Attachments

Today, I got my six "lovely" attachments put on. They are much more visible than I was expecting. It may take me a little while to not feel so self conscious of them. It looks like little pieces of rice stuck to my teeth. There are two on the the two teeth next to my front tooth. Those are the ones that I am most conscious of. Getting them glued on was easy and quick. The trays are a little more tricky to put on and pull off, but it's manageable so far. I was excited that no one was able to notice that I had braces, but I have a feeling that won't last long. They are especially ugly when I don't have the trays on. I don't have time at the moment to take a photo but I promise to get one up soon. And if I find even more time (which is hard to do these days...) I'll tray to get another video put together. I'd even like to see for myself how noticeable they are when I talk.

Happy New year!

The Next Day

Well, it seems that I did need a good few hours for that upper to be able to settle down on the back molar. It feels normal today. At least the position of the aligner feels normal. As for my teeth, they are quite a bit sore today. When the trays are on, the pain is minimal. I'm feeling mostly the tightness at that time. But when it's time to eat...look out! My kids thought that it was quite humorous to see me scream out loud as I took each bite of my food! When the front teeth (the only ones that will be moving) touch each other as I bite down, I feel like I am going to go though the roof! But if I remember correctly with the first tray this will go away in the next couple of days. I expected the trays to be really difficult to take off since they are so tight, but I really didn't have much trouble with them. I don't think that my speech was effected at all either, in fact it may have improved from the last set because they were starting to feel loose. I noticed that I would lisp until I bit down and made them fit tighter.

That's my experience so far with tray U 2/16 and L 2/15!

Trays 2

Just a quick post...after dinner this evening, I switched to my second trays. I've had the first in for three weeks and I'm glad to change them. They felt like they were getting loose. These are SUPER tight and a slight bit uncomfortable. But I expected that. What I didn't expect was for the upper right hand side to not want to completely cover the back molar. At first I thought that it was a defect (it was too late to call my orthodontist), but now I'm guessing that the teeth need to shift a bit. It felt horrible for the first hour or so. I kept biting down on it and it would feel as though it snapped in place and when I'd let go it would snap off. Now it's feeling a little more secure. Hopefully by morning, it will feel completely normal. This is the last set of trays that I will wear without attachments. I have 6 of them coming my way in 3 weeks.

Week 2

Today marks my second week of wearing Invisalign. I still have another week to go in the same trays. My orthodontist wants me to wear the first two sets for 3 weeks. Here's a quick video update that I recorded yesterday:



My next post will probably be in a week to talk about moving from one tray to the next.

The First Week

After almost an entire week of wearing my Invisalign, here are some of my thoughts. I'm still getting used to them being in my mouth. I am very aware of them and am running my tongue over them all of the time. I often find myself pushing on them and wanting to bite down on them. I feel as though I am speaking fairly well with them but I have to pay attention so that I line up my front teeth in just the right spot to get a good "S" sound. So far the visibility of them has been the best part. Even though I feel like they screaming out to everyone "Hi! Look at me!" nobody has pointed them out. The first day that I had them in, my husband was speaking with me and didn't even realize that I had them in yet. My mother knew that I was getting them but I decided to let her figure it out for herself and after two days, my daughter spilled the beans to her. She never even noticed and was very surprised. The rest of my family and friends aren't aware that I am going though the Invisalign process and haven't said anything to me about it. As far as pain goes, they were a bit sore the first few days and I took a Tylenol to help with that. But for the most part, it's quite bearable. I know very well that when the attachments come in a few weeks, it will be a different story. But that's okay, no pain no gain!

Happy Thanksgiving!

They're Here!

Well, I've had them in for about an hour so far! Here's a little video blog that I made 10 minutes after putting them in:

ClinCheck!

My orthodontist called today to tell me that after making changes, she finally got the ClinCheck where she wants it! She had me drop by to check it out and was cool enough to let me video tape it! I'm really excited now! She's approved it and now the trays will be manufactured. They could be here in as little as two more weeks. Oh, another surprise that I got is that I will only need 16 trays for the top and 14 for the bottom, which is less than she expected. She seems pretty confident that we will want refinements though...so it may take a little longer if they don't turn out as expected.

