Really?

Well I sure had a blast from the past. I changed my retainers yesterday. Now I'm on tray #16. That sounds so far into it! And I guess it really is. I think I'm supposed to have 24? Or somewhere around there. Anyway when I changed into these new trays yesterday they were pretty tight. I guess that was to be expected. Certainly shouldn't have surprised me. But what did suprise me was they got stuck! I couldn't get them off when it was time to eat. I literally had to use my shirt. Something I hadn't had to do in quite awhile!! They literally felt like they were clinging to my teeth. I figured they would be fine by the end of the day. But nope, over a full day later and they are very difficult to get out. I still am using my shirt, or a napkin. It's not a huge deal. It definitely gets frustrating when I want to take them out quick. But I'm sure it won't last too much longer. I have my appointment in two weeks where I'll get my next retainers. I should be finding out soon when (and if) I'll actually be getting my teeth filed. Sort of hoping I won't have to have that done because I don't want my teeth to be very different sizes. I'm sure they'll do it so it looks good, but I'd rather not have to deal with it.

Something that I have been aware of is it looks like (at least to me) that my front teeth are not perfectly centered in the middle of my lips like they used to be...and like they should be. I know my teeth aren't in their permanent positions right now so I'm trying not to worry. But my sister told me when she had her consultation (she didn't go through with treatment because she didn't want to take on another bill as she had several others she had to pay off) the orthodontist told her at the end of treatment her top teeth wouldn't be aligned with her bottom teeth so that the line between the front top and front bottom teeth wouldn't be in exactly the same spot. But they said it wasn't a big deal because no one would notice it. But to me, that is a huge deal. I am very critical of myself and that would bug the crap out of me. So I'm hoping everything will come out aligned. I'm pretty sure if things aren't perfect they can tweak them. I know if for instance right now things weren't going as planned they would have the company make refinements to correct the future trays, because they make all the trays at once. So I'm not too worried about it, just keeping it in the back of my mind.

The more I think about it, the more I stress about flossing. It makes sense that if your teeth are only moving millimeters (or less?) during a set of trays, that tiny things make a big difference. So if your teeth are not clean and there is food or anything in between your teeth they probably can't move like they should. And althought I am fairly good at flossing, I don't do it daily. Which my regular dentist has been yelling at me for years about! I'm definitely better than I used to be. My invisalign has really made me more aware of that. But I should be better at it. I'm only going to get what I put into it. If I don't wear my trays the reccommended 22 hours, my teeth won't be where they should. So I make sure to wear my trays. If my teeth are not clean, they will not move like they should. So my point is I really need to force myself to do it. I use floss picks so they are so simple. There is no reason for laziness. I keep seeing invisalign commercials and I'm so proud to be among those who have made the choice to better their smiles. It means a lot to me as I have been so self conscious for years about my teeth. I would hate for this all to be for nothing. So I need to step it up! But don't think I will stop drinking pop with my retainers in. hahaha. I really should stop that too, but that is not always easy.

Quick Update

Ok so I was going to wait until the next trays to write, but I thought this was a legitimate thing to make a post about. I change my trays Wednesday the 15th. It's the 13th now, and for the last probably 4 days at least my current retainers feel like they fit perfectly and I'm ready to switch to the next set. But I can't because I have to wait the full 2 weeks. They feel so ready to change there have been several instances where I freaked myself out thinking I've been wearing them for a week longer than I should have. But after my last missed retainer change a couple months ago I have been super strict about writing down on my calendar what day I am supposed to change them and also making sure I have the new ones next to my toothbrush so I see it's almost time to switch. Very weird it feels so ready so soon. If I'm remembering right these were pretty tight in the beginning. So that's one fast improvement.

Another thing I think it's interesting to mention is today at work we got to eat, but I wasn't in an area where it was safe to take out my retainers. There was literally no place to put them and it wouldn't have been sanitary. Anyway I had to eat my pasta with my retainers in. Thank goodness I didn't need to chew! But still that's generally frowned upon. So is drinking pop with retainers in, but I do that all the time at work because I can't take my retainers out and I get free pop while I'm working. Hasn't caused a problem yet, but it's probably not the best idea. I bought more flossers to make flossing easier and have been really trying to make sure to floss more. It really makes a difference when you have small gaps between all your front teeth. Which I still don't understand, but whatever.

