The crossbite tooth has moved more definitively across the bottom teeth, but I'm still not liking the angle it's taking. I know I have 2 more trays to go, but I'm apprehensive that I'm going to require a button after all during my refinement trays. That would stink!! The buttons are much more easily noticed when you have your trays off, and sometimes, I'd take out my trays if I had to do a presentation or meet someone new and important. Wouldn't be able to do that then, would I?
OK, I have to take a deep breath and slow down. I'm way ahead of myself and don't even know what's going to happen here, so I'll just relax until then and make notes of what exactly I want to accomplish with my teeth and just go over them with the ortho when I see him again.
I did take a sneak peek at tray 16, though, when I went to put in tray 15. I wanted to see how much of the upper part of my crossbite tooth (by the root) would be moved in the final tray. As it turns out - not much. Looks like Invisalign calculated teeth movement more on my bite than on the rest of my tooth, so I'll have to make sure the roots are moved more forward as well.
Speaking of bite, my bite is still off. I've noticed, however, that as the 2 weeks progress, the bite gets better. So the major movement happens within the first couple days of a new trays, but the tiny movements that affect bite more so happen gradually throughout the course of the tray.
I also saw my regular dentist, Dr. Bocian, halfway through my 14th trays. He was surprised to see how much they had moved, but wanted to make sure that I'm just as diligent about my trays usage during the retainment period, and reminded me that this period will, in actuality, last for the rest of my life. He was also concerned a bit about gingivitis, and saw a bit of it along my gumline. It's a very tough thing to avoid since that is exactly where the trays rest by my crossbite area, which explains the gum bleeding. I just need to take extra care in brushing, flossing, rinsing with mouthwash, etc., to prevent this from getting any worse.
I also talked to him about whitening my teeth afterwards, using Zoom! I always wanted to do it, and it would be perfect timing before my brother's wedding. However, he actually suggested that I try in-home whitening, which uses the same stuff they use in the office. He said that most people opt for in-office because it's fast, and they tire of the whitening at night with trays in for 3 weeks straight. Being that I'll be wearing form-fitting trays anyway, it wouldn't be something I'd have to get used to. In addition, in-home is half the cost of in-office, and insurance doesn't pay for any of it. When I asked him how much in-home was compared to in-office, I was shocked at the answer!! I had no idea that in-office was about $600!!!!! He said in-home would be a little over $300.
He told me to check with Invisalign (not the ortho) to make sure this hydrogen peroxide mixture would be OK to use on the trays without any damage to them. I believe they are. His only other concern was that the trays cover a tiny bit of my gums in some areas. This could get irritated from the whitening solution. He was, however, willing to let me test out the solution for a few days before we commit to the whole thing. He also told me that the in-home would last just as long and would get my teeth just as white as the in-office. I love Dr. Bocian!
Here are the pics!
Center smile showing top and bottom:
Center, agape:
Lower:
Upper:
Crossbite tooth (looking up from bottom):
Opposite side of crossbite tooth (looking up from bottom) - you can see it's seated in front more than the crossbite tooth still:
Side view of crossbite tooth - yes, my bite is still not flush on this side, but it's getting better:
4 comments:
Thy, I discovered your blog several months ago and have been following your postings as I myself make my way through the my 23 invisalign trays. At this point, I'm just over halfway. I have 9 buttons on my teeth and can say that nobody has ever mentioned them when I have the trays out; they're far less apparent than you'd think.
I'm very interested to hear about the refinement process as well as the teeth whitening, so please continue the quality postings. I've no doubt that there are other people out there like me that are following along.
Many thanks!
I just got my invisalign trays in 3 days ago. very painful and annoying to get used to them so far, but i'm confident i'll forget about them after weeks of use and that the pain will be worth the perfect smile in the end. your blog is great and helped me feel better knowing that other people are going through the same thing. Nice teeth and thanks!
Thank you for sharing this post about the best techniques for teeth whitening, this is a big help for me and to the others as well on how the proper teeth care should be. Thanks again
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