My Invisalign Experience

FREEDOM!

2010-06-01T18:03:00.001-07:00

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!

It's been a while...

2009-09-23T16:58:00.000-07:00

On to Tray 13....

To recap: My treatment plan is for 15 uppers and 14 lowers.

It's been a while since I've blogged. Why? You ask? Well, mainly because I haven't seen much change and I couldn't quite come up with something to write about other than to say get up, brush, floss, stare at my teeth a little and then get on with my day.

The other reason I've been reluctant to blog is that I wondered about how much more my teeth would actually move. They seem to have moved quite a bit from trays 1-8 and then set themselves into a comfortable spot. My bottoms have totally lined up nicely. Can't say that for the top teeth. I still have the gaps from the IPR in the two front teeth and the teeth on either side have not really moved much. I was hoping the gap would close by now and I'm beginning to get worried since I only have two trays left. Otherwise, I'm not sure how that 'window' in the front teeth is going to close!!

I've adapted well though. I've got a toothbrush and floss kit for every purse. I even bought those disposable toothbrushes for when you can't get out the toothpaste and toothbrush. They're great! I went for my hygiene appointment and my gums are doing extremely well and we had a whole conversation on how could one possibly not floss??!! I used to floss once a month, if I remembered! Now, I floss at least 3 times a day!! I can't stand the thought of food between my teeth! ewwww...

The other plus: I've cut down on my coffee, snacking and lost 8 pounds! I used to have two cups of coffee at home and arrive at work and sip an extra large Tim Horton's coffee! If someone came by and offered me a coffee, I was quick to accept. Now, it's the coffee at home and water the rest of the day. It's too much trouble to have to take out the braces, brush, blah, blah, blah....so, I drink water.

On the down side, I've gone through the summer with a serious reduction in my ice cream consumption! I'll have to make up for next year when I have straight teeth!

This is what it looks like at the end of Tray 12....

Here's what it looked like when I started and before the IPR.

2 weeks to go for my lowers, 4 weeks to go for my uppers......can't wait.....

The half way point and other people's teeth!

2009-07-19T14:31:00.000-07:00

This week, I visited my ortho and he inserted Tray 8 which officially takes me to the half way point, well for the uppers at least! I'm past it for the lowers. He gave me sets 9, 10, and 11 to take with me and when I got back into the car I just couldn't believe that with the exception of one or two more visits, the regular part of my treatment would be done. How time flies! I don't have any more dramatic results happening as I did with Tray 5 but I suspect that I will begin to see more of that as I progress further along with my treatment. For now, I'm still plugging away.

What I do notice more is how acutely aware I have become of people's teeth. I had always had this sense of noticing other people's teeth because mine were always crooked and I longed for straight teeth but, never to the extent that I do now. Whether it's at work, at a party, or even shopping, I inadvertently look at people's teeth and make mental notes like: "nice and straight, crooked tops, crooked bottoms, slightly slanted, overbite, too yellow, too white, wonder if he/she ever wore braces, they look like veneers" etc!

To illustrate further, throughout the whole coverage on Michael Jackson's death, when all the commentary focused on cause of death or his cosmetic surgeries, I always searched for any comment that mentioned his teeth. Every picture where he smiled (and they're few and far between, let me tell you!), I looked at his teeth and wondered whether he too had had any work done on them, whether he had to wear any sort of braces, or whether he was blessed with straight teeth. I even looked at his pictures of younger years to see what his teeth looked like! In case you're wondering, there is no mention that I found regarding any work on his teeth! BLAH!

Obsessive? Maybe! Or, is it just a long time of me wishing to have my teeth straight and here I am, a mere few months away from this reality! Dare I say, I can cross this off my 'bucket list' in the not too distant future. I know that there may be the potential for refinements but the main part of the treatment will be over in 16 weeks (Tray 8-15)! The best part is that the main part of my treatment ends exactly on my birthday! It was not planned this way, it was merely the timing of Tray 1 to Tray 15 with each being worn for exactly two weeks! It's wonderful the way some things work out eh?

Glad to be on to Tray 6!

2009-06-19T22:56:00.000-07:00

Well, I have to say, I'm glad to be on to Tray 6. Tray 5 felt really bulky and it was a struggle to keep it on. I'm supposed to change trays every Thursday, or every 14 days. This time, I just couldn't hang out any longer and by Wednesday afternoon, I popped in tray 6 and was soooo relieved! Tray 6 feels so much better for some reason. It just doesn't have that big bulky feel. I almost don't even feel like they're in my mouth. Seriously!

Tray 6 feels so comfortable that it's much better wearing them than having them out. It's been quite easy having them in for the 22+ hours a day. I eat, brush and pop them back in! I guess the processing differs for some of the trays, who knows!

The picture is with me wearing Tray #6.

That's my update!

Tray 5 - Signs of Improvement!!

2009-06-12T06:02:00.001-07:00

Here I am mid-way through Tray 5 and I keep looking at my teeth thinking I'm not seeing that much improvement until I took my usual pictures and WOW was I surprised! With each tray, at the half way point of wearing each tray, I take pictures of the front and the sides. I download them and file them into a directory onto my pc under "Teeth" and then into separate directories labelled "Tray 1", "Tray 2", etc (ok, you can call me crazy!). This time, after taking my usual pictures for Tray 5, I copied the pictures from Tray 1 and compared them to Tray 5 and was pleasantly surprised! The overbite has been significantly reduced. I hadn't really noticed how much until I saw the pictures.

As you can see, the two front teeth don't seem to be jutting out as much. Although intuitively I had felt that this was happening and I could feel that this was happening, I really did not realize how much it was actually happening! I'm soooo excited!!