The little dots on my teeth are where they will put "attachments." These are little tooth colored pieces that are glued to the teeth to help them move.

Here's the Clincheck:

Molds & X-Rays Today

Today was the official start of this little adventure! I wasn't really sure what to expect today. It was pretty simple and 99% painless. :) After I made my first payment, I was escorted to the next room. The next step was a series of photographs. I was surprised to see that they were using a very old Canon 35mm camera! I had several shots taken which pretty much felt like mug shots. (no glamor photography here, that's for sure!) They were using a ring flash on the lens to get some close up teeth shots. Next was an x-ray machine that held my head in place by putting things in my ear. This was quite the contraption! Then it was over to the panoramic x-ray machine that took an x-ray all around my head. And finally they finished up with a couple of frontal bite shots. Wow, I should be glowing from all of that radiation!

Now the fun begins with the molds. I've read a blog or two of other Invisalign patients and none seemed to appreciate this experience. So, I braced myself. Honestly, it really wasn't that bad. The goop that they use isn't the most pleasant tasting stuff in the world but it was tolerable. The problem that I had was that the first molds didn't come out complete and she had to put a little more goop over the bad spot and make me bite down hard for 4 minutes. That was my 1% of pain for the day. My jaw was a little sore and shaking for a little bit after that. It was the same feeling that you get in your arm muscles after carrying something that was a little bit too heavy for you.

And that was it! Now the hard part, waiting! It could be 4 to 6 weeks before I get my trays. My orthodontist says that she is very picky so she almost never accepts the first ClinCheck that comes in. It will probably be a few more weeks before I post further. Hopefully when I do, I have nothing but good things to say! :)

I've Decided To Get Invisalign!

My obsession with my crowded teeth probably started around 4 years ago. I just discovered a passion for photography and an outlet to sell images. The photos that I create are sold as stock photography and are used in anything from magazine ads to billboards to television commercials, etc. When I started this hobby/business I needed models for my images but I didn't have the time or studio space to hire them. I am a stay-at-home mother and at the time my babies were still quite young. So, I decided to jump in front of the camera while they took naps and pose for my own shots. This was tons of fun for me as I had a dream at the age of 14 to be a model. My shyness held me back from ever pursuing that fantasy. Here I am 21 years later fulfilling an old desire! I love being in front of the camera as much as behind it but there was one thing that really started to annoy me. My teeth! From straight on, they aren't "too bad." But turn me to the side and WOW! I never realized that the were so jammed in there. Over the years I got really good at Photoshopping my teeth to perfection! So good, in fact, that I actually found a dentist using one of my photo on his website when I was searching for Invisalign!

So, why did it take me so long to finally do something about this? Part of it had to do with the cost and the other part was due to my insecurity about it. My husband is the most wonderful man on earth! He so often told me that my teeth were beautiful just the way they were despite hours of listening to my complaining about them. I believe that he feels that way but I don't feel that way when I see them for myself. I would on and off think to myself that maybe they are fine. Then I would plan my next photo shoot with myself. And I would be back to the beginning with wanting to fix them. So, I started saving some money in case I got bold enough to do it.

Here I sit after a four year struggle with myself about what to do about it. I recently visited 2 orthodontists that had total different opinions on how to fix my problem. One was an old schooler and really tried to push me into traditional braces. At 35 years of age, the idea of that doesn't excite me (or my husband). The orthodontist even went to the extent of pointing out a click in my jaw and would insist that I sign a waiver in case there should be any problems. The second orthodontist was a younger woman who happened to work on my husband's teeth when he was a teenager! I really liked her and she said that my click was so minor that she doesn't see it being a problem. She said that I was a perfect candidate for Invisalign. She was even willing to just correct the top (which really bothers me) but highly recommends doing both. The price difference wasn't much. I thought that the bottoms looked just fine and wasn't going to fix them but after taking some additional images, I see where improvement could be made. Plus, I would hate to have any regrets of not doing it.

So, I have an appointment set for Monday the 15th with the female orthodontist to have the records taken! This is it! I am really going to do it! I'm so excited and quite honestly frightened as well. I know that there is pain involved and also tooth shaving. (it hurts just to say that...) But like they say, "No pain, no gain!" Below are some snapshots of where I am today: