30 May 2011
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.
27 May 2011
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.
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.
25 May 2011
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.
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.
21 May 2011
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.
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.
19 May 2011
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.
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.
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.
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