#16 has been pretty good to me so far. Back molars hurt a bit last night, but other than that, no pain and haven’t felt alot of pressure. But the awesome thing is…. is that my bite is nearly normal again. Which means when I bite down, all my teeth touch again! Even bigger YAY!

I can definitely see a big change in the position of my teeth. I’m attaching a comparison pic so you can see too. The before is actually from Trays #3 cause I can’t find one from before that when I’m wearing my trays.

What do you think?

So what have I learned these past seven months? Well, most importantly, I’ve learned a new confidence and belief in myself. Despite how easy and painless the commercials want you to believe, Invisalign is not easy and it’s not painless. It takes dedication and self-discipline, and when you put on new trays, it can hurt like hell. Attachments can make the trays no-so-invisible, eating gets deferred to designated timeslots, speech can sometimes be altered slightly (I currently have a whistling ‘s’), sharp, unfiled edges can cut your tongue, for some people the bite is temporarily altered making chewing difficult, and sometimes the feeling of two chunks of plastic in your mouth can drive you mad.

Now I didn’t say any of that to drive anyone away from getting Invisalign. But you have to know what you’re getting into. Overall, Invisalign is great, IMO.

Here’s a few things I’ve learned that have made my treatment go as smoothly as it has so far (*knock on wood*)…

1. Don’t shop around for a bargain. Shop around for the best ortho that you feel comfortable with. You get what you pay for, and cheapest is not necessarily the best.

2. You’re paying out a crap load of money. You’re spending several months, and for some, years, in this treatment. So for the love of God, follow your ortho’s instructions!

3. Don’t be afraid to ask questions of your ortho and his/her staff. Again, you’re paying a crap load of money. Don’t leave the office until you’re satisfied your questions are answered.

4. Before putting on a new set of trays, always check for and file down any sharp edges with an emery board. And when at the ortho, feel free to ask them to cut off sharp edges first when they make you put on a new set there.

5. Take pictures often. We see ourselves several times every day. It’s hard for us to see changes, even when those around us can. Take pictures of your teeth with every new set so you can look back and really see your progress. Don’t get discouraged when you don’t see any changes right away. It takes time, and for many the first big changes are in the back. My ortho told me flat out that I wouldn’t see much difference until trays 18.

6. Put new trays on in the evening. Most find it best to do so before bed and just take a painkiller. This doesn’t work for me. After dinner, I drink some soda with a bit of rum. I’m not a heavy drinker, so this little bit does the trick for me, lol!

7. Keep a calendar and a pen in your bathroom and write down when you take your trays out and put them back in. When I started doing this, I was surprised at how much time I didn’t realize I was losing. Now it’s almost a contest trying to see if I can beat the previous days time.

8. Find others (I prefer the Invisalign forum on bracesreview.com) who also wear Invisalign. It’s great to feel a camaraderie with others going through the same process, and it always makes me feel better when my trays are giving me trouble. It’s also great for getting tips and advice from others who’ve had the same problems.

9. Water. Drink lots of it. I mean LOTS. It’ll help with dry mouth. Keep a bottle with you at all times. Vaseline is great for chapped lips. Doesn’t take a ton and lasts so much longer than chapstick. Makes them softer too.

10. DON’T GIVE UP!

When it comes right down to it, it’s a trial and error process. When you hit a snag, figure out a way around it. Just remember that no matter how hard it can be some days, this will all be worth it. In the end, you’re going to have a beautiful, perfect smile. You get out of it what you put in. Give it your all and the results will be grand. Besides, isn’t something so wonderful worth fighting for?

So I had my latest ortho appointment this past Thursday, November 3. This, hands down, was this most eventful tray switchover I’ve ever had, but what else did I expect from lucky number 13, right? It was my first appointment at my new job, and I was already worried about being gone too long and making my boss angry. Completely unfounded, of course, since he’s such a great guy and even told me to take my time.

So I left at 10:30 and got there 5 minutes before my appointment time. Luckily, this time I didn’t have to wait too long – maybe 15 minutes. Last few appointments had be waiting nearly half an hour, which I wasn’t happy about, but I was unemployed then so didn’t worry too much. So anyway, I got back there and took my trays out, the lab girl cut out spaces in my next three trays for the hooks… the usual. Then Dr. H came over… with a friend, lol – a new intern. Unusual but didn’t bother me. He had me bite down a few times and checked whatever orthos check when they put their fingers in your mouth, lol! And then he gave me GREAT NEWS!!!! I only have to wear my elastics at night from now on. WOOOHOOOO!!!!! No matter what else happened that day, that alone gave me reason to be happy no matter what. While the elastics and I were getting along ok, it was still a strained relationship. It’s so weird now being able to open my mouth all the way.

