However, as the days wore on, I noticed that the tooth would VERY easily slip back each time I took out my trays to eat. To the point where, at the end of my lunch hour or dinner, I'd notice a discernable difference in my bite. That's fast! So I made a point to wear them as much as possible, and just kept my fingers crossed that the next tray will make the new position more permanent and less likely to slip back.
The very last night I wore these trays, I woke up to a bloody smile. It was odd because they didn't bleed once - not even a little bit - until this point. I must have been grinding my teeth really badly from a bad dream or something - not sure - but there they were. Bloody. I rinsed them out and just proceeded with the rest of my day. They didn't bleed any more. Like I said - it was kind of odd.
I took some closeups this time of the crossbite tooth so you guys can see how it's hopping over to the front. I've noticed that the trays are getting the bottom part of the tooth out in front before the top, or the rest, of the tooth. Because of this, the tooth is angling out more than usual right now. I hope this gets corrected in the refinement process.
Speaking of which, I've come to accept that I won't technically be done by April 30th. And I'm OK with that now - really. I'd much rather have perfectly perfectly straight teeth than anything else after all is said and done, so now I'm on the lookout for minor details that I want fixed before I'm ready to say to my ortho, "Yay! I'm 100% happy with the results!"
For one thing, I want to make sure my bite on my right side is flush in the end, because it's far from that right now. Like I mentioned in a previous post, I think it's because the crossbite tooth's position is temporarily interfering with it, but I still need to be sure.
Another thing is the angle of my crossbite tooth. As mentioned above, it's jutting out from the bottom right now, and I want to be sure it's nice and straight in the end. I also noticed that the right rear side of the tooth itself isn't moving forward as much as I'd like. Again, I'm jumping the gun because I still have 3 more trays left, but it's a detail I just noticed in looking at my 14th trays last night. It seems like Invisalign is moving my tooth towards the front by angling it both from the bottom and from the right side. Sort of like twisting a large object through a doorway. In the end, I want to be sure that large object (my tooth!) is straightened out in every way possible and mimics the angle and placement of its corresponding bicuspid on the other side, and doesn't remain slightly twisted.
I also hope this doesn't mean I'm going to need a button, or attachment, to help with straightening out this twist. Ugggg. I'm getting myself all worked up, though, and I have 3 more trays to go still.
And speaking of trays, I'm going to be getting new molds of my teeth taken after the end of my 16th trays. I wonder what the turnaround time for those trays will be, and how long I'll have my 16th trays in before I move onto the next set? I hope not too too long. That would stink. OK, enough ruminating, and onto the pictures!
Center smile showing top and bottom:
Center, mouth agape:
Lower:
Upper:
Closeup of crossbite area:
Crossbite area, looking from the bottom up so you can see the tip of the tooth completely crossed over to the front:
Crossbite area - side view. Here you can really tell that it's just the bottom portion of the tooth that has moved and angled out. The top part, closer to the root, still needs to move more:
