100 Days!

I have 100 days left until the end of my treatment!!

I can really feel where my teeth are moving around to.  The only weird part is that they had to fix a cross bite in front, so there's been a couple teeth in front that are directly on top of each other.  So, I can bite together in front, but not in back at the moment.  They said that the last few will fix that, but it's been weird in the mean time that I can't bite together.

DOUBLE DIGITS!!!

I started my 10th aligner tonight.  That's double digits.  And, since I have 22 in total, it's nearly halfway there.  I can't believe that my next one is the halfway point.  Wow.

In general, things are going pretty well.  They did the 2nd set of IPR during my last appointment.  They had to make room on the top, so they added spaces between my upper front teeth.  I feel like there's a horrible gap between my two front teeth, but everyone says that it's not that bad.  At least it's not noticeable with the trays in.

I should really take more pictures and post them.  The thing is that I don't see that much improvement yet.  I know that there's been movement since my back teeth don't bite together at the moment, but up front, you can't tell.

Somehow skipped a week

Last night was the weirdest thing.  Whenever I have to go to my ortho., I try to schedule the appointments so that they fall on the Wednesdays that I need to change trays.  That way, I can get the next set of trays on time and don't have to wait to start my next tray.  I was originally supposed to change my trays next Wednesday, but because of how the weeks fell, I wasn't able to get in next week.  So, I scheduled my appointment early for this week.  I figured that I'd get the next batch of trays, and then I could swap them out next week on schedule.

Instead, she did the IPR stuff that she needed to, and then snapped in the next set of trays.  Apparently because she did the IPR and created the spaces, I needed the next aligner that's designed to accomodate the gaps.  So, I basically skipped a week of tray 8 and moved right into tray 9.  I'm not complaining since it doesn't really hurt any more than normal, and it already feels like my teeth have largely moved into their new spots.  Yay for getting done a whole week earlier!

In other news, the new gaps are between all of my front, top teeth.  I think that they're REALLY noticeable.  I asked one of my coworkers though, and he swears that it looks fine.  Of course, I think he knows better than to answer those type of questions negatively. :)  Here's hoping though.  I have a first date next week, and I'm crossing my fingers on this one.

Chewies

After seeing a bunch of posts online about aligner chewies, I decided to order them and give them a shot. I really do think that they make the trays fit on better. Sometimes, I would bite down on paper towel because it was soft and help them seat better. The chewies accomplish the same thing, but you can chew on them for a bit.

Not much is new with my trays. My second IPR session is on Wed. Not looking forward to it... Not because it hurts or anything, but because food gets caught in the space until the teeth move together there. I also have a teeth cleaning on Tuesday. With how much I've been brushing and flossing since I got Invisalign, I'm hoping for a really clean check up. :)

The count down begins!

200 days left until I'm done!  It's gone surprisingly fast actually.  This really is so much better than metal braces.

Shaving... Part 2

This week, I've learned that teeth shaving means that any and all food gets in the gaps. I've had to be especially diligent about flossing after each meal before I put the tays back in. I've also noticed that mouthwash is particularly helpful now to get the last little tidbits out. At least my next cleaning should be a breeze with all this brushing and flossing. :)

IPR

Last night, I got the first of three IPR treatments.  IPR stands for interproximal reduction, and basically means that they reduce the width of some of your teeth.  Back when I was a kid, I remember everyone that had braces getting teeth extracted.  Apparently, this is now seen as being preferable as they're not removing any teeth, but creating room by making some of the teeth slimmer. 

When I first heard about it, I was worried.  When I was a kid, I ended up with quite a fear of dentists between having frequent dental problems and how my mother approached things.  My regular dentist now is the best, and is so calm and reassuring that I've largely gotten over that, but I still don't like drilling.  So, the entire thought of having them slenderize teeth with a drill wasn't high up on my list of things that I was looking forward to. 

It wasn't bad at all though.  Literally 2 minutes, and she was done.  A little drilling (that wasn't as all painful), checking the measurement to see whether she'd done enough, a little more, check again, and done.  I honestly think that a cleaning hurts more. 

And, then I got tray 5.  It was tight when they put it in, but it seems better already this morning.  And, it seems like the last 8 weeks have gone by really quickly... I can't believe that I'm already into the 2nd quarter of treatment.  I still can't 100% say that I can see a difference, but I can tell that my bite is different for sure.

Tray 4

I spent the past week volunteering at a kids' camp for kids with Muscular Dystrophy.  It was a good experience, but definitely presented its challenges for invisalign.  The water at camp was well water and didn't clean the trays very well, so they got icky quickly.  Plus, the way that camp was structured, we were frequently eating/drinking and it was hard to manage the removal/eat/brush/replace routine.  There were days where I didn't keep them in as much as I should have, so I wore them an extra day before switching to the next tray.

At this point, switching trays has become sort of routine.  They're tight for a day or two, but then start feeling pretty normal and I forget that they're there.  I sort of like those days because I can feel them being tighter and it seems like they're really moving.  I have my next appt. in two weeks to get the next group of trays, but I think that they're doing what they're supposed to do.

I'm not sure that I can actually see what teeth are moving though.  I'm really anxious to SEE progress, and I don't think that I can yet.  They originally told me that I'd notice around tray #10 (so, 3 more months), but I'm a little impatient. :)

Oops

Yesterday when I was flossing, I noticed that it was catching on the back of my tooth big time.  I thought for sure that it was a filling that popped out, so I called my regular dentist.  Apparently not.  When they put the buttons on, there was some extra bonding material that they didn't polish off.  So, he polished it up a little and suggested that I ask my ortho to polish it up more next time.  I feel a bit bad wasting his time like that for a button problem.

Tray 3

Last night was the first time that I had a change a tray at home on my own.  Listening to others online, I ate dinner, brushed my teeth, and then put in the new one.  It took a bit more shoving than normal (since the teeth weren't in their new places yet) and I was sort of afraid that I'd break a button, but thankfully, I didn't.  I took a little Advil PM shortly thereafter and headed to bed.  It was definitely tight again and a bit uncomfortable, but it wasn't horrible.  I definitely wouldn't go as far as to call it painful.  This morning, it feels like some of the teeth have already shifted some.  I can still feel the pressure, but it's not as much as last night (or I'm just more used to it now).  Other than sitting here thinking about it to write this, I probably would have forgotten about them being in.  I'll have to take some pictures later. 

Lip stick

I found a new problem this morning.  Thankfully I saw it before anyone commented.  I put on lip stick and rubbed my lips together like normal, and somehow the edge of my upper tray must have been rubbing too bc there was lipstick glitter inside my upper tray.  Still not entirely sure how it happened, but it was a bit mortifying.  I might have to stick to lip stain 'til this is over.

Finally the picture post...

These are the before pictures.  They're not the most fabulous, but you'll get enough of the idea.  The first one is how my teeth are aligned now.  The middle one shows my crossbite a bit more.  And the bottom photo is my first set of aligners.  I'm actually on my second set now (with buttons!), but am a little behind on my photo taking.

More About the Attachments

Well, it's been two days since I got the attachments, and honestly they're not so bad.  I can definitely feel the pressure on my teeth, and I'm excited for that.  I'm anxious to see some actual progress (even though I know it won't be for a while yet), and if they help, I guess that's a good thing.

The one thing that I've noticed is that my teeth are actually more comfortable now with the trays in.  The attachments themselves are kind of rough (they're various shapes, not like a nice round glob), so they sort of scratch your cheek when your trays aren't in.  I read somewhere that the wax they give you for normal braces can help, but I've only had them out to eat, so it hasn't been so bad.

I've kind of found myself bothered more when I talk (sort of like talking when food's stuck to your teeth), but I was talking to a good friend yesterday and she swears she didn't notice until I told her.  And, actually, it's sort of fun when I have told people about it -- They're mostly excited and admit that they've considered it for various reasons.  It's not often that anyone is jealous of my dental procedures ("Oh, you chipped a tooth and need a crown... That bites"), so I'm a little amused.

Attachments & Second Tray

Well, I promised to be honest with myself about the process.  Right now, I'm feeling a bit sorry for myself and wondering whether invisalign was a mistake.

Tonight, I went in and got my attachments.  I have 9 in total - 5 on the bottom, 4 on top.  It actually wasn't a hard or long process.  They etched the teeth with a bit of acid, then applied the bonding material.  Then, with a template tray, they filled the button holes with composite material.  They put the tray on and cured the bottons with a blue light.  Afterwards, they pulled off the template trays (with a certain amount of prying) and polished around the attachments to take off the extra composite.  Then, they snapped on the real trays.

On the up side, they're a lot tighter than they were before.  That seems like a good thing, since obviously they're working and moving my teeth around.  On the down side, they're tight and it's really hard to get the trays off.  I'm seriously scared of hurting my teeth or pulling one of them off.  I'm kind of wondering whether I can avoid taking them out for the next 9 months.  Clearly not realistic since a girl's gotta eat, but it kind of feels like that.

I'll update in a couple days when I'm not feeling quite so sorry for myself.  Plus, my dentist insists that this feeling only lasts a couple days.  Hopefully she's right.

