A few things I've noticed, though. My teeth have pretty much moved to their positions after the very first night. All the nights after that seem to be more focused on getting the teeth to stay there instead of trying to revert back to their original positions, and giving them the rest they need in order to build the bone back up.
The other annoying thing in the spit collecting inside the trays. I literally have to suck it out intermittently throughout the day. How gross is that??? Sometimes, I can even hear myself doing it, and wonder if anyone else around me hears it, too! I had read that you salivate more at the beginning of trays because your body is trying to get used to a foreign object in your mouth that might be food, but maybe I'm just a prolific salivater (is that a word?). I don't want to call myself a drooler, because I like to think I'm not (except when I see, smell, or think about food, which is alot), but maybe I'll have to surrender to that term for now.
One of the reasons why I try to suck out the spit in the trays is because it seems to make for a better fit around my teeth. The other reason is because the spit collecting inside the trays looks gross, and I don't want people talking to me to be distracted by something gross happening inside my mouth. I think that's a fair expectation to have -- to not be grossed out by something inside someone's mouth, don't you?
By the way, I've given up completely on trying to cheat at snacking on chocolate with the trays in. It just doesn't work, and it makes my trays incredibly yucky afterwards. Even if I brush, which is really difficult to do at work when you just ate one piece of chocolate, the trays themselves get funkified alot easier, and Efferdent only doesn't cut it when it comes to cleaning. Lazy me has decided to just lose weight temporarily during my treatment and pig out more during mealtimes instead. I also started to supplement my diet with Ensure again, so that I don't lose too much weight. That could be dangerous for someone my size! Besides, my husband hates it when I start looking gaunt, which can happen within a mere 3 pounds of weight fluctuation with me. He says I look sickly, and I certainly don't want to be viewed as sickly!
Enough chatter. Here's what my teeth looked like at the end of Tray 3!
I left my mouth slightly agape so you can get a better idea of how crooked my little guys are on the bottom:
Top:
Bottom:
Smile with bottom row showing:
2 comments:
HI! I started my very first aligner just yesterday, and your blog is quite helpful so far, thanks for posting it!!! I have the same concern as you, I struggle with weight, and since my aligner are so danged painful to get in and out at this point, I end up skipping meals or snacks that I would normally get during the course of the day. Do you know of any foods that are possible to eat with the braces in that don't cause too much of a mess?
I am starting Invisalign tomorrow and came to your blog to get the secrets my dentist won't tell me. So glad you had such a great experience, and grateful that you shared it in such detail.
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