My First Week

So, I survived my first week of Invisalign!  Well, technically, I can't say that until around 5:30 pm, but most people are not as picky as I am.

Since I haven't mentioned it before, here are a few facts about Invisalign:

• You switch trays every 2 weeks.
• It is recommended that you wear them 22 hours a day.  Some say this is a minimum (what??) and some say it is the ideal amount, but you can go lower.  A lot of people say you should wear them 20-22 hours a week.  A few say 18 is fine.  A very select few wear them for less (not something I think I would do on purpose).
• You are only supposed to drink water with them in (Yay for dieters who can't mindlessly snack?)
• You are advised to brush and floss each time before re-inserting the aligners.
• Some people have attachments that help the trays snap on and help them move your teeth certain ways.  I have 12, and I hate them for 2 hours a day.  Apparently, they're made with the material that fillings are made of and they make my teeth feel disgusting when my trays are out (good motivation to meet the 22 hour requirement!!)

So... you have 2 hours to eat 3 meals, brush and floss three times, and clean your aligners.  If you eat all three meals and don't eat any snacks, that gives you 40 minutes per meal/cleaning time.  Oh, and btw, when you drink sodas or acidic food, it is recommended you wait 30 minutes before brushing your teeth to avoid wearing down your enamel.  Yeah.... I need to give up diet cokes.  They're not going down without a fight, though...

So, how was my first week, you ask?  It went very well!  I only felt discomfort once or twice when I snapped my trays off quickly.  It only lasted for about a minute.  Like I said, I hate the attachments, but with the trays on, I don't mind them.  And I don't care if the attachments make them more noticeable, because I tell everyone about them anyway (I'm still excited).

Two things I'm not crazy about, however:

• I'm obsessed.  And the fact that I am having some downtime at work is not helping!  I just want to sit here and read about Invisalign allll day long, even though it is starting to become annoying and insane.
• I'm more obssessed with Carmex.  I used to love it because I had that nasty habit of biting on my lips and so I used Carmex almost constantly to try and heal the damage I inflicted on myself.  Now, I use it both for that reason and because my lips are always dry and chapped.  So ready for my mouth to get used to having the trays in so that it will go back to normal.  And, speaking of normal, I am going to get a cup of water right now to assist with that.

Random picture of water to show how serious I am about drinking some of it now.  You can't post it on the internet if it's not true...