One of the major factors in me deciding to get braces was my overbite. Whenever I was in pictures, I always made sure never to be caught in a side shot since it emphasized my overbite. This is why I'm so excited to see improvement!

The picture on the left is mid-way through Tray 1 and the one on the right is the picture I took this morning, mid-way through Tray 5.

The difference is amazing, don't you think??!! Although there is still an overbite and crooked teeth, the two front teeth are not jutting out as much.

I'm still waiting for the front gap to close and when that happens I'll be incredibly excited. I'm quite self-conscious about it since when we go out for dinner with friends, even if they don't notice the Invisalign, I feel like the gap is significant enough for it to be noticeable. All things considered, I'm a third of the way through (15U, 14L) so, not that bad!! I'll be done on my birthday, I hope! At the very least, I'll have a brand new smile for Christmas!!

Week 8, Tray 4

2009-05-29T16:45:00.000-07:00

I've been wearing my 4th trays now for a week and with the exception of the first day, they weren't tight at all. I've had a few dinner outings this week so, I've had them out for about 2 to 3 hours each time and they don't even feel tight when I put them back in. On the days that I know I'm going to be going out for dinner, I tend to have a quick breakfast and lunch and put them right back in so that I don't worry about how long they're out while I'm enjoying my dinner. I'm trying hard to stick to the 22 hours a day but find that sometimes I just need the extra break at dinner time. It's usually in the evenings when I feel like I just want to take the trays out and let my 'bare naked' teeth relax a little!

I think my work colleagues are beginning to notice. I was an avid coffee drinker and I've stopped that because of the hassle of having to take the trays out and brush my teeth. I now have a cupboard full of bottled water since I seem to be drinking lots of it! I have mentioned to several people if I notice that they are staring at my teeth (probably me thinking that they are staring at my teeth more than anything).

I've also been really attentive to all the blogs and forums on Invisalign and I've noticed something really funny. People post pictures on thier blogs as well as on other forums and I realize that I have begun to recgonize them just from their teeth! I've enjoyed the blogs though since I have found them really helpful.

I think it was while I was wearing tray #3 that I was getting worried about whether or not I had made the right decision. I'm starting to feel a little better about this now. I'm in my 8th week and since my treatment is supposed to last about 30 weeks (15U, 14L), I'm almost one third of the way through so I'm thinking it's not that bad. I haven't seen a lot of significant improvement just yet. Someone posted the question on one of the forums on when to expect to see improvement and it seems like lots of the 'experienced' invisaligners agreed that it takes a while. Most seem to comment that it took somewhere in the range of tray 7 to 10 to see significant improvement. I still have the ugly gaps in the front so, I'm not quite there yet. I see my ortho next week and I will be asking on when to expect the gaps to start closing.

I have a big week ahead. My daughter's high school graduation and prom is coming up. Just yesterday I remember walking her into her first day in kindergarten! That was 14 years ago!

That's it for now!

2009-05-15T20:29:00.000-07:00

I'm mid-way through Tray 3 and I'm finding my speech a little difficult. I think the bottom tray of this set goes a little deeper into my mouth and I'm finding it sometimes difficult when I talk fast so I have to be really conscious to talk slow or I end up sounding funny.

I'm quite conscious of the spaces between my teeth from the IPR and it looks much better with my trays in, so I've been keeping the trays in a lot and as soon as I'm finished eating, I brush, floss and pop them back in. This means that I've had the trays on for well over 22 hours each day and that's a good thing!

I have uploaded my clincheck video. I watch this all the time!! It's only 3 seconds and it goes rather quick.

Tray 3 - The Beginning

2009-05-08T15:57:00.000-07:00

Last night I started with Tray 3. Again, no real pain just feels tight. I didn't take any medication so it wasn't even that uncomfortable.

My only problem: I beginning to feel like there is no end to this. All day today I couldn't help but think "what have I done". During my last visit to my ortho, I had IPR done so I have these spaces in my top front 6 teeth and it looks terrible when I take my trays out. I'm feeling like I'll never get through this or I've made a big mistake. I'm starting to lose momentum in thinking that I've made the right choice. I've got thoughts of just going back to the orthodontist to tell him to put bonding on my teeth where he did some IPR and just leave it be. All I've been doing is reading other blogs to see if this is normal to have this feeling so early in treatment. I hope I don't lose the motivation.

I have attached a picture of what my teeth look like with the IPR. They look worse than when I started so this is why I'm feeling like I've made a big mistake!

Mid-way through Tray 2

2009-05-01T19:26:00.000-07:00

So, the first week of Tray 2 is done. They're loosening up a bit. Didn't have any pain with these trays luckily enough. The first few days they were really tight but not painful. They were difficult to get on and off and still taking a while to get them out.

With all the IPR I had, I'm really self-conscious about the space in my two front teeth so I've been keeping my trays in for a long time. I tend to not want to let people see me with the spacing in my teeth. I guess it's a good thing since the longer they are in, the better. Some days, I come home from work and take them off just so I can give my mouth a breather for about 15 minutes.

This past week I've also been out a lot and I've had to get used to brushing my teeth in a lot of public washrooms. Luckily,there haven't been a lot of people around since I feel like I'm taking out dentures sometimes!

The ortho gave me Trays 3 & 4 and I've been comparing Tray 2 (the one that I'm currently wearing) with Tray 4 and I don't see much of a difference. When I look at other people's blogs, it seems like their trays look significantly different but they have a much greater span between trays so maybe I'm expecting too much.

That's it for now. I'll post again when I start Tray 3

Tray 2 - The Big Squeeze!

2009-04-23T16:42:00.001-07:00

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.

April 16 - The End of Week 1

2009-04-16T17:39:00.000-07:00

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.

April 9, 2009 - The Journey Begins

2009-04-16T17:16:00.001-07:00

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.