Wednesday, September 17, 2008

This Is It!

This is hopefully my last week of Invisalign...new trays anyway. I am wearing my last top refinement tray. (I was given 3 additional trays, BTW) I'm still wearing 15 of 15 on the bottom as a retainer. All of the bottom attachments were removed at my last appointment. My next appointment is on Monday, September 22. It is my hopes that we are both happy enough with the results that she will remove the two upper attachments and allow me to continue wearing the trays are retainers. Do I feel that the tops are 100% perfect...well, not exactly, but it's really, really close. I know that if my orthodontist agreed with me, she would be willing to throw on metal braces to complete the job. If that's the case, I will pass. These are close enough for me and I'm feeling ready to be free of orthodontics soon. From my understanding, Invisalign only gives you one set of refinements, and my orthodontist will finish anything with braces for no additional cost. But honestly, I am quite happy with the results. My teeth look so much better now. Plus, I just can't wait to be attachment free!

I also wanted to mention my experience with a Invisalign and travelling. Honestly, it's a pain. I took a trip to Seattle last month and found it a little bit annoying to always try to figure out where to brush my teeth. This was a working trip so I was on the go with my camera gear all day, trying to eat quick lunches and then figure out what to do about my trays. One bit of advice my orthodontist gave me was that if I couldn't brush, swish really well with water and put them back in. One advantage that I did have on the trip was that I was waiting for my refinements and I'd been wearing the same trays for several weeks so it was okay to go a little extra time without them in. If you are considering Invisalign, keep this in mind if you travel a bit.

At some point when the attachments are off, I will be taking new photos, so be on the look out for those. I will also be creating an Invisalign FAQ's here. I've gotten so many questions about them and a lot are the same so I think having a FAQ's will be very helpful to all considering this orthodontic treatment.

Also, I apologize to all who have left me comments and questions here and at YouTube that I have not yet responded to. I've been really busy and haven't had the chance to sit down and answer. I will be working on that slowly but surely!