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.