FREEDOM!

The last time I wrote was September 2009.

Let me catch you up on what's happened since then.....

I finished my original treatment of 15 upper and 14 lower trays. And yes, the front gap was still there in full view after tray 15.....if I wasn't careful when I had the trays out while eating, I could easily squish food right through there not to mention liquids. Disappointed? Incredibly!!

Somehow, I thought I would get away with my initial round of treatments. I had read everyone else's blog, the braces forum and everywhere else that everyone, EVERYONE, says that they went on for refinements. Wasn't going to happen to me, I thought! Well...WRONG! I had my 15th tray on and went for my last visit with my dentist and he told me that he was taking impressions for the refinements. I was not surprised since my teeth were not straight but I'll be honest, I was disappointed. I would go on to wear tray 15 and tray 14 for another few weeks until the refinement trays came in.

Shock #2....I went in for my refinement trays expecting about 3 maybe 4 trays. There were 16 uppers!!! More than my original round of treatments. The lowers were all in place and so I got the wire retainer fused to the back of my teeth (more on that later). 16 Trays!! I kept asking the dentist if he was sure that they had not made a mistake! Luckily, he tried the first 3 on and they were somewhat loose, so I started with Tray 4 and wore Tray 4-7 for one week only. Trays 8-16 were worn for the full two weeks.

Armed with my new refinements, I now was on my way home with the new wire retainer as well. Although I had been told about the need to wear a retainer, I didn't think that it would feel so intrusive in my mouth. My tongue rested on it, played with it and it was all I could think about. I sometimes wondered if people could see it...knowing full well, no one could as I could barely see it!

So, here I was with only the top trays and back to the brushing, flossing, popping the tray back in and back out and carrying my dental packets in each purse. I re-stocked up on the WISPS (disposable toothbrushes). They became a life saver since I could brush any where, any time.

Now for the finale. I went to my last dentist appointment on May 25th. I got my trays first on April 8th, 2009, so almost 13 months later, I was still in trays. To me, my teeth still looked like they were not where they should be so I was fully expecting the "I'm going to take another set of impressions and you will need Round #2 of refinements" speech. After all, I had not noticed much of a difference in the refinement process. This is why I didn't blog. I was somewhat disappointed and felt that I didn't want to write any discouraging comments in the event that there might be someone out there considering Invisalign who might read my post and then re-consider for no good reason other than my results not being what I wanted them to be.

Off I went. After a few minutes of examination, closer inspection....the dentist said...YOU'RE DONE! I said "pardon?"....and he said, yes, you're done...they're beautiful! But, but, but...

The gap had not closed and they did not look straight to me. On closer inspection, it was considerably smaller than it had been since I had the IPR. He explained that the gap would be closed with some minor bonding (there was bonding there before) and that once the attachments were removed he would shape some of the teeth so that they looked straighter on the edges. This would help quite a bit. Before I could relieve myself of the trays though, he had to take impressions so that he could order a wire retainer for the top. OH NO..... I would have the same feeling for the tops as I do for the bottom!!! Apparently, I would have to live with it since my teeth would want to fall back to where they were! So, impressions taken, I left and made an appointment to return on May 31st.

It's now May 31st. I arrive thinking that I should have asked him to send impressions to Invisalign just in case another set of refinements was necessary. Now it's me thinking I need refinements and the dentist telling me I'm done whereas before it was me wishing I was done and the dentist telling me I needed refinements!! Weird eh?

Before starting, he explained that he would do the bonding at another appointment and that I should get them whitened before the bonding as the colours would be totally different. He removed the attachments, inserted the wire retainer and after some grinding and shaping and look this way and look that way and up, down and all that...he said, ok...see you in two weeks. An hour had passed and he didn't even hand me a mirror.

I got to my car and the first thing I did (after turning on the air conditioning) was flip down the vanity mirror and stared for what seemed like a long time. I LOVED MY TEETH FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER! They were beautiful AND straight. I think I smiled all the way to work so that I could keep checking them in the mirror at stoplights. The first thing I did when I got to work was use the mirror in my office to check all the angles.

Aside from the gap needing to be closed and the whitening...I am now DONE! Next week, I am having the ZOOM whitening done and then a few days later, I will have the bonding finished. It will be just in time for a Gala event that I have been invited to attend. I'm going out this Saturday to buy a new dress, new shoes and new purse to go with my 'new' teeth!!! I'll need a pedicure and a manicure too! Next week my schedule goes something like this.....get teeth whitened, get teeth bonded....Saturday, hair and nails.

I am thrilled with the results. Would I do it again??.....I think it's too soon to ask me that. I am just now enjoying the freedom from the trays and all the in/out, brush, floss etc. I certainly won't miss having to brush my teeth in a public washroom!!! This is why I stocked up on the WISPS. Ask me in a month when I have been sporting the new teeth for a while!

I attached some pictures of the way my teeth were when I started and where they are now. I can't imagine what it was like walking around with THOSE teeth!

I will post pictures of the final teeth in a couple of weeks after whitening and bonding.

Some Before photos:

Notice the overbite and how prominently my teeth stick out. I remember being able to put the tip of my finger into the space between my top and bottom teeth when closed!!.

And ta da....this is how they look today....

...the middle pictures are priceless!

Yes, not entirely perfect....but perfect to me!