Quick Update

Nothing new on the retainer front. It's weird to get in the habit of wearing retainers only at night, but I'm doing fine. Haven't missed a day or anything. When you go a long time and don't put them on until late (like 1 am late), you can feel the tightness, so I'm sure they will move back fast if retainers aren't worn. My bite is still towards the middle and no thte back, which is annoying to get used to, but I'm doing alright.

The main thing I wanted to write about was the whitening. I noticed my teeth were feeling pretty sensitive, which worried me. So I only use my whitening toothpaste once a day (at night) and brush them in the morning with a normal toothpaste. I don't brush any other times during the day because I don't think my enamel is strong enough for that. If needed, I chew gum after I eat. But otherwise I try to give my teeth a break. I don't want to damage them in the process of whitening them!!

Going Good!

I got my teeth brushing schedule down. It is working really well for me. I also have made it a habit to wear my retainers part of the day as well as all night. It seems to help them not feel tight, which means they aren't moving. I'm getting used to my bite, but the new retainers will come within the month and they should fix it. I like the retainers with no bumps for attachments. They're smooth and you can barely tell they're on. But the new ones will cover my teeth more and go into the roof of my mouth, so I hope they don't scrape. Anyway here is my teeth schedule:

MORNING
-Wake up (depends on the day. Some days it's later than others which means I'll wear my retainers longer)
- Brush my retainers with normal non-whitening toothpaste and place in a cup of clear mouthwash (the Crest mouthwash I've been using to soak my retainers through this whole process)
- Go downstairs & eat breakfast
- Brush my teeth with my whitening toothpaste for a full 2 minutes
- Rinse my retainers out and put them in their case (which I carry in my purse)

*after eating*
- Brush my teeth with normal toothpaste AND
- Chew a piece of gum
OR
If I'm somewhere I can't brush, I chew 2 pieces of Orbitz whitening gum

NIGHT
- Brush my teeth with crest whitening toothpaste for a full 2 minutes
- Put retainers on right after brushing and keep on for the night


My teeth felt slightly sensitive so I tried to go easy on the brushing. I think any constant brushing is hard on the enamel. My sister noticed my teeth were whiter after 2 days of my toothpaste routine and so did I so I really think it's working. I'm not sure if this is something I will use daily just because I worry it's harsh on my teeth. But only time will tell.

Night time retainers

So it hasn't been long since my last post, but enough has happened that another post is warranted! First of all, I put on my night retainers and they were TIGHT! They weren't that bad this morning. (Well the top is tight, the bottom is my old bottom) I guess in the course of a day, my teeth started to shift back?! I'm not sure, but I think I will make sure to wear these retainers during the day tomorrow. It doesn't seem like they're ready to go all day without them because they are very uncomfortable right now. Not to mention the fact that the top retainers seem to go out a little more so the bite is just weird and awkward. I'm thinking I will allow myself to take them out for a cople hours in the day, but try to wear them otherwise a lot during the day.

Another slight thing I noticed was my teeth rest very oddly and sort of painfully in the side middle. I think because my bite is off, this is why. When you bite down, you should have your back teeth touch. Mine don't right now. And they do on the side instead. But I would think the new retainers will help with that.

As far as whitening, when dinner came I ate and then brushed my teeth with normal toothpaste, since I don't carry toothpaste with me (which I will now since I have travel ones anyway from couponing AND I don't think it's good to use whitening toothpaste multiple times a day) Then afterwards I tried my new whitening gum. It's Orbitz White in Bubblemint. It says on the package after eating and drinking, chewing 2 pieces are supposed to remove stains and whiten teeth. I think this may be a good option if I'm out to eat or somewhere where I can't brush my teeth. It tastes really good and has no sugar. I'm sure any sugar free gum is good to chew after meals, but I thought I'd give this a try since I saw it at the register. Then I brushed my teeth before bed with my Crest 3d white toothpaste for the full 2 minutes of my Sonicare again. It fits in nice with my regular nighttime routine of washing my face. The package said in one day it's supposed to brighten teeth and I don't want to seem presumptious, but I seem to have noticed a different already. I think the key to this product is to use it twice a day and keep using it. Which shouldn't be a problem I can understand if I end up sleeping over someone's house or something I might miss it one day, but it likely won't happen and it doesn't appear that would create a problem.

Once I get this schedule down, I plan to add mouthwash occasionally (just for mouth health, no whitening) and a schedule of flossing. Because flossing is always something I've been bad at. My flossers make it lots easier, but I still have no rhyme or reason to when I decide to floss and when I don't. Maybe start out 3 days a week or every other day? Every single day would be nice, but isn't fully necessary I feel.