Invisalign - Week 2

I'm pretty used to the trays now - I don't really think about them when they're in, and they're getting pretty lose as it's about time for tray 2.  I actually thought that I was supposed to get them yesterday, but I goofed and put the wrong date in my phone - It's actually 25 May instead.  Oops.

In the last two weeks, I had the fun of traveling with Invisalign.  That was an experience.  I was on the plane and said yes to a soda and cookies without thinking, and then had to figure how to do that with the trays.  I (not so gracefully) took them out and slipped them into the case, but then needed to figure out how to brush my teeth to get them back in.  So, at 35,000 ft, I made my way to the airplane bathroom and brushed them and slipped them back in.  It wasn't actually hard, just an extra pain to think about.  I've also gotten over all sense of pride over brushing in public bathrooms.  Restaurants, airports, planes, hotel bathrooms... All fair game in Invisalign world.

Let's see... Useful things that I've learned this far:
1. Retainer Brite is awesome.  You soak the aligners for 15 minutes (I do it while I'm eating) and then rinse them off and they're as good as new.  Just brushing doesn't seem to get all of the gunk off. 
2. Buy multiple toothbrushes.  It never fails that I'll want to take them out to snack on something when I don't have one handy.  So, now I keep one in my purse, car, desk, and laptop bag.  The little tubes of tooth paste from the dentist are awesome too.
3. No matter how hard you try, you have morning breath.  It's icky.  Plan on brushing early and often.

Invisalign - Week 1

I copied this from my May 10th posting in my personal blog.

So, the invisalign trays came in last Wednesday, and I picked them up on Wednesday evening.  At first, I was kind of worried how not invisable they seemed - Like, you can see the top of the plastic where your teeth and gums meet if you look closely.  But, then I started looking at pictures from this weekend, and you can't tell in pictures at all (which I'm glad about).  So far, only one person has asked just from conversation, and I told another person as I apologized for having to take them out to eat.

Speaking of which, the whole eating part is hard.  The upside is that you can take that out (remember that episode of SATC where Miranda got food caught in her braces? - none of that), but that also means that you need to take them out.  That's hard to do gracefully.  If I'm leaving work and driving somewhere, I'll just do it in the car before going in.  Or, like the other day, I was at lunch with a friend and knew she wouldn't be grossed out if I just did it quickly.  But, like today, I'm at a training conference and we all moved from the conference room to lunch.  I finally excused myself to the bathroom and did it, but there are times when that won't exactly work either (work picnic for example).  It's not forever at least.

So, I need 22 aligners, which equates to a little over 10 months (you get a new one every two weeks).  I can handle that much, since they were talking 2-3 years of real braces.  After that, if there's anything that either me or the dentist doesn't like, I can have them make additional trays at no cost (start to straight is one price).  I'm guessing that I'll want to be done and won't choose that option, but I might feel differently once I see the final product.  [That's one of the few downsides - If something doesn't look quite right or goes wrong in the middle, they can't change it on the fly.  The only option is new impressions and whole new trays being made.]  After that, there's going to be some cosmetic dentistry work, but I'm going back to my normal dentist for that -- some bonding, bleaching, and leveling teeth out.  Not cheap, but by tax day next year, I'll have a total hollywood smile.

Starting Invisalign

The battle with and over my teeth has existed for as long as I can remember. 

My parents were very proactive and got me into an orthodontist's office pretty young.  I might have been 10 or 12.  Either way, it was before any of my friends were getting braces and I didn't want to be the first.  So, I flat out refused.  Looking back, I should have done it then, but when you're at that age, you don't have the foresight to realize that.  Needless to say, my parents weren't thrilled and tried just about every approach to talk me into it -- bribery, threats, getting coaches to talk me into it, yelling, trying to counsel me over my assumed fear, etc.  The more that they tried, the more that I dug my heels in and refused.

Well, by the time that my friends were getting braces and I would have been willing, the line was drawn and I wasn't giving in.  Over the years, my mother in particular has been pretty cruel about it -- I'd be beautiful if I got my teeth fixed, I won't meet a guy unless I do, etc.  Almost to prove them wrong, I graduated from University, got a good job, and got engaged (well, and then unengaged... beside the point) all with crooked teeth.

This March I turned 30.  I'm not sure whether it was turning 30 or that I'd been thinking about it for a while, but I finally decided to take the plunge for Invisalign.  I need to round up some before photos.  I had the impressions done in late March, and got the first set of trays 15 days ago.  I'll copy a post from my personal blog next.

I'm doing this blog mostly to help others that are thinking of getting Invisalign, but also so that I can see how I'm progressing.  Wish me luck.