I feel like my teeth having been moving much lately. But I also have sorta lost track of time, so I will have to pay better attention. I have a check up in 2 weeks to make sure progress is going good. I still am very pleased with my smile. I find myself smiling all the time! The other day I was thinking about how I'm halfway done with treatment and have been wearing these for 5 months and I was like wait I have been wearing them for like 7 months! I have about 3 months left I think. So that's really fast!

Phew!

So the pain has gone away and treatment is back to normal. THANKFULLY! Because that was the worst pain. For probably 5 days my teeth were really sore. I took them out for a couple of hours the first few days so I hope that doesn't work against the progress. If needed, I can always add an extra day to wearing them. I'm already a day behind as it is. And rushing now is not going to help me any.

One very weird thing that I've really noticed and have NO idea why this is happening is random spacing. My teeth were super crowded. And now all the teeth in the front have small gaps between them. If there was no room for my teeth to fit in correctly, how is there room for gaps? It makes no sense to me. Plus it looks really funny. You can't tell with my retainers in, but when I take them out you sure can. I've tried to make it a point to floss more because now there are gaps for food to get easily stuck in, but I am still very curious as to why this is happening. I would expect spaces in back as the teeth were moving forward. I just don't know.

Otherwise things seem to be good. Next week I change to a new set, and two weeks from then I have an appointment to get things checked and receive a couple more sets of retainers. Seems to be going pretty fast. I'm anxious, yet still super thrilled because the change as of now is great. Here's a quick picture I just took. Not the best quality and the attachment is sticking up on one side, but definitely straighter!

Oh the agony!

Don't ever do this. Take my advice because I promise you, you do not want to deal with this. Ever. I am in quite possibly the worst pain since I started this. This morning I changed into my 15th set of retainers. The bottom fit really tight, which hurt, and the left bottom side was coming up a bit. After an hour or so, the bottom settled so it wasn't up. Things were fine. Then since I was at my new job (and I didn't get a break or eat for about 8 hours), my teeth started to hurt more and more by the minute. By the time I got out of work, I was ready to cry. I hadn't really had the chance to do anything about it, but next time I will for sure make the time. One thing I hadn't really had to deal with since the beginning was problems taking my retainer out. I used to have trouble taking it out so I just would only eat once a day. But that really made my teeth sore so I realized you need breaks with them out of your mouth--especially when they're new retainers. So now I am in the worst pain. I ate something and am leaving them out. I took some ibuprofen and it seems my tooth pain caused my head to hurt, too. Just waiting for it to kick in. Then I will put my retainers back in. Definitely NOT looking forward to putting them in :( I'll keep it short because well I'm in pain.

Oopsies

Sorry to not be updating as much! It's hard to describe the changes only I see and I doubt all the tiny details are that interesting. But I will want to know these things later on to track my progress. SO...only a few more days left of this tray. Feeling about ready to change them, so that's a good sign. They were sore a few days into the current tray, which is a little unusual for me at this point, but like I have said before pain=progress and that makes me hopeful. So I try to ignore it and know it means it's working.

I noticed today when I was looking at my teeth that the bottom ones- especially on the left side- are straightening out considerably. There are 2 teeth that I have been waiting for to move for awhile now. They are the ones on the bottom row near the corners of my mouth when I smile. They were the ones that were really crowded on my bottom room. And it seems they are finally straightening!! My smile is looking so much better. I really need to add some pictures! I'm not self conscious about showing my retainers for the most part anymore. The only thing that sometimes makes me uncomfortable is the attachments because they stick out. But really it's minor.

One thing I've noticed is that I am not very good at eating/drinking. The other day my sister bought me an orange julius as a little present for an event we were celebrating and I just took a drink without thinking. She was like, "did you take your retainers out?" and then I realized OOPS! No I didn't! But I just kept them in and when I got to my car I realized 1) the juice was seeping in and my retainers/teeth were turning pink mmm triple berry and 2) the seeds were really annoying because you can't really chew in your retainers (not that I haven't before, but it's just too risky and feels weird) Plus I will never get used to people giving me food to try quick when we're cooking or someone's eating something good and wants me to try and it's awkward but I have to say "I can't. My retainers are in" because it's so inconvienient to take them out for a second and putting them back in.

Another bad thing is if you eat something quick and then just put your retainers in, you don't realize what you're essentially trapping in your retainers. So even a dry brush is pretty necessary. And my last complaint is gum chewing. Which I basically can't! I used to chew gum as a way to not snack. But if you take your retainers out to chew gum, they won't be in very long and therefore won't be doing their job. But the bad things are so little compared to what it could be. And unlike braces I can eat whatever I want. It's only a short amount of time these retainers are on. And I guarantee it will be so weird to get used to not wearing them. I am going to have the smile of my dreams and that is totally worth everything!!

Looking Good

Ok well I suppose the title is true. But partially, I feel like it's not. Let me explain. My teeth are still moving and look great, but I personally feel they have gotten to a point where they look a bit awkward. Like they are so far pushed forward that it doesn't look natural. My two front teeth look oddly shaped. There are somehow tiny gaps between every single tooth. I'm sure it's just getting to the point where everything is now moved forward so they will soon be moving back, but I feel a little weird with my retainers out. I know for sure I am more critical because I notice things on myself on a far higher magnitude than other people do. Just hope they move back and start looking more natural. I still am getting compliments on how good they look. I personally am just really picky about myself in general so I tend to notice EVERY tiny flaw in myself.

Otherwise things are going good. I somehow managed to pinch the inside of my lip with my retainer the other day, but I'm sure no other person can do that. I'm just talented in the ways of clumsiness. Without my lip ring, my teeth are center stage. I love the way they look with the retainers in. They seem like they're all in place. I can't imagine not wearing a retainer. I probably will wear them at night forever, even after treatment! I will have to ask about that when the time comes. A sort of embarrassing problem the retainers tend to have are if your lips are dry, which mine are a lot (especially in winter) when you talk or smile your lips can sometimes get caught on your retainer. Happens to me quite a lot lately! But it's not THAT big of a deal, I guess.

Don't get me wrong, I still love my invisalign and reccomend it. Just wanted to be honest about my struggles with it. Still far better than the stories I've heard from those with braces. Now time for a funny story. A couple days ago (Tuesday), I had to go in for my invisalign check up. It's every 6 weeks and it's where they make sure my teeth are moving like they should be (they just ask me how it's going and look at my smile) and give me 3 new sets of retainers. Since I'm a day behind, the hygenist made me try on the new set to make sure they fit even though I wouldn't be changing into them until the next day. So I tried them on, they felt good. (I was totally ready for a new set. Usually you can tell when your teeth are done moving for the set. And mine usually don't feel ready until the day it's time to change, or sometimes not even then and I push them. But this time the night before they felt SO ready) I put the old set back in my mouth and she held open the little ziplock-like bag it comes in so I could put the new ones back in. Socially awkward me couldn't get them in the bag so I was touching her bare hand with them. I couldn't get it so I told her, "Sorry, I'm not trying to rub you with them" and she laughed and said it was ok and she dealt with them everyday. But then she dropped the bag so I could do it myself. LOL. It was so awkward, but funny.

Anyway, that's my update. I will try to get some new pictures up soon. I know they're not the best quality, but maybe I can take some with my actual camera.

New year, new smile!

I just changed retainers two days ago, which resulted in some pain. But it's pretty much all gone now. My teeth are once again at a weird angle, but I've gotten better at adjusting my chewing so it's not a problem. And you rarely could tell when your retainers are in. That's the key to success too, so all around it's important to keep those retainers in. Which I don't think is much of a problem because your teeth feel better IN the retainers. It's like they feel more supported and "in place". It will be weird to go without the retainers in the future.

I think the biggest show of change is watching videos of yourself talking. I have been taking some videos over the past year on and off and I started watching them recently. The old videos really showed me how bad my teeth were, which I hadn't realized the severity. The new videos show a completely different story... My teeth look GREAT! I can't get over how amazing they look on camera, which means that's how they look to others. When I look in the mirror, I see the imperfections and tiny adjustments that need to be made, but in reality they aren't that much. If my teeth stopped moving right now, I would be a lot happier with my smile than I used to be.

In a couple weeks I go for another checkup to see my progress and get more retainers. I'm very pleased with my journey thus far, and am always excited to move on to the next step!! Here's an undated picture:

Sorry for the blurry webcam, but you can see the general shape. Looking so much better than I ever thought they could!!