8th Trays

Thank GOD these trays were more like the rest of them. No pain, no bleeding, no anything.

I can't believe I'll be halfway done with my treatment after I'm done with these. HALFWAY DONE!! Time has really flown by with this whole experience thus far. I can't wait to get my next set of trays from Dr. Sargiss!

No major movements. I just noticed that I can see even more space between my crossbite tooth and the adjacent incisor. I took a picture of it for you all to see, too.

Front smile, closed:


Center, mouth agape:


Lowers:


Uppers:


Side view of my crossbite area. Notice the small difference in the amount of space I've gained in this area for that tooth?

7th Trays

YOWZA -- these trays were pretty rough on my teeth. Up to this point, I had no major aches when I'd take out my trays for eating. They'd feel a bit sensitive, but nothing significant.

Well, whatever movement was called for these trays made every single one of my teeth feel so tender, that biting into a chicken salad sandwich on white bread was painful.

In addition, my gums started bleeding more than any other trays, mostly by my crossbite tooth, since that was moving a good bit. Here's a gross fact you may not have thought of: When wearing Invisalign trays with slightly bleeding gums, the little amount of blood that comes out has nowhere to go, since it would normally simply be swallowed. However, with its escape route blocked by lots of plastic, it just gets caught in the trays and stays there....swishing all around the surface of our teeth, making you look like you've got ALOT of red lipstick stuck on your teeth....or a vampire who forgot to brush and rinse after eating. Yes, this is exactly what happened to me at work one day. First thing in the morning, someone from my group comes over to ask me a question, and notions that I've got alot of lipstick on my front teeth. I grab a pocket mirror to look, and Lo and behold! It's not lipstick after all, but blood! Muhwahwahwhawah. I quickly head to the bathroom to rinse out my trays. Thank goodness it was a trusted friend who noticed it first!

These trays also showed me how much my back teeth were moving so that there could be enough space to push that crossbite tooth over to the front. It was such a slