Jealousy and Pain.... Yay?

On November 20, I had my first appointment since starting Invisalign!  I was so excited!!  I received trays 4-6 and had some IPR done.  By the way, if anyone who reads this doesn't know what IPR is, it is interproximal reduction.  To help with crowding, they file down between your teeth like this:

Obviously, it's not much fun.  It's not horrible by any means, but it's certainly not a fun celebration :)  But, the good news is that I think I only have IPR on one more tooth!!  Yaaaaay!  I hope they do it at the next appointment to get it over with!

So, anyway, tray 4 was really tight.  I tried to put it on in the dentist office.  I'm not sure if it was because the tray was so tight or because I was putting it on in front of other people... but I couldn't put it on!  My dentist ended up snapping it on for me.

And then, it hurt.  My first real pain from Invisalign... Apparently this may become a common theme with my treatment.... The tooth with my crown was the culprit.... and it's also the one that caused a slight bit of discomfort for a day last time.

To make it a little worse, my dentist appointment was in the morning.  AND it was right before Thanksgiving.  So, the day before Thanksgiving I didn't eat dinner, and the day of Thanksgiving I didn't eat breakfast.  I went 24 hours with my aligners in... But my plan worked.  My teeth didn't hurt when I took the aligners out for the Thanksgiving meal!!! :D

But... I've dealt with worse, and it was only for about a day.  It wasn't bad enough to keep me from getting work done or anything... And it will definitely be worth it for my results at the end of treatment!

PS, now my trays are DEFINITELY not tight!!  If I didn't have attachments, I could probably slip the tray off my back teeth with my tongue!


Ok, so I need to admit something.  I'm an awful person.  Whenever I take pictures, I don't see results.  And when I think I see results, I later realize it was just the angle of the picture or something deceiving me.  And originally, I didn't expect to see results this early, but after seeing EVERYONE ELSE talk about their results after this amount of time... I'm a little jealous. :(  So, let me ask you guys.... do you think there is a little difference, or is it just a difference in how the pictures were taken?

I'll even post a picture of me instead of just my teeth!

And by the way....

Tray 4... So Close, Yet So Far Away

I am almost finished with tray 3!!  I go to the dentist on Tuesday and get trays 4-6.  I think I am also having some IPR done, but I'm not 100% positive.

Overall, everything is going really well.  I haven't had any problems, or any real pain.  One of my back teeth was a little sore for about a day, but it went away.  It wasn't even that bad, just a slight pain.

However, I have realized something over the past few days.... I hate my teeth.  Has anyone seen the episode of How I Met Your Mother where they all "discover" each other's bad traits?  Ted corrects everybody, Robin says "literally" too much, Lily eats too loudly, and Marshall sings everything.  Before they consciously realized these annoying habits, they weren't frustrated by them.  But as soon as one person brought it up, the others were soooo annoyed by these traits!  That's similar to my teeth.  Before now, I knew I didn't have the greatest teeth, but now that I stare at them ALL the time, I'm noticing sooooo many flaws with them, and I'm starting to think my teeth are hideous!  I think I will try and stop looking at them so much. :)

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Ok, I'm back... I went to look at my teeth in the mirror to see if I could see progress yet... just kidding!

Oh, and I cheated today.  I cheated on my diet, I cheated with my Invisalign-wearing time, I cheated on my boyfriend... wait, that's not right.... I'd never cheat on..... oh, wait, I don't have a boyfriend.



AWKWARD SILENCE.

Anyway.... just wanted to share my thoughts.  I took tray 3 photos, but I won't be posting comparisons because they look identical to tray 2 and also to the beginning photos.  So ready to see some progress!!!  I know I need to be patient, but that's easier said than done.

One fun announcement.... Thanksgiving day will mark 50 days with invisalign!

Before I end my entry, I want to say that my Tuscaloosa/Roll Tide/College Roommate friend, MaryKathryn is the best!  And her new hubby is pretty cool, too.

She wrote an entire blog entry about me, which made me look like this:

So, yay for MaryKathryn and Sam!

That is all for today! :D

Bazinga!!  Happy (early) Thanksgiving!  Now I am done!

End of Tray 2? Close Enough!

I'm almost done with my second tray of Invisalign!! :D  Yes, this means I still have 20 left, but that doesn't mean I can't enjoy the small victories.  I change trays Sunday night.

So.... updates!

• The sore spot caused by tray #1 disappeared right after I started tray 2!
• A few days into tray two, I rubbed against the tray and had a small scratch on the side of my tongue. :(  However, it only lasted for about 2 days, and wasn't really that bad.
• I had a slight amount of tooth pain one day, and it felt similar to a cavity.  I was a little worried, but it felt better the next day so I don't think it is a cavity... yay!
• I have a dentist appointment on November 20, so I will see if everything looks like it's on track so far.
• I can see some changes in my pictures!!

My natural smile.  Please ignore that my lips are chapped, haha.  I have been stressed.

All of my teeth.  Notice the difference in my top sideways tooth? :D

I think the front two teeth look slightly better.



So, nothing major, I know.  But obviously, I did not expect much after only two trays. :)  I am excited for another one!