Drinking & Eating.

May 30th, 2010 - My thoughts and experiences about food and drink.

So on my very first consultation, my dentist told me that I had to remove my aligners to eat, but I could drink whatever I wanted with them in. This was great news to hear, considering I had read almost on every blog and forum that you could only drink water with the aligners in.

All my dentist told me was to use a soft toothbrush to brush my aligners and if there are any stains, to use a small amount of peroxide.

So since I've gotten my first set of aligners, I have been drinking whatever I want while wearing my aligners; beer, soft drinks, tea, chocolate milk, juice, I've even drank a mint milkshake with them in, you name it, I'm drinking it! Although I will admit that when I am at work I have a tendency to solely drink water, it is just more convenient. 

I've noticed when I eat that I can only eat on one side or the other, and I have to chew slowly, otherwise I hurt my mouth and teeth. I can no longer eat anything too hard or crunchy, like toasted sub sandwiches. In fact, anything that requires me to take a bite out of something has now become a no-no for me to eat. The other day I had to eat my hot dog (which wasn't even toasted) with a knife and fork. I couldn't take a bite out of it! I haven't had any kind of chips or cookies in over a month now. I miss them!! Oh well, it is (hopefully) well worth it in the end.

I brush my aligners before I put them back in, every single time, since I have noticed with the first set that they can get pretty grimy with time and usage. With time, I have to brush them for longer periods of time in order to get them clean, but I have of yet to see any stains on my aligners. I just make sure that after every meal, I thoroughly brush my teeth before putting my aligners back in.

We shall see what the outcome of this will be...

Aligner # 2.

May 28th, 2010 - Finally!

Today I finally got my second set of aligners!!!!!! Yay! 

I had been looking forward to today for over a week. Especially since I'd been wearing them for over 2 weeks (exactly 18 days). 

My appointment was at 11:00am, and lasted less then 30 minutes. Basically, my dentist checked to see how my teeth were doing in the current set of aligners, after which she took them out and put the new ones in. PRESSURE!!!!!!! You may think I am weird but I kind of missed it. I had to apply pressure on my aligners to try to get them to fit in properly. Obviously my top aligners did not fit (just like the first set). I asked her about it, and she told me that I had to try my best to get them to fit my teeth completely, since they are suppose to fit like the bottom ones do. So since then, I have been trying my best to get my aligners to fit, no success yet though. 

After my appointment, we scheduled my next appointment (in 6 weeks) July 9th @ 12:30am, made my first payment (out of 10) and my dentist gave me the next 2 sets of aligners to take home with me. Honestly, looking at them, I see NO difference between set 1 and set 4.

After all that, I decided to go shopping, bought 2 new books and some summer clothing!

May Photo Updates.

May 2010 - Tray #1

This is what I look like with my aligners in.

This is what my teeth look like with the aligners in, 
up close.

This is my bottom aligner. 
As you can see I have a pretty square arch.

My lower aligners, viewed from the front.

This is my top aligner. I have a tiny arch.

This is my top aligner, viewed from the front.

Day 2, Tray 1.

May 12th, 2010 - Not as bad today!

Well just wanted to update with day #2. I'm in a lot less pain today, and have so far only taken 1 Advil. My aligners fit better too, my top one still doesn't fully fit like the bottom one does. At least it's better then it was when I first got them. It has become much easier to take out my trays, and my teeth are in much less pain too. Although when my aligners are out, my teeth are still quite sensitive to the touch, so eating a bit tedious. I'm very cautious when eating, since I feel like my teeth don't quite align like they used too. I found that the only way for me to eat reasonably comfortably, is to eat only on my left side and to eat slowly.

Also I had read in many places that people get cuts from the attachments and/or the aligners edges. So far I am having no such problems, the attachments feel like I've got food stuck on my teeth.  And I have noticed that my tongue tends to gravitate towards the edges of my aligners, but I'm conscientiously trying to avoid fiddling too long with my aligners.

I've decided today how my cleaning ritual will be:

Mornings:

1. Take my aligners out.

2. Brush my teeth thoroughly

3. Brush my aligners

4. Mouth Wash

5. Rinse my mouth thoroughly

6. Put my aligners back in

Total time: about 10 mins.

Lunch:

1. Take out aligners to eat

2. Brush my teeth thoroughly

3. Brush my aligners

4. Put my aligners back in.

Total time: about 5 mins.

Evenings:

1. Take out aligners to eat supper

2. Let my aligners soak in warm water in a small container while eating

3. Brush my teeth thoroughly

4. Brush my aligners

5. Floss thoroughly

6. Put my aligners back in

Total time: about 15 mins.

I will test this routine out starting today and see if it is something I can manage. It's VERY important to take good care of my oral hygiene. Hopefully I will do well, I don't plan on getting any more cavities for a while, so it's best to make sure I take good care of my teeth, especially while in treatment.


EDIT:
After trying out this routine, I have stopped doing the mouth wash. Everything else though, I have been maintaining. And so far it has been going well.

Day 1, Tray 1.

May 11th, 2010 - ...

