Post-Appt Update

So, as I said before, or at least I think I did, I missed my appointment on the 1st so I went to a last minute appointment on Wednesday to make up for it. Dr V gave me the rest of my little Invisalign packages! Score! I now hold in my hands the last 5 of the original treatment plan!

However, when I was in the shower the other day, where I do my best thinking, I realized that Dr V forgot that I still had a package left at home and dated the ones she was giving me as if they were the next in line... Thus, #14 and #15 are only 5 days apart. Uh oh. I called her today and she said it shouldn't be a big deal. Leave it as is since I'm at the end of treatment. I shouldn't have any problems... I should also mention #'s 16, 17, & 18 are only 9 or 10 days apart.

She did a little filing between my top teeth, but not much. My left front tooth was fairly sensitive so she didn't play with it too much. The attachment on my right fang (sorry, no technical terms here) wasn't matching up with my aligner again so it was replaced and made quite a bit more noticeable on the bottom of my tooth.

My next appointment is April 15th @ 9am (just in case I forget), when we'll take new impressions right before I switch to #18's on the 19th. Dr V said she'll likely order a couple refinements and something equivalent to a "C Chain" in regular orthodontics to pull my teeth into my head and close any remaining gaps. I'll keep on #18's for probably 3 weeks while waiting for the new stuff to come in.

Now that I'm almost finished, I'd have to say I've been pretty pleased with the whole Invisalign process. It's a bit pricey, but boy it's FAST! Having my teeth straight will seriously be a dream come true!

Comparison Photo

I switched to #13 last night. Curiosity struck and we dug out my beginning aligners. What a difference! It's more apparent in person, but this will give you an idea. The shape of the #1's (bottom) are more of a V and the 12's (top) are more of a U.

I go back to the dentist on Wednesday after a no-show appointment last week. I didn't realize I had an appt last Monday! I still have aligners to last through the end of the month so I'm not sure why I'm going back early... maybe to get more filing done. Yuck. The 13's I put on last night aren't very painful, but they're also not clipping over the attachments on the top right... which means another visit of tugging, filing, scraping, pulling aligners on and off a bazillion times... all of that means a lot of discomfort. It's getting difficult to talk again. The lisp has returned and I tend to send spit flying if I speak without aligners in. Hot! Ah well, it will all be over soon!

Eleven

I'm on #11, right? Right. I started these aligners late...but who's to blame me? We were in San Francisco the weekend I was to switch and there was NO way I was going to miss out on some "scrimps 'n scrabs" (as my family would say) & other yummy food. No way! So instead of trying them on Friday night, I waited until we got home Monday night.

I, of course, compared the new with the old and found the Top Elevens are SMALLER than #10's. As in, when I over-laid them on top of each other, the top front teeth were brought inward making the aligner smaller. Does that make sense? Other than that, no change. Not a whole lot of pain, some pressure, the usual. Somehow I always end up getting head-butted right in the mouth on the first day of every change. Ouchie! ... but never any other day.

I can't wait until I'm done and I have perfect teethies! Not too much longer now but I'm getting impatient! I'll just keep reminding myself - I would have to wait TWO YEARS if I was in regular metal braces. 2 Years!!

#10

I couldn't think of a clever blog title this time. Sorry, guys. haha

Ahhh, number 10. As usual, my gums were sore the first day (Feb 2). No unusual bleeding or anything. Most of the soreness was concentrated in the back upper right. I had to resort to taking out the aligners on the opposite side so it wouldn't feel like I was pulling out my teeth!

Unfortunately however, I had to make an emergency trip to my dentist's office this morning. My bottom aligners were rubbing my tongue RAW and the top one wasn't snapping over my attachments on the right. My next appointment wasn't until next Wednesday. Well, she ended up canceling that one and filed more on my teeth and reattached some of the buttons. Fun, fun. Oh, and she cut off the back tooth on the bottom aligners to help with the irritation on my tongue.

All is well now. I think Nick will become a dentist when he grows up... He is so intent on watching EVERYTHING the dentist does in my mouth. Maybe he knows he'll have braces one day... with his 3 front teeth and all........

I looked ahead at my March 18th set #14 (I think) and boy oh boy the changes we'll see! I can't wait!

Cheerio,

Why is 6 afraid of 7? Because 7 8 9!

