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.