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.