Another great thing I was told was that if everything is still looking ok at my next appointment in December, then I’ll be getting 4 sets of trays instead of 3. YAY! That will take me through tray 19. It also means I won’t have to worry about going up Corridor G during the horrible January weather (that’s when we usually get our snow around here. Corridor G is horrendous on a good day, so I definitely appreciate that small blessing.

Before he left me I made sure to jump in with my ClinCheck complaint. I already blogged about that below, so not going to get into it again, but I now have my ClinCheck. Video posted below with the blog.

Got my next appointment ticket/reminder (which I had already made October 3 since attempting to make my next appointment the same day of my current one always means I have to wait 7+ weeks before they can fit me in). I would have made my next appointment after that, but decided not to since I don’t know if it’ll be 6 or 8 weeks out. And if it’s 8 weeks, then that’ll be in February, which isn’t even open for appointments yet.

All in all, I was only gone from work for an hour. I was going to count that as my lunch break and just go back to working. But my boss, who always buys us all lunch, insisted I still take my lunch. So I ran up the street to get it and when I got back, went to take my braces out. Another reason I was going to skip was because I figured I wouldn’t be able to get them out, but they didn’t feel too tight, so I figured it’d be possible. So I got to the bathroom and… WOW!  They were alot tighter than they felt. But lunch was waiting and I was starving, so I kept trying. The lower tray had gotten stuck on the attachment on my lower right canine right above the hook. Finally, after a few minutes of tugging it popped off. So did the attachment. I’d really been hoping I’d manage to get through treatment without losing an attachment. So after getting off the top tray, I went back to the office and called the ortho. They could see me at 2 when they got back from lunch. I hated asking my boss if I could once again leave, but he said no problem.

So 1:45 saw me leaving once again to go back to the ortho and was the first person taken back. I have to say I was kind of embarrassed but was assured this happens all the time. What doesn’t happen all the time, I’m sure, is that half a dozen interns learning about Invisalign gathering around me in the ortho chair watching fascinated at the process of putting on an attachment. Again, this surprisingly didn’t bother me. It was actually kinda funny.

While waiting for Dr. H to come back over, I noticed a tray laying on the countertop. At first I didn’t recognize it, but turns out it was the template from when they first put on my attachments. That was back when I started Tray 4. OMG!!! The difference was HUGE. I put it next to my current tray and was blown away. I wish I had my camera to compare. I haven’t been taking pictures of my trays, but now I think I should have. My top 2 teeth have straightened out so much. Guess I look at them so much that I haven’t noticed. Think later I need to post some side-by-side comparison pics.

I asked Dr. H to check another attachment I had been worried about and had forgot to ask about earlier. He said it was good, and so was the newly reattached one. By the time I got back to the office, it had been another hour. Luckily, I have such a great boss.

So after the trouble I had the first time, I decided not to take the trays out for the rest of the day, which meant no dinner. Luckily, lunch was pretty big. But I was still hungry around 9pm and decided to drink some orange juice through a straw. Thought about finding some food I could break up into tiny pieces and swallowing whole. Only thing I could find was was Doritos, but only got through 2 chips before I gave up. It was too hard to swallow and my tongue hurt from brushing against the inside of my bottom aligner, which hadn’t been able to be filed yet.

Next morning – 17 1/2 hours after putting them back on the second time – the tray popped out with no problem (and no attachment). So far – knock on wood – I haven’t had any more trouble besides a few of my top teeth hurt like hell when I take that tray out, but that’s to be expected, and it only lasts a few seconds. Also hurts when I use my chewie on those teeth, but again it’s nothing too bad.

Now I’m just waiting for next few milestones to come up. November 18 will be my 2nd Plasticversary, which is 200 days in Invisalign. December 1st will mark the halfway point through my treatment. December 15th is my next appointment and hopefully then I’ll get the next 4 sets of trays – 18 & 19 are the major ones which bring my top tooth forward. I can’t wait!!!

I’m mostly happy with it. The few things I don’t like have nothing to do with the straightening and are more cosmetic. I think my front teeth look too big and would like to have them filed flat at the end of treatment. Dr. H says they’re rounded and jagged because my bite has never been right and the teeth, therefore, never had a chance to file themselves naturally. I also want them whitened. Overall, I think it’s pretty good. Only 16 more trays to go!!

Closed bite. Or as much as I can close my mouth, lol!

Top still doesn’t look much different to me, but I can definitely see a difference on the bottom.

Closeup of the bottom teeth. The one that was pushed back is clearly coming forward. Just a little more!

My teeth don’t naturally close like this. The pushed back tooth sits on top of the one below it. But this shows that I can now alter my bite to make that tooth be in front. I’ve never been able to do this before.

