Week 21

Week 20 Tray 8 Begins

Week 20 - My last day wearing Tray 7 and I begin wearing Tray 8 tonight.

Week 18

Week 18

Week 16 & Week 17

Week 17

Week 16

Today I started Tray 7.

Just 3 more trays to go! 

It has now become very easy to pull off and put on. I am so used to the routine. When I put a new tray in now the discomfort only last for the first few hours or for a day the most, and then its pretty easy.

Week 14 & 15

 Week 14 (Now)
Week 15 is missing :( (I missed a week due to the Thanksgiving holiday)

First week - This is how it started

Week 13

Week 13 (Start of Tray 6 out of 10)

Progress so far

Day 1

Week 12 about 50 % Complete
(Present - After 5 trays, 4 more trays to go)

As you can see when I first started Invisalign I had have a large gap on the top middle, and the bottom has one tooth that pushed back a bit due to overcrowding caused when my wisdom teeth attempted to come in years ago, since then I have had my wisdom teeth removed because they were impacted.

As you can see, in just a few weeks (12 weeks) there has been a noticeable change. The gap is closing and though it is hard to see in photos my bottom tooth is slowly moving forward again.

It's been exciting to compare the photos I have been taking and actually seeing a change and difference in each photo.

The hardest part was the beginning, because it was new and I was a bit scared. I knew that it was a process that I had the ultimate control over. I was handed over the trays and now it was my duty to make this happen. So, its a big responsibility to yourself. If you are ready for the responsibility then you won't have any problem.

It been easy, so I wish I had done this sooner. 

Seeing the results and knowing that I am approaching the finishing line is a great feeling!

Week 11 and 12

Week 11

Week 12

In the next week I am going to start my 6th tray. Afterwards, I only have 4 more trays to complete! It's very exciting.

I have gotten used the entire process. Wearing them doesn't bother me at all. I haven't told anyone I am wearing them, and I strongly don't think anyone has noticed that they are in. I prefer wearing them over seeing my regular teeth, because when they are on, it looks like my teeth are all aligned.

The only part that can be a little overwhelming is when I am out eating or going to an event, I take them off right before I go in if I know I will be eating and then I have to remember to put them back in right away.

There has been a few, very few, times in which I am not able to put them back in right away. I want to wash them and floss and brush my teeth before I put them in, but there has been occasions in which I have no choice, but to rinse with only water and put them in, or I run the risk of not wearing them for a few hours. This has happened and when I put the tray back in I can tell that there is some pressure.

I no longer drink coffee (I wasn't much of a coffee drinker, tea, any colored beverages, I only drink water because it is the only beverage I can drink with my tray in. This can be a positive, but I can imagine someone who loves drinking coffee that this could be hard.

In my next post I am going to show the progress from Photo 1 to now and show you how much has changed and review some of the things I have encountered so far.

Week 9 and 10

Week 9

 

Week 10

Week 7 and Week 8

 Week 7

Week 8

The past two weeks have gone by quickly. On Tuesday, September 25th, I start my fourth tray! Which means I am approaching 40% completion. I feel pretty lucky that I only have to wear 10 aligners. As most of you do, I have researched this for a while and I still do to see how others have progressed, and I read a few bloggers indicating that they had to do more aligners then originally planned. That worries me. I hope that is not the case for me.

Taking photos once a week has really helped me keep motivated. I compared the photos and can really see a difference, and it makes me glad I did this! If you decide or are in the process of doing this, I highly recommend taking photos once a week.

As far as any issues or anything I have experienced so far, I noticed that my mouth feels dry and my lips do too. I feel I constantly want to drink water, which I guess is a good thing. But I constantly feel like I need to put some chapstick on. Has anyone felt that yet or before?

Also, this is a little too late to be worried about, but how does anyone feel about wearing plastic almost 24 hours a day? I recently saw a movie called "Bag-it", which was a documentary on plastic bags, but it also touched on the subject of plastic and how certain types of plastic are very harmful, for example some of the presence of BPA, and other chemicals.

I didn't ask my dentist this before, but I am interested in knowing if this is a concern for anyone.

Week 6 - Third Tray

This week I started my third Tray. Originally, when I started six weeks ago, my Dr. gave me two trays. I had to wear tray one for three weeks and tray two for three weeks. Now we are at six weeks and I had a visit with him on exactly six weeks. At the visit he checked my progress, and said I was doing excellent.

As you know I am wearing my trays about 22 hours a day. 