I changed Invisalign aligners 7 & 8 during our trip to/from Texas for the Christmas break. Those were easy. Not much pain, just the usual tension & pressure. My family hardly noticed them and kept forgetting. I'd have to remind them I couldn't just taste test food or randomly drink a soda unless I was ready to do the whole remove, eat/drink, brush teeth, replace ordeal. Family also noticed an improvement in my teeth I couldn't see! They were very encouraging about the whole process.Last night I switched to #9. They were tight, as usual, but actually a lot easier to snap in than prior aligners. I thought, "Oh these should be a breeze!" Wrong, wrong, wrong. Typically I take them off first thing in the morning but when I tried a few minutes ago, it hurt like the devil! I have this trick to taking them off with minimal pain but that didn't even work. I had barely pulled down on the top when I quickly put them back where they belong. That hurt! I'd imagine once I take them off, that will be the worst pain and then when I take them off again throughout the day, they wont hurt much at all. I hope.

I should have known better. By looking at #10 in the package, my bottom front 3 teeth will be lined up. That will have to take some pain... but it doesn't explain why the top hurts. I guess it's doing something I can't see!

No pain, no gain!

A before picture from the beginning:

***Embarrassing "after" pictures below:

The "overjet" is getting better, but I didn't take a before picture of that. Umm.. Oops?! hahah

Most of the improvement we can see are the teeth next to the top 2. They are slowly coming out from behind and getting lined up. Also, the lower teeth are not quite a slanted and over-lapping each other.... I never realized how much the lower teeth were going like / that.

Still have a lot of work to go! I'll add more pictures of the differences in the aligners (which are amazing!) and more after #10's if I see a difference.

#6

I switched to the #6's last Friday, the 18th... It was the first (and only so far) night I lost any sleep over my Invisalign. It's not because it was terribly painful, just whichever way it was pressing on my teeth was causing a pounding headache that lasted a couple days. It's Tuesday now and they are already loose and I'm back to the grinding.

Of course, there's no obvious visible difference between these aligners and the previous ones. Trust me, I've scrutinized every indention on the trays... BUT this morning I pulled out the last ones in this package, #10, and I CAN see a difference. By February, my front 2 bottom teeth (the one that's currently in front of the rest and the one next to it on my left) will be aligned with each other! The top tray also seems to get a little wider and the teeth next to my front 2, a little more lined up. I can't wait until I can see my top teeth pushed back. After that, I'll be heading back to the dentist to get more. Looking a month ahead, it's too bad these changes won't be visible during our trip to TX to see family. Oh well, one step at a time.

Can't wait to get through January now!!!

The boys have started to call my Invisalign "Mama's glass teeth". Nick likes to examine them in my mouth nearly every day and asks to put them in his mouth. Ew! LOL

I slack on how many hours I keep them on during the day, but not enough to mess up treatment... I'm just not as paranoid about it, I guess. Instead of leaving them out for strictly 1 hour per meal and a snack mid-afternoon, I keep them out roughly 2 hours per meal and for a little bit first thing in the morning while I wake up... and for a little bit for snacks all day long.

That's all that's new! I hardly think about the things now... they really have become just another part of my life.

#5

Dr. V filed more on my teeth today. Fun, fun. Nick went with me and now I think he wants to be a dentist! He laid on my chest and watched every move the dentist made... he even assisted by giving her a few tools! I love how the office is so kid-friendly. They didn't mind one bit that I brought my month-shy-of 3 year old boy with me.

Dr. V informed me that she won't be filing on my teeth every time but that it's needed right now to create space to un-crowd my teeth. She also told me I'll probably start to SEE a difference around the 4th or 5th month mark, which is about half-way through my treatment... so that's what? February or March? Sweet. I'll put up new progress pictures whenever I cross that milestone. I really could care less about my crowded bottom teeth... shove my upper teeth back and I'll be a happy girl!

These aligners feel tight, but no tighter than the last ones have been when I first put them on. We'll see how the pain is during mealtime. I'm anxious to see how that goes - to see if the filing and stuff made my gums more sore than usual. Oh yeah! She did say she could tweak the aligners some how if the teeth grinding becomes too bothersome. I told her my jaw is popping and hurting so to go for it but she didn't do anything. I'll just deal with it.

Otherwise, today is yet again, pretty uneventful... aside from the rain! It's raining in Sun Diego! The boys were so excited they were squealing with joy! I think we'll even walk to Sam's school to pick him up... after all, it's not too often we get to use umbrellas and hop in puddles around here!