Tray 2 - Day 3

Well I can certainly confirm that this tray has been a lot less painful than the first. It really hasn't given me much grief at all. There has definitely been some pressure on a few select teeth, but all in all not bad.

In the midst of all this my Grandmother who was 99 passed away on Saturday March 25th at about 1:30 in the morning. I'm glad that I got to say my goodbye to her in her last few hours. Tomorrow is her wake, funeral and burial. It will be a long tough day but I know I'll make it through in one piece.

Next appointment with my Orthodontist is on Saturday April 8th where I will get my attachments (unsure of how many). Will report how that goes and how much more noticeable my trays are after that. Right now people can not notice them unless I tell them I have them on and they really look; a big plus!

Tray 2 - Hour 16

So I switched my trays last night before going to bed and prepared myself to be as uncomfortable with the second set as I was with the first set. I took some pain meds about 30 minutes before bed, prepped and packed my old trays up to be stored and filed down my second trays to be worn.

Brushed and flossed my teeth and made the switch and went to bed. To my surprise when I woke up this morning I wasn't in pain!! There was some pressure of a few of my teeth, but nothing like the first set of trays. Now mind you day 2 was my worst day with the first set; so I will have to update again after I've passed that point to see if this wonderful feeling continues or I get let down.

Upper trays, set 1 and set 2

Lower trays, set 1 and set 2

Photos and 3D imaging of how my teeth should be once complete

Thanks to my Orthodontist's fantastic assistant Jane (Thanks Jane!!) I have some photos and a 3D rendering of where my teeth are currently (after the expander, but before Invisalign); and where I should be when this is all said and done.

I hope this works. Don't my teeth look amazing after?!?

Simulated Invisalign Plan then put in this Password to view: VWwHQ^kl. I could not get the link to work without the password.

If you don't like looking at real teeth I suggest you look away now!

Weeks 1 and 2 with Invisalign

So if you are reading this you know as of my last post I had left the dentist's office back in February with my teeth having been scanned. And my bottom permanent retainer having been removed (ouch!).

My next appointment was March 11. This is when I received two trays of my Invisalign and also got to see how many trays in all (so far) that I would need. Apparently I need 21 trays (to start), which equals to 42 weeks as you are to change them out every 2 weeks.

I got to take out my expander forever!! and start with the trays. They put boht upper and lower trays on for me then got me to take them both on and off myself. Something I didn't find too difficult at first. I left the dentist's office and I could tell they were there, but I could speak normally again and didn't feel any sort of pressure or pain.

Fast-forward to a few hours later and I was starting to feel it. I had to file the edges of the mouth cutter down and snip one small part at the front bottom that was jabbing into my gums; and then I had to fashion something out of cotton swabs for your face and make something for my lower lip so that my inner lip could heal up and not get more damaged.

By the second day I was a miserable human. They hurt to take in and out; so I didn't. I barely existed that day. On Monday morning I called my dentist because I couldn't imagine having to go through this every 2 weeks for the next 21 trays. I needed sleep! My jaw hurt, my teeth hurt, my head hurt and my teeth were sensitive to eating. Thankfully I got into my dentist later that day and was prescribed T3's (Tylenol 3's) and a medicated mouthwash. I took one T3 to help me sleep Monday night and by Tuesday (day 4 technically) at dinner time it didn't hurt to take the trays in and out anymore; and then by Thursday morning (day 6) I was able to stop putting the cotton in between my bottom lip and teeth.

I'm now onto day 11 (so I'm still in my first set) and I change into my next set on Saturday. I plan to do this at night with a painkiller; as that is what I did whenever I turned my expander.

My next appointment is on April 8, and at this appointment I will be getting my attachments and also something they call a Miyo(?) device. From what I know the Miyo device will only be worn at night and will almost be like a mouth guard and it is meant to bring my bottom jaw forward more. Also I was told that I would have to start doing exercises with my tongue and mouth.

Obviously I'm not looking forward to this part for many reasons; to name a few being the fact that I can only imagine how hard it will be to sleep with this Miyo thing in. Keep in mind this goes over the Invisalign already on my upper and lower teeth, plus the attachments. I can potentially see these taking a bit to get used to when you don't have your trays in; scraping your cheeks, etc.

Until tray #2!

The start of my journey

I probably should have started this blog when I started my treatment but better late than never!

The Beginning

I started my journey towards Invisalign back in July of 2016. I started by going to dentist (gasp!). To be honest I couldn't tell you the last time I had been at a dentist before then. If I had to wager a guess it would be somewhere around 10-12 years at least....I know I know that's horrible. But if you knew my dental past you might forgive me for waiting so long.

So what started me on my journey was that I noticed my overbite was coming back and I was starting to notice a lisp when I spoke. Now having been down the whole braces thing twice before in my life I wanted to do something different, something I had more control over. So that led me to look into Invisalign.

But of course I had to get all the regular dental treatments out of the way first (ie, cleaning, repairing old fills, etc).

Skip forward to September and I was finally ready to start my Invisalign journey. First I had to meet with the Orthodontist, she travels by plane once a month with her assistant to our community. I met with them they took many pictures, molds and scans. I was then told I was a candidate for Invisalign but first I would have to expand my upper arch with a three-way palatal expander.

The palatal expander arrived for my appointment in November. At first it was fine. I was under the instructions to turn it twice a week on the top part and the side part (the days didn't matter), and recommended I turn it at night; so start turning I did. I found that Tuesdays and Fridays were usually my turn nights.

Now if you've never seen one of these contraptions they are pretty inconspicuous as far as ortho treatments go, Someone else looking at you wouldn't be able to notice you wearing it, except for when you talk. This torture device makes you sounds very funny. You cannot pronounce certain letters and it impairs your speech...but you do get used to talking with it over time (say at least a month).

There was one point in late November where my teeth and jaw really hurt! It felt a bit like my mouth was being ripped apart, but not quite as bad. Luckily after a few more turns that pain went away. I found out at my next appointment in December that the pain I felt was likely from my upper arch expanding and the bone there "breaking" in lack of better terms.

I had to turn the front and side of my palatal expander up until December. Then I was lucky enough to only have to turn the side twice a week for the next month. When I went in to my January 2017 appointment; I could stop turning!!! I was so excited. Now I just had to wear the expander as a retainer but still wear it as often as before.

The only times I was taking it out was to eat, brush my teeth and play sports. February was my next appointment and when I went then they had to take my bottom permanent retainer out; which I had on my teeth since my last go around with braces (so say 15ish years). This did not feel the best. It felt like she was scraping my teeth down to nothing. It took about a week for the tenderness and pain to fade enough to be able to eat relatively normal again.

At this appointment they also took more scans of my teeth so they could start making the Invisalign. I was on my way!!