I like to think I am the model invisalign wearer, but I can't say I am all the time. There has been a few times in which I will eat dinner, and then completely forget to put them back in, and will remember thirty minutes later. 

He also noticed that the bottom tooth that was pushed back, we are working on pushing it back to the front with the tray, needed a little room to move up. So he used the sanded floss again to floss in between a few teeth in the bottom, so the tooth can slowly move up. The floss doesn't hurt at all.

Because of my progress, he has decided to give me three trays, so I don't have to come back for a check up until nine more weeks.

Here is to the start of the third tray! I was told this is when I would start really seeing some changes.

Week 4 and Week 5

 Week 4

Week 5

The past two weeks have breezed by. Wearing my guards have become almost normal. Sometimes I don't remember I have them in, except when I am reminded about a snack. I don't snack anymore. Before I would snack at work, a few peanuts or a granola bar, I would snack before dinner, and then snack on a little something after dinner.

But now I only eat breakfast, lunch and dinner/dessert. I floss and brush right after each meal and then my trays stay in.

You probably have heard by now in your research about the "invisalign diet" and well, I have lost quite a few pounds. I can't say it's definitely because of my invisalign trays, because I coincidentally also started eating much healthier around the same time. But I do think it has contributed. I can no longer snack anytime I want. Running errands no longer equal also stopping by starbucks to grab a shaken iced tea lemonade and coffee cake to eat while running errands. I no longer have the luxury to grab a piece of cake at the office party or when someone decides to bring in some muffins. I stay clear for two mains reasons: 1.  Because I really don't want to take them off, brush my teeth, floss, and clean my trays again. 2. I know that they longer they are in, the better and quicker the results.

I have been losing a few pounds every few weeks. I might be lost about 10 so far since wearing my invisalign trays.

Has anyone else seen weight loss?

Third Week

Week 3

I can't believe it's time to put in the second of ten trays in. I am 10% done. After the three weeks I started getting very used to my trays and I am worried that the third tray is going to be painful again, hopefully it is nothing like the first time I put them in on day one.


Update - The first night it was back to it being sore, by the second day, I was already used to the second tray. But the pain was nothing like the first time.

Second Week

Week 2

 I am finished with the second week! Here is an image of my teeth at the end of week 2.

I can't believe I am starting my third week, after this week I get to put my second aligner in, which I am excited and a little nervous about because I wonder if the pain will be the same as when I first put tray 1 in.

The second week of wearing them was much better, I have become a pro at taking them off and putting them back on. During this second week I do not have any pain, only when I eat are my teeth sensitive, I still can't have any bread or hard food. I tried eating chicken, and that bothered my teeth, so I have been eating mashpotatoes and soft meat, like salmon.

I do have some discomfort wearing them sometimes, and I think its because my bite is changing slowly. When I used to bite, my upper teeth would come out a bit more then the bottom, but when I softly bite down wearing the aligners, they bite down perfectly straigh and on top of each other.

Every time I take my alingers off I clean them before putting them back in. I am still cleaning them with a soft bristle tooth brush. I think it's important to brush the inside and outside of them and rinse them with water. I noticed if you do not clean the inside and outside of them a small grime build up occurs.

Day III - Hunger pains kick in

Today has been a breeze compared to the first day with them on. I technically started wearing them on Monday, July 23rd right before bed, but my first real day was Tuesday, July 24th. So I am between 3-4 days.

The pain I had on the first two days have dulled, and I only have a bit of an ache, my teeth are still a bit sensitive.

I am sure you have heard of the "Invisalign Diet", besides the pain and sensitivity of your teeth and not being able to chew on hard food, once you start wearing the trays you don't want to take them off unless necessary. Everytime I take them off, I have to go through the process of removing them, cleaning them (I might be OCD ;) ) , but you will notice when you take them off, that there might be a tiny bit of grime, flossing, brushing your teeth and then I rinse with mouthwash.

In order to clean them, I simply brush the inside and outside of each tray using my toothbrush and some water. The bristles on the brush get the bit of grime that is developing.

 

I noticed how much I would reach for a snack since I started wearing these. Now I will only take them off for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

This morning for breakfast I had a Breakfast Essentials (Chocolate) smoothie. I added milk, and frozen strawberries, blueberries and raspberries. It was delicious. What's great about Breakfast Essential packets is that they are filled with vitamins. And I had a small chocolate pudding.

Last night for dinner, I had a cup of jello and cup of chocolate pudding. I went to bed hungry. I have been eating soups, but I desired something cooler because we are in the middle of summer.