Well guys...looks like I'm done

That's right. I had my last (well not technically last, but last major) orthodontist appointment today. I couldn't sleep all night stressing about how I was going to tell them my concerns. I hate confrontation and normally prefer to keep quiet, but this was a big deal to me. I told them about my bite problem and then the center lines (idr what they're called!) not being lined up. As far as the bite problem, they agreed that was an issue and offered to order me some retainers that actually cover more of your tooth and mouth to kind of make my teeth settle together. So I agreed to that because an off bite could be an annoying problem. Which meant I had to get new molds. Oh molds, how I loathe thee. I almost three up 2-3 times during that process. But breathing through your nose helps. My tongue never knows where to go, but luckily the molds only had to be on for a minute each and they didn't need to be repeated. Phew.

Then the problem with the line not matching up. I told him and he said, "It's not going to. No one's does these days. Tom Cruise's is all the way over and he had braces 2 times" Ok, not what I was expecting. "You can fix it, but it takes a long time because every tooth has to move over" So the solution? Ignore it. That's right, I'm going to ignore my need for perfection and just try to live with it. It's not that bad. But I wished it could have been fixed. However, I've come to realize my teeth look better now, so that's the main thing to focus on.

I got my attachments off, which I think he just filed off with this electric tool. It didn't hurt at all, and went pretty fast. It feels great not to have bumps sticking out! Then he gave me my new retainers. I will eventually switch to the new ones they're ordering, but that won't be until they come which will be a few weeks. So these ones I'm supposed to wear as much as I can the hygenist said. I asked the orthodontist and he said they usually say 2 months, but my mouth is fine so just at night is good enough. I tried them on and the tops fit fine. But the bottoms didn't. Not that they were right, no. They literally were not the right fit. There was no way they were going on. SO I have to wear my old bottoms. Which are old and have the bumps in them from where my attachments were, but he was with another client and I guess that was the solution the hygenist came up with.

So when they call me, I will get those new retainers to wear at night to correct my bite. Maybe more than at night? I'm not sure. And then after like a month I believe, I'm supposed to come in to make sure everything settled. It's so weird not wearing my retainers! I'm not used to it, but I'm beginning to like it. It's weird because this morning I was sad about it. I was hoping they'd give me longer treatment. How weird, I know! But the last year this has been a constant when everything else has been crazy. And it was nice improving something I always wanted to.

And I've also started the whitening process. I used my Crest 3d white luxe glamorous toothpaste for the first time today. I'll use it morning and night, with dry brushing and gum is between. At least that's the plan. The taste wasn't bad. It didn't foam weird like some reviews of other whitening toothpastes claim. I spent the entire 2 minutes my Sonicare runs really brushing good and spending time on each area, mainly focusing on the front and sides, which are the teeth you'll see mostly.

Now that it's said and done, I'm not as grumpy as my last post. I'm pretty happy with it. Not perfect, but I guess close enough for now.

Anyway here are some final pictures:

BEFORE

AFTER

NOT happy (& pics)

So since it is TWO days from my appointment where I get my attachments off and essentially am done with treatment, I thought it would be a good idea to get a good look at my mouth to see how everything looked. And let me tell you, I am not happy. First pictures:

Basic front overview. I noticed today (yes this is the first time I've noticed this) my top teeth line is not aligned with my bottom teeth line. It wasn't like that before treatment and I'm actually very, very upset. Little things like that bother me & this is pretty obvious. It's like the top row of teeth is shifted over too far, so it looks funny that it's not aligned.

This is my bottom teeth. They are pretty straight, minus the sideways tooth you can't really see from this angle

These are my top teeth. They are crowded still and not completely aligned. But they certainly don't bother me near as much as the actual tooth line situation. I'm sure invisalign can't do the intense movements that would be needed if I would have gotten braces.

This is another view where you can see the tooth line misalignment.

I'm not entirely sure what to do about thi problem. I guess I can ask my orthodontist. At this point, I am very upset with them and their lack of communication. Obviously my teeth have improved, but I feel like this isn't what I was promised. I should have shopped around for orthodontists, but I was very taken in by what they told me. I could deal with minor imperfections, but last time I saw him was RIGHT before this set of retainers, which was 4 weeks ago. And he said things looked perfect. There were more trays I COULD wear, but he said I didn't need them. And I'm thinking I may have. I hate to waste more time, but I am not very happy with this. I certainly don't want to waste money.

