Today I got my second tray and LOTS of IPR! I got the front teeth all 'shaved' a little so there are gaps and it looks terrible! My ortho told me that I'm going to hate him for a little while but in about 8 months I'm going to love him so hopefully all those gaps will close! He's right...right now I hate him. For the first two weeks, I was fine since hardly anyone noticed and when I had them off, I felt back to normal even if only to eat. Now, even with them off, I feel like TOOTHZILLA!
My second trays are in and they feel like a really snug pair of jeans. The last few days of my first trays were like wearing an old pair of socks....fairly loose, comfortable, easy to get on and off. I feel like there is a band around my teeth. It's not painful....yet. My ortho said that things are really going to start moving now.
He gave me trays 3 and 4 and I won't have to see him for 6 weeks. Hopefully by then I will see some change. I looked at the trays and I don't see much so I'm not really encouraged yet other than by the pictures I see from other people's blogs!
One added bonus though....I've lost 4 pounds! Straight teeth and weight loss....in 8 months....now that will be quite the change!!!
That's it for now. I'll post in a few days to let you know how I'm doing with tray #2.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Thursday, April 16, 2009
April 16 - The End of Week 1
After about the second day, I thought to myself 'what was I thinking??' It felt like I had a mouthful of plastic, I couldn't close my teeth properly and I had a mouth full of saliva ALL THE TIME! Apparently, that's your body's way of trying to get rid of foreign objects! It was also Easter weekend and with all the food around, I didn't want to continuously take my trays on and off so, I just went without and only ate at the proper meal times. Not a bad thing cause, by day 4 I had lost about 2 pounds! I figure if I can lose about 20 pounds and get straight teeth...well....now that's a bonus!
It's now the end of the first week and I'm beginning to get used to them. Yes, just beginning. I can tell you, it feels much better with the trays in. With the aligners on my teeth, I always feel like my teeth are dirty when I don't have the trays on and so I'm constantly, constantly, FREQUENTLY, brushing AND flossing my teeth. I brush as soon as I've finished eating. Then I brush right after I've had my coffee or tea. At this rate, I'm going to need cases of toothpaste for the next 8 months! On the bright side, I've had no pain whatsoever so I can't say that they have been painful.
Unless I've told people, no one has noticed until I smile. I have aligners on right in the front so, they're quite noticeable. That's been quite the disappointment for me since I had not realized that aligners were actually like little buttons on your teeth. I have also had no problems talking. The only problem is that in some instances, I had to slow down so that my words didn't sound like I was slurring them. Not a significant issue though.
My only other issue has been when I go out for dinner. I now have to go to the bathroom, remove the trays and then immediately after eating, I go back to give my teeth a quick brush since I find that food gets stuck on the aligners. I can also 'swish water' but don't like to do that if I'm with work colleagues. Then before leaving, I go back to the bathroom once again to quickly brush and put them back in!
Week 1 is over and since I have to get 15 trays for the top, it's a total of 30 weeks. I'm now down to 29 weeks! I'm hoping I can stick it out. I keep reading all the other blogs and glad to see all of their positive results.
That's it for now.
It's now the end of the first week and I'm beginning to get used to them. Yes, just beginning. I can tell you, it feels much better with the trays in. With the aligners on my teeth, I always feel like my teeth are dirty when I don't have the trays on and so I'm constantly, constantly, FREQUENTLY, brushing AND flossing my teeth. I brush as soon as I've finished eating. Then I brush right after I've had my coffee or tea. At this rate, I'm going to need cases of toothpaste for the next 8 months! On the bright side, I've had no pain whatsoever so I can't say that they have been painful.
Unless I've told people, no one has noticed until I smile. I have aligners on right in the front so, they're quite noticeable. That's been quite the disappointment for me since I had not realized that aligners were actually like little buttons on your teeth. I have also had no problems talking. The only problem is that in some instances, I had to slow down so that my words didn't sound like I was slurring them. Not a significant issue though.
My only other issue has been when I go out for dinner. I now have to go to the bathroom, remove the trays and then immediately after eating, I go back to give my teeth a quick brush since I find that food gets stuck on the aligners. I can also 'swish water' but don't like to do that if I'm with work colleagues. Then before leaving, I go back to the bathroom once again to quickly brush and put them back in!
Week 1 is over and since I have to get 15 trays for the top, it's a total of 30 weeks. I'm now down to 29 weeks! I'm hoping I can stick it out. I keep reading all the other blogs and glad to see all of their positive results.
That's it for now.
April 9, 2009 - The Journey Begins
I'm 47 years old and all my life I have regretted not ever getting braces when I was a teenager. Why didn't I get them? I don't think my parents could have afforded them and it wasn't as big a deal as it is now. The older I got, the thought of having braces to straighten my teeth was enough to make me think that I could live with my crooked teeth despite my unhappiness. Then, about 10 years ago, I discovered Invisalign. I went for a consult and at that time, not only were they horribly expensive ($8,000 Cdn.), but the orthodontist told me I wasn't a suitable candidate.
About 3 months ago, I discovered a colleague of mine had been wearing Invisalign and was on her last tray!! I had not noticed that she had them on for the past 8 months! She only had bottom trays so that may be why they were so invisible. In any case, I went to her ortho for a consult and here I am finally able to write about my Invisalign experience.
I finally got my Invisalign braces put in! I was so excited and couldn't wait for this day. I went just before lunch. For my first visit, I had 7 aligners put on my top teeth and 4 on my bottom teeth. I also had one of my teeth shaved a little. In total, I'm supposed to have 15 trays for the top and 14 trays for the bottom. I've tried to take photo's but I haven't been successful so I will try again soon and post them. In any case, if all goes well, my braces will be off on my birthday.
They feel a little snug but not uncomfortable. I went back to work and no one noticed. I had some trouble getting them off later that day but that's about it and once I did it a few times, it was ok. I did notice that with the aligners on my teeth, I felt like my teeth were dirty so, I did feel like brushing and flossing immediately after eating and putting my trays back in right away.
That's it for now.
About 3 months ago, I discovered a colleague of mine had been wearing Invisalign and was on her last tray!! I had not noticed that she had them on for the past 8 months! She only had bottom trays so that may be why they were so invisible. In any case, I went to her ortho for a consult and here I am finally able to write about my Invisalign experience.
I finally got my Invisalign braces put in! I was so excited and couldn't wait for this day. I went just before lunch. For my first visit, I had 7 aligners put on my top teeth and 4 on my bottom teeth. I also had one of my teeth shaved a little. In total, I'm supposed to have 15 trays for the top and 14 trays for the bottom. I've tried to take photo's but I haven't been successful so I will try again soon and post them. In any case, if all goes well, my braces will be off on my birthday.
They feel a little snug but not uncomfortable. I went back to work and no one noticed. I had some trouble getting them off later that day but that's about it and once I did it a few times, it was ok. I did notice that with the aligners on my teeth, I felt like my teeth were dirty so, I did feel like brushing and flossing immediately after eating and putting my trays back in right away.
That's it for now.
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