I still don't have a real desire to eat anything hard with my teeth. Just thinking about chewing on a steak makes my teeth hurt. How are you guys doing?

Day II with Invisalign

I woke up to feeling much better, my gums are not very sore today. The pain has dulled considerably. What a difference and it is only day two. For me, wearing them consistently and for as many hours a day has helped me. Many times I have considered removing them for a short period, to let me and my teeth breath. As if they really need to breath, but I decided to bite the bullet and keep them in. The more you keep them in the faster and more efficient your progress will be, so I only remove them to eat.

I am glad I know my brother who went through this because he has been my support system and has been a great role model for this process. I was told countless times that he is a perfect model of discipline and that due to that discipline his results are amazing, so I want to follow in his footsteps.

Taking them off this morning for breakfast was much easier. I eat a small chocolate pudding and a clementine and drank some water. Not the best mix. I wanted to eat 2 small clementines, but after I finished the first one, my mouth, teeth and jaw was tired of chewing.

Some short lived habits I found myself doing at first was sucking on the aligners while they were in my mouth, to get saliva out of them, and due to that I irritated one side of my cheek a little bit, I learned that after I used mouth wash and felt the sting, so I made a conscience effort not to do that. I also found myself playing with ridges of the aligner with my tongue, small and annoying self habits that I broke from quickly after Day I.

My mouth is finally adjusting to its new neighbor that will stick with me for the next 6 months!

First day out

I finished one full day of wearing my invisalign trays. It is recommended to leave it in for at least 20-22 hours a day. I wore mine for 23 hours and it was quite an experience. I started the day with a meeting, so I was a bit nervous someone would notice.

My fears included:

• Someone noticing them in my mouth
• My speech
• Could I pay attention to the meeting and not the pain in my mouth
• Someone noticing the slight mouth guard/hockey mouth I strongly feel I have developed since putting them in.

My fears were put aside because I don't think anyone noticed anything, and my speech was perfectly fine. I think practicing talking and saying words the night before really helped.

I am little nervous to smile openly and freely.

For lunch, I luckily can go home, and I was able to freely remove the trays and rinse them, and enjoy some soup, then I quickly brushed, flossed, rinsed with mouth wash and put them back in. It hurts taking them off because the teeth are sensitive, and my saliva acts like a suction cup to the aligners. It felt good to take them off just for a little bit. My mouth was getting a little claustrophobic.

For dinner I had frozen yogurt with slices of kiwi, strawberries and blueberries. I don't have any desire to chew with my teeth because they are so sensitive.Chewing on the soft fruit felt strange. Even though I have only been wearing them for a day, I forgot how it feels to to bite down hard and chew on something.

I want to eat super large meatballs, with pasta and garlic bread.

To prepare I went shopping and bought:

• Jello
• Pudding
• Apple Sauce
• Soup
• Breakfast essentials (to make chocolate smoothies)

I plan on living off of these smooth and soft foods until my teeth and mouth start feeling better. I assume that every three weeks when I change into a new tray I will go through this pain, but I won't know until I get there.

Overall, the day went much better than I thought it would. I did have constant pain during the entire day. The amount of pain came in waves. Distractions during the day help. I am getting used to it and I feel that the pain is going to subside as time goes by.

Day one - Inserting the Aligners the first time

The photo above shows how my teeth look after I put the invisalign on. The aligners provide a slight blur, so in my opinion your teeth look better with them on. As you can see, they are virtually invisible.

 After dinner, I brushed my teeth, flossed, and rinsed with mouth wash, this will be my ritual every time I take my aligner off. This is important to do, otherwise you run the risk of a few things, like pieces of food being in the tray while wearing them, other then it feeling and looking gross, you also run the risks of cavities and plaque build-up. I rinsed the aligner and shook it dry and then I tried to put it in for the first time.

I was told to first push the upper aligner in first by snapping it in the front teeth then pushing up on each side, one at a time.

The aligner was so tight, that it kept popping off. You really have to put a lot of pressure on them to push them in. You also want to make sure that they are pressed up as much as possible. You don't want there to be a lot of space between the bottom of your teeth and the aligner. After trying about 6-7 times, I got them in.I heard a snap and that assured me that they were in, they felt snug, and I made sure that the aligner went over my attachment (glue dots/anchors).

I then tried a few times to get the bottom aligner in, that one was more painful and tight, and I think it is because of the crowding I have.

Overall the pain was not too bad, at first, but about 2 hours later the pain set in. I thought it was the water I just sipped, and I thought because the water gets trapped within the aligner that it caused it to swell, but I have come to realize that it was just that my teeth are slowly starting to shift.