But anyway… #11. Like the ones before it, I haven’t had any pain. Quite a bit of pressure, as usual, but thankfully the pain I had been having from grinding my back teeth together constantly is almost gone. Still do it occasionally, so my molars are still a bit sore, but nothing too bad. My biggest annoyance now is my bite. With the elastics pulling my lower jaw back, the top front tooth that was pushed back is now coming forward sooner than expected. Which is great, but it also means that now it is sitting directly on top of the tooth below it 100% of the time and nearly none of my other teeth touch. Eating is difficult, but I’ve adapted to using my tongue to do most of the “chewing” so I don’t have to worry about starving, lol!

I’ll be switch to #12 in 2 weeks. Decided to split the extra 10 days until my next appointment between #11 and #12. The next appointment is on Thursday, November 3. Previous ones have been on Mondays, which was fine with me. Not sure I like Thursdays, but can’t decide which would be the best day. And since I’m still so new at my job, I’m not sure which day of the week will be the best to take an hour off. We’ll see. It’ll only be 1 hour on 1 day every 6 weeks, so it shouldn’t be a big deal.

In other unsurprising news, I still haven’t gotten a copy of my clincheck. The girl who I saw at my last appointment was supposed to have it emailed to me, but that never happened. At least I know for my next one, my regular ortho is definitely going to be there (he wasn’t last time), and you can guarantee I’ll be complaining.

Took some new pics a few days ago, so I’ll try posting those here soon. Nothing else to report really. Just taking it day by day.

I’ve also been doing some quick updates on twitter recently. http://twitter.com/lanaday101

Just got back from the ortho about an hour or so ago. If you’ve read my previous posts, you may have noticed that I haven’t been too thrilled with the staff at my ortho’s office, for various reasons. But today I went in with the mindset that I wasn’t leaving until I was satisfied and had all my questions answered. Well, right off the bat, the girl who worked on me today was surprisingly cheerful and sweet. This was her first day back after an extended leave, and the first time I’d ever seen her. I asked her all my questions, which she readily answered without acting annoyed that I’d dare ask (like some previous girls). And when I asked about my clincheck, she even took me back to an office computer to login and show it to me. Apparently, at this office, no one has ever asked for their clincheck before so they’ve never given copies out. She wasn’t sure how, but looking at the screen, we figured it out. Unfortunately, she couldn’t email it from that computer, but I gave her my email and she said she was going to have one of the office girls email it to me. I’m crossing my fingers she comes through.

My usual ortho was at his other office today, so it was his partner who looked at me. Apparently, everything looks great. He did a bit more IPR, and surprisingly, one tooth on the bottom got somewhat sore when it was doing it. Nothing bad, though. It was just weird cause I usually can’t feel it at all, but I could definitely feel that.

Back to the clincheck….. she played it for me a few times and it looks like the top pushed back tooth is set to make it’s way in front during trays 18, 19, and 20. My next goal though is my Second Plasticversary, which falls on November 18. Then the next goal will be the halfway point, which will be the end of trays #14. Originally, I was expecting this to be November 21 – the day after my birthday. Unfortunately, the scheduling system at my ortho’s office gets a huge thumbs down, and the next appointment which should have been on October 24 is going to be on November 3. That was their first available appointment. So my halfway point will fall on December 1. Oh well. I’m disappointed, but I’ll deal. Instead of seeing it that my treatment is extended, I’ve decided to look at it like my teeth and roots are getting more time to settle before being pushed to the next set of trays. Nothing I can do to change the situation, so I might as well make something positive out of it, right?

It’s hard to believe I’ve come so far along already. Seems like just yesterday I started. There’s been alot of bumps in the road so far, and I know there will be lots more to come, but I can honestly say – It’s Worth It!

Other than the massive pressure on my lower back molars, there’s no trouble so far with these. I did just put them in though, so I guess we’ll see tomorrow.

I ended up deciding to split the extra week in half. #8 was only a bit tight on Monday, but I had a lot of stuff going on, plus a job interview today and really didn’t want to have trouble speaking during, lol. But by today, they had loosened up completely. Checking my calendar, I noticed that I’ve only been getting about 20 hours a day of wear time with #8. Once I made sure to get over 21 these past few days is when they loosened up. So just goes to show that those few extra minutes here and there do add up. Definitely gonna do my best to get back to the 22 hours a day I had been getting before. Anything I can do now to reduce refinement time is worth it.

Elastics aren’t really bothering me anymore. I forget they’re there most of the time. And my jaw pretty much stays in the new position even without the bands. Alas, I’ve resigned myself to the fact that I will most likely be wearing them for the rest of my treatment.

Nothing else to report really. Can’t wait for 2 1/2 weeks for double digit aligners. Almost there!