It's not even just one issue either. It's the misalignment, the weird bite in the back right, the crooked side tooth, the crowded tops... I'm not sure if there is anything they could do, but I sure hope there is. I waited so long to be proud of my smile, and I want to be completely happy with it.

ONE WEEK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In one week from today, I will be going to the orthodontist to get my attachments off and get my new retainers (to wear only at night I believe). I am sooooooo excited. There are three minor issues I have at THIS moment, but overall I'm very pleased with the results. Those three issues are: 1) my front teeth (as in top & bottom) seem to grind together which sends chills through my body. It's so horrible when it happens. But it doesn't happen often and I think with some getting used to, I could prevent it. 2) a side tooth seems to not be turned all the way, so it's sort of on its' side. But I don't really notice it unless I stare at my mouth and it doesn't look bad. and 3) the back right still seems to not bite down right. That's the only part that actually bothers me a lot. I will probably ask about it if it's not better. It's not that big of an issue, I guess, but I constantly notice it when my retainers are out...which will be permanently soon.

Anyway, in preparation for next week, I have already purchased the new whitening toothpaste I will be using. I did a lot of "research" and found a semi-new product (thanks commercials) that upon further looking into seems perfect! It's called "Crest 3d white luxe glamorous flouride anticavity toothpaste" It's supposed to remove 90% of surface stains in 5 days! And it's also very safe on enamel, which is important when it comes to whitening products because a lot of them are so harsh. It was around $4-5 I believe, but with my couponing and savings (which I could write a whole separate blog about), I got it for $2.75. Which I think is very, very reasonable for toothpaste, let along whitening toothpaste! So as soon as these attachments are off, I will be able to use it...and report how it works!

YIPPIE!

It has been 2 weeks with these retainers so I normally would be changing them. But since this is my last set I have 2 weeks left. TWO WEEKS!! And then the official unveiling will occur. I couldn't be more excited! I have been looking closely at my teeth and they surprisingly have REALLY straightened out in the last 2 weeks. I only have two minor areas of concern. 1) my bite seems a little off AND 2) my front teeth still don't look completely centered in the middle. Now these are things I could live with, but my perfectionism makes me VERY aware of them. Right now I'm just getting super excited to get my attachments off, be done with retainers (during the day at least I believe), and whitening! But I also am nervous about the whole getting used to not wearing retainers. Because now when I have them off for awhile, it feels weird. I can only imagine how weird it's going to feel not wearing them all the time. I'm very ready to add my new teeth brushing/flossing/whitening rituals into my daily and nightly routine. I know I should already have been having these rituals down by now, but my retainers are enough of a ritual for me to deal with. (cleaning them, keeping them clean during the day, etc.)

I don't think my teeth will be moving anymore because the 2 week movement period is up, but things really need to set into place. So all I'm really looking at is two weeks wearing these retainers that already fit until these attachments come off and I'm done with normal treatment.

Update Part 2

In a couple days it will be 2 weeks of these retainers. My teeth are used to them it seems. Since the last time I wrote, my teeth have gotten to another position where my bite seems off. I'm hoping it will correct, or else I get used to it. I'm very eager to start teeth whitening and have looked into different products. I will try to write about how that goes as well. I have read a lot of online reviews (which I recommend doing for ANYTHING you are thinking of buying) that white strips can cause tooth sensitivity, so I'm thinking I'll stick to whitening mouthwash and toothpaste. But that's not for a couple weeks anyway.

I have been almost religiously chewing gum to keep these retainers clean. 4 weeks is a long time wearing the same set of retainers. I also keep some flossers in my purse so I can easily and quickly clean my teeth anywhere I am. I did eat some sausage today with them on out of pure laziness, but otherwise I have been very good. I actually haven't had much of a chance to look at my teeth. I have been super busy, so tomorrow I will have to take a good look at them. I'm kicking myself for not taking more before pictures, but the ones I have seem to show my progress is definitely big.

I have been thinking and am pretty sure the reason my teeth aren't PERFECT is because invisalign could only do so much. I remember years and years ago when I got a traditional braces consultation the orthodontist said I needed a spacer and the procedure was a lot more complicated. My invisaling treatment has been very low maintenance and not hard at all besides the moments of pretty bad pain. No tooth pulling, or tooth sanding. Really just attachments and retainers. So for what I've been through, things look really good. And I suppose nobody is really going to see the back of my teeth and judge that they're not perfectly straight. I'm definitely more aware of my teeth than other people are. Especially because I've seen how great of a change could be made. But I also feel like I paid a lot of money for my results to be perfect. Sometimes being a perfectionist is very thought consuming!