants or something like that.
15:45So yeah, I did have a regular one.
15:47Sure.
15:48I'm looking for another regular one, yeah.
15:50It seems to be okay.
15:51But yeah, from, once we get into dental dentistry, you can always go back and see Dr. Robin as
16:00well.
16:01Yeah, I'd love to.
16:03And it's also in here.
16:05Yeah, exactly.
16:06And so do I come back here then?
16:08Well, you can actually do bundle as well, if you prefer.
16:11Oh yeah.
16:12Yeah.
16:13Any of the three really.
16:14Yeah.
16:15And do I see you again for the-
16:17You see me for the first appointment, which is to-
16:20We'll take him out of his own.
16:22Yeah.
16:23And then you usually see me every six weeks or so to check on progress and also give him
16:30more alliance.
16:31Thank you so very much.
16:32I'm so-
16:33Very excited to be starting this journey.
16:35Yes.
16:36It'll be good.
16:37Yeah, thank you.
16:38Thank you for your time.
16:39If you have any questions, you can always email me.
16:41You should be pretty good with English.
16:42Yeah.
16:43Thank you so much.
16:44All right.
16:45Come on through.
16:47Oh, good.
16:48Yeah.
16:49Do you want to initiate any confusion now or do you want to go with it?
16:52No, I'll go with it, basically.
16:53You want to go with it?
16:54Definitely.
16:55I did know that I wanted to because, yeah, like, it is an issue.
16:59I really do want to get fixed.
17:00Yeah.
17:01And it's just been getting worse and worse.
17:02Okay.
17:03And I did.
17:04I just, when I came here, like, I just, yeah.
17:07Are you comfortable?
17:08Everyone has been really nice.
17:09Yes.
17:10Yes, I did.
17:11And I think it's going to just suit our needs.
17:13It's a bit of a journey.
17:14So, I think it's important to feel comfortable and have the trust.
17:17Yeah.
17:18Thank you very, very much.
17:19Right.
17:20Good.
17:21Good.
17:22Good.
17:23Good.
17:24Good.
17:25Good.
17:26Good.
17:27Good.
17:28Good.
17:29Good.
17:30Good.
17:31Good.
17:32Good.
17:33Good.
17:34Good.
17:35Good.
17:36Good.
17:37Good.
17:38Good.
17:39Good.
17:40Good.
17:41Good.
17:42Good.
17:43Good.
17:44Good.
17:45Good.
17:46Good.
17:47Good.
17:48Good.
17:49Good.
17:50Good.
17:51Good.
17:52Good.
17:53Good.
17:54Good.
17:55Good.
17:56Good.
17:57Good.
17:58Good.
17:59Good.
18:00Good.
18:01Good.
18:02Good.
18:03Good.
18:04Good.
18:05Good.
18:06Good.
18:07Good.
18:08Good.
18:09Good.
18:10today I learned something new like I said every time I go and see a dentist is that the soft
18:15tissue palette of your mouth actually does move as well so everything follows the teeth so they
18:21move the teeth the bone moves and then that soft tissue is also going to have some movement there
18:25so that was very interesting to see that and so yeah very excited I'm finally on the way to getting
18:31this malocclusion fixed and then the next step will be actually having the aligners in my hand
18:38and then putting them actually in my mouth so we're on the way
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