The pain felt strong, it felt like I flossed too hard on each tooth, then the pain felt like someone grabbed a rock and scraped my gums. It's an achy pain. I also touched the aligner and pretended to ever so lightly bite down on my hand and my teeth were sensitive. I can't imagine eating or biting down on anything.

I spent the rest of the night pressing them down, just in case I didn't properly insert them. But I couldn't push them up or down anymore. Saliva and water I occasionally sipped would get trapped in the tray, but I don't think this is a problem.

I also spent the night practicing my speech, because I noticed right away that I developed a small lisp, especially words with s and t's.

It was a long night. At first, I couldn't fall asleep, so I took one Ibuprofen, which didn't do anything, so after 2 hours, I took one more, and that helped me so much. I was able to sleep.

When I woke up in the morning, I dreaded taking them off, but I had no choice, I slowly removed and it hurt. My teeth were sensitive and while removing them the pressure that you need to take to remove them hurts.

I rinsed them and decided to eat breakfast.

I decided that I probably won't be eating snacks, and just sticking to three meals a day due to the hassle of removing them, but I will be talking about this in my next post, the "Invisalign Diet".

I drank some chocolate milk and a banana. A banana is so soft, it was perfect to start the day with. Afterwards, I brushed my teeth, flossed and rinsed with mouthwash, and painfully put them back in to start my day.

Until next time, I will let you know how my first full day of wearing them went. Wish my luck!

Picking up the aligners and Do's and Dont's

 After only a few days I was called and told that the molds are in, usually they take 2-3 weeks, it only took about 3-5 days. Unfortunately, it wasn't a convenient time for me to pick them up, as I mentioned before, I live 2 hours away, and I was just heading out of state to a conference. I made an appointment to pick them up after I returned from my conference.

I picked them up today.

First, the attachments were added, all together I needed about 7 attachments placed on my teeth. This process was fairly quick, the teeth are prepared to attach the glue dots, as I call them, and then a template tray is placed on your teeth and the dots are cured, once hardened they are then polished and your bite is checked. From what I understand not everyone needs these attached, and the amount of them vary per case. As you can see below, they are virtually invisible on my teeth.

Next, was the sanded floss, a few of the bottom teeth were flossed in between, I was worried it would be noticeable, but when that was all done I was handed a mirror to practice inserting and removing the trays. It was true, the attachments were not very noticeable and matched my teeth, and the flossed teeth were not noticeable at all either.

I practiced on a "template" tray, which was a tray of my molded teeth, it was tight, but I was told, that the aligner will be tighter. I was told that to put them in I should push it on the middle (front teeth) first, and then snap the left side and then the right side. It was fairly easy, then to remove it, I would do the opposite, with my fingernail pull from the back right, the back left, then slowly remove it from the front.

I did this a few times, and I thought it was pretty easy. I was asked if I wanted to practice using the real trays, but I opted not to, I wasn't going to leave with them on, because it was early in the afternoon, and I still wanted to have lunch and dinner. I knew right after dinner I would put them in for the night.

What I was told:

• I would wear my aligners 22-24 hours a day.
• You can only drink water when wearing them.
•  Only take them off to eat and brush/floss teeth.
  
  I was handed:
  
• Four aligners all together, I was told that one set was for the first 3 weeks, and the second set for another 3 weeks, so I don't have to return for another 6 weeks.
• A blue and red tray holder. I was told that the blue holder will be my new best friend, I would carry my trays in there all the time, or use them as a holder when I go out to eat or couldn't/didn't wear them.
  
  The red holder is to place the tray I was done with, so in three weeks my first set will be placed in there. I was told some patients will have a "relapse", they might go on vacation and forget, or opt not to take their aligners with them, and if that happens, they can open the red tray, and go back to the previous aligners, so it's good to keep them around just incase. And sometimes, in rare cases, they can break, if they break, you at least have the previous aligners to wear in the mean time.
  
• Lastly, I was given a toothbrush, and was told how to clean my aligners. Simply with water and toothpaste and a toothbrush. I was told some patients will put water and a bit of soap in a ziplock bag and shake the trays in there.
  
  How does it feel?

My mouth feels a bit funny with the attachments, they were attached to my canine teeth, so I feel like Dracula. But I am sure I will get used to it.

My next step is to put them in after dinner tonight...

Approving Invisalign

 After just a few days, I was called and told my images have come in. It was now the approval stage. I sat down at the dentist desk, and on a large flat screen monitor I saw my teeth in a way I never saw them before. I saw them from the back, the sides, the insides. I was then told I would only need 10 aligners and it would only take about 6 months, I was excited.