Well I woke up this morning and my teeth were aching/sore. My 2 front teeth were the most sore. I was able to ignore it for the most part, until I decided to take them out to eat. Wow! Just the pressure I was putting my teeth under to take out the aligners, felt like my teeth were going fall out (my front teeth were throbbing). I figure if I am in pain, it's a good sign, means that the aligners are doing their job! I took 2 Advil to help alleviate the pain (I took 2 more before supper and 2 more before going to bed.).

I then brushed and flossed and put my aligners back in after eating.

Later, I had another dentist appointment, I was scheduled for a cleaning. Boy, was I not looking forward to it. I hadn't gotten a cleaning done in over a year, plus my teeth were ultra sensitive from the aligners.

Let me just tell you that the cleaning went well, although it was quite painful, but I was told I had a lot of plaque in between my teeth. It was interesting to see a picture of my teeth before and after the cleaning. There was a significant difference in appearance. Unfortunately I have my very first cavity, makes me sad. But on the up side I went through 27 years of my life with no cavities, lets hope my track record with be as long before the next cavity.

My next appointment for Tray #2 is May 28th, 2010.

And my appointment for my filing is June 11th, 2010.

Hopefully between now and my appointments things will go as planned.

Tray #1 & Attachments.

May 10th, 2010 - Can't stop thinking.

Finally, I felt like I had waited an eternity (I hadn't). I got to my appointment which was at 3:30pm, half an hour early. So I decided to loiter at my work place for 15 or so minutes before heading to my dentist. I work right across the street from my dentist.

Once there I had to wait in the waiting room for a few minutes while my dentist finished with her previous patient, after which I was brought to one of their examination rooms. While I waited I couldn't help myself but snoop around. I was curious to know how many aligners I had and what they looked like. I found out I had 20 aligners for the top and bottom. I thought that was kinda funny, since most blogs and sites I've read from other Invisalign wearers don't usually have the same amount of aligners for both the top and bottom.

Anyway, when my dentist finally came in (through no fault of her own, her previous patient wouldn't stop asking questions!), the first step was to attach the attachments. She first made sure that the aligners fit correctly without the attachments. Let me tell you that when she put the top aligner in, OMG! My front teeth were screaming! And when she took it out, I thought my front teeth were going to be ripped out of my skull (they didn't though).  I won't go into detail about the procedure but just to tell you that it wasn't bad. I've included a youtube video of the procedure:

To see more videos like this go to:
http://www.youtube.com/user/CarterOrthodontics

I've basically went through the same procedure as this patient has. The only difference in my situation is I got them right off from the start.

 9 attachments in total, top left: 2, top right: 2, bottom left: 3, and bottom right: 2.

Once the attachments were put in, the next step was learning how to remove and put back my aligners. I was told to start with the bottom, working from the back to the front. I couldn't get a grip on the aligners to pull them out, so eventually my dentist suggested I wear gloves like the ones she was wearing. And with that, it was much better. To remove the top aligners, I had to follow the same procedure. It was so much easier to remove the top trays then it was for the bottoms. Then I had to put them back in, the bottom ones were easy. The top ones were much tighter and they didn't fully fit properly like the bottoms did. So I did this a few times, to make sure I could do it at home. Then I was on my way home. My dentist made sure to give me some extra gloves, cotton chewies (helps to push the aligners in place), and my red and blue aligner cases.

My next appointment for tray #2 is May 28th at 11am.

When I got home, I took them out to eat supper. When I went to put them back in after brushing my teeth, I noticed I had lost 3 out of 9 attachments (already).I was a little disappointed, but I wasn't all that much surprised since I had read about that happening. I have a cleaning appointment Tuesday so I hope she will be able to reattach them then.

*EDIT:

Turns out I only lost 1 attachment, she purposely only put one on each side of my top teeth instead of 2. Opps! So I am only missing one on my lower left side. She also told me that she might not even put the missing ones in again, depending on my progress. 

My Callback.

May 3rd, 2010 - YAY!

I had a feeling all day Monday that today was going to be THE day. I kept checking my cellphone at work and wouldn't you know it, I eventually got it!!! I was originally told when I made my first payment that it would take between 2-4 weeks to get the aligners. Lucky me it only took a week and a half.

As soon as my next work break took place, I called back my dentist to schedule my appointment. I had planned to get a cleaning done at the same time, but because of scheduling issues, it was impossible to have both during the same appointment. So next Monday, May 10th, I will be getting fitted with the aligners, and on Tuesday, May 11th I will get the cleaning done!

I've also decided to take a week off from work next week to help myself get adjusted to the aligners, and the frequent brushing. I will need to learn how to take them out and put them back in and I can't forget the possible pressure or pain they will cause my teeth. Hopefully by taking the week off will help me devise a routine, and a way of doing things for when I am at work or out and about town.

I look forward to going in on Monday. It should be interesting to see the trays shaped to my teeth. I am very curious to see what they will look like in my mouth and to finally get an idea of what they feel like too. I wonder how bad my speech will be affected if at all.

Countdown: 5 days till my appointment (Tray #1)

P.S. - I wonder if she will put the attachments in on Monday....