Post-Busy Season Update

Life got busy for the past month with work, my ASL class, and attempting to continue my exercise habits.  But, I'm still alive!  Here is my most recent before/after picture.

I am currently wearing tray 14, but I don't think my bottom teeth have completely settled in yet.  Eight more trays after this, and then I will be moving onto refinements!

Halfway!!

I switch to tray 12 today.  Since I have 22 trays, it becomes official today that I am halfway through my initial Invisalign trays!!!

Here are my teeth

You can see some differences, but you have to look for them.  However, I took a picture of my trays the other day... this is where you can see the real difference (thanks to the different angle used).

This is actually tray 12, so it is slightly ahead of my teeth.  The front four bottom teeth:

Yay for being finished with the first half!

Goodbye, Tray Ten!

Tomorrow night, I say goodbye to my first double digit tray and start tray

This is exciting, because after my 11th tray, I will officially be halfway through my 22 original trays!


I have been slacking a little with everything!  I've been stress eating, not exercising, not meeting my 22 hour tray requirement, not studying ASL, and not getting enough sleep!  :( 

Gotta figure out how to increase my motivation....


Trays 8, 9, and 10 were all super easy.  I keep waiting for my luck to run out

I will post pictures at the halfway point; hopefully there will be some differences....

100 Days!

Guess what today is!  Obviously, from the title, today marks 100 days of wearing Invisalign!!  (Ok, yesterday since it's after midnight.)  Now, this may not seem like a big deal to anyone who hasn't worn Invisalign, but to those who have.... it's pretty exciting!

Since I didn't give an update the last time I changed trays, now is a good time to do so....

Tray

Tray 6 was popped onto my teeth on December 18, while I was in Miami for work.  When I first started wearing it, I thought it would be a breeze!  But tray 6 reminded me of one of those headaches that doesn't bother you at first, but slowly starts to wear you down... about 24 hours in, there was just enough discomfort to be noticeable, but not really enough to truly bother me.... It only lasted for a day anyway, and then I was back to feeling comfortable!

For the first time, I noticed a power ridge on my trays, located on my top left central incisor.  Apparently I also had one of these in an earlier tray, but it was more noticeable this time on a front tooth.  For anyone who doesn't know, this is what power ridges are (these aren't my teeth, btw).

If you imagine a tooth that is slanted inward, and the power ridge pushing/holding the top part of the tooth, while the tray moves the bottom part of the tooth outward, that is my understanding.  If that doesn't make sense, you can also watch this video, which helps make it a little more visual.

So, anyway, the most annoying thing about tray 6 was driving down to Alabama for the Christmas break.  I ended up drinking one of those Starbucks Frapuccino drinks you can buy at gas stations and drinking it with my trays in because I couldn't keep constantly stopping in gas stations, and I needed caffeine.  But I survived (yay!) and moved on to....
                                                                               Tray

Tray 7 was similar to tray 6 in the sense that it definitely didn't hurt at all the first day.  It was comfortable right after I put in... I couldn't tell if I was happy to be comfortable or sad that I wouldn't be seeing a ton of movement!  So, the next day I was surprised when I could actually feel some soreness on my bottom right central incisor.  I think this is the first time I have felt anything specifically on that tooth.  (Once again, it was enough to be noticeable, but it wasn't bad at all.  Just enough soreness to let me know something happened, but not enough to bother me- I actually wish all trays were just like tray 7!)  And maybe the theory that it's more noticeable the first time a tooth moves has merit!  haha, it seems logical, so I wouldn't be too suprised! :)  I didn't notice any teeth in particular feeling any differently than usual...



So, to finish up my blog, I will tell you about my Invisalign dreams and why I'm sooo excited about tray 8!

Invisalign Dreams

In one dream, I put in new trays and they didn't fit.  They went on my teeth, and the top part fit fine, but they only went halfway down my teeth instead of going to the gumline...  I think this is similar to what happened to a fellow invisaligner, but my dream happened before his tray didn't fit.

In another dream, Align Technology invented Invisalign that lit up and played music when you bit down your teeth.  I was jealous that I didn't have them, which is obviously absurd, because the whole point of the plastic trays is to hide the fact that you are wearing braces....

Why I Am Excited About Tray 8

I can put in tray 8 for the first time at home!!  I know, you're wondering what the big deal is, right?  Well, for tray 4, I had them put on at my appointment.  For tray 5, I changed in Atlanta.  For tray 6, I changed in Miami.  For tray 7, I changed at my appointment again.  So, yes, I am quite excited to change a tray at home since I have not done so since November 4!  This happens on Wednesday, January 16.

So, that is all today.... sorry I'm a little scatterbrained today; hopefully this wasn't toooo boring to read!  It has been a busy week, so I'm too tired to be entertaining.

Post from BracesReview - Finished with Tray 6

I posted this on bracesreview.com a few days ago, so I decided I would post it here as well.

I have a dentist appointment tonight, and I will pick up trays 7-9.  I'll update more later.  I have been feeling sick lately, so I will put if off for now.

Roll Tide!

Tray 5.... It's Over!

I switched to tray 6 tonight!!!  As in, 30 minutes ago!  It's a little tight but not bad AT ALL.  Yay?

Anyway, I post quite regularly on bracesreview.com, and I decided to follow a new trend on that website... video blogs!  Not the greatest one ever made, but cut me some slack--it was my first! :D

Not sure if there is a way to change the frame that it shows before the video plays, but I secretly wouldn't want to anyway... it's quite funny!

ps On December 25 (CHRISTMAS!) I will be exactly 25% finished with my trays!!

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....