I was then shown how my teeth would look like after each new tray was put in. I also saw small red dots on my teeth, which I would soon find out meant that small attachments would be played on a few of my teeth, they would act like anchors to hold the trays in. I didn't know how I felt about that, this would mean when I didn't have the trays in, that these small attachments would be seen), he assured me they were virtually invisible like the tray itself.

Next, I saw small numbers on the bottom of my teeth, mark .02, on about 4 teeth. He explained that with a sandpaper like floss he would floss in between a few bottom teeth, only about a hair strand, because those teeth were so tight, and needed to move along, I have a bit of crowding on the bottom, that this would allow for shifting to occur.

He once again answered my questions patiently, and made me feel at ease. I can't stress how important it is to have a doctor or dentist that you feel utterly comfortable with, this is important when finding a dentist. I approved it, and he made his approval, and that was it. The next step is waiting for the molds to come in!

Molds and Photos

After, saying "yes, yes, yes" to invisalign, the next step in my journey was getting my molds.

I don't live in the same state as the dentist I went to, because I opted to go to the same dentist my brother went to. I live about 2 hours away, but because of my first impressions, reviews I read about him, and my brothers obvious teeth transformation, I said driving 2 hours was worth it.

He is only open on the weekdays, so I took half a half day off and went on my road journey to get the molds done and more photos taken.

This was an interesting experiencing. I layed there and was faced with this gray putty filled over the brim of a tray and was told this would be put in my mouth and I would have to bite on it. First the upper teeth would enjoy this and then the bottom.

The mold tasted like clay or play-to, and it had to be left on there for a few minutes, then pulling it off was an interesting fete. My saliva acted like a suction cup to the mold, and after a few tries it came off, now for the bottom half. Afterwards, my mouth was dry and the taste was gross, I was given mouth wash to rinse the taste away.

Now for the photos. I was given two plastic sticks, and was told that I would have to hold my mouth open wide so photos could be taken, and then again for the upper lip and bottom lip.

Overall, it only took about 20 minutes, and I was told that the molds would be sent out and return in about 2-3 weeks.

Deciding on Invisalign

I have had a love and hate relationship with my teeth. I have had a gap in the middle of my teeth as far back as I could remember. I don't remember it bothering me as a child and I was made fun of, so I don't have any emotional scars from them.

When I was a child, I had the option to get braces like all my friends were getting, but I opted not to because I was too afraid of the pain and the way they looked. While all my friends had a mouth of metal and carried their tooth brushs with them, I felt free as a bird.

As years went by I felt proud of my gap, it was Madonna-esque, and I felt that I was being true to myself for leaving my teeth the way they naturally, or unnaturally (thanks to chewing on ice) came out to be.  My teeth were in great health and I went for my dentist checks/cleaning every 6 months, other than some cavities here and there in life, my teeth were in great shape. I floss after every meal and brush my teeth in the morning and night.

But as I grew older, I became more self conscious about my teeth. I am a working professional, and I felt that my gap made me look unprofessional. Friends and family say they don't even notice it, but once in a while I do.

Around the same time of me going back and forth, my brother just finished with invisalign, while I have one gap, he had a few on the top, his overall time with invisalign was about a year. He raved about it and his dentist. It encouraged me to at least go for a free consultation.

I set it up and went in, as I explained why I wanted them, I felt so vain, but the dentist indicated that besides it looking great, there are health benefits, such as lessing the risks of peridontis, and he has noticed his patients taking care of their teeth more, flossing and brush after every meal, and not just in the morning at night.

He made me feel at ease, no wonder my brother liked him, he was kind, and very responsive, and let me ask a million questions, like the rate of pain, and what happens after invisalign.

He took a look at my teeth and I was told I was a great "candidate"and I found out that I could potentially be an "express" case, which meant I only need 10 or less aligners. In summary this is what the process would be I was told:

• I would have photos taken of me (they actually took a few of me standing from the front and the sides)
• I would have molds taken of me and then the molds are sent out.
• Once the molds are sent out, the Invisalign company sends the dentist a 3D interactive image of my teeth, and how they will look like during the journey and I would then be told how many aligners I need.
• I would be told a price point (depending on the amount of aligners and the amount of time.
• After, it is approved, in a few week my alignments trays (the piece you put in your mouth) would be sent to them for me to pick up and start my new journey.

I decided that same day, that I would pursue it and set an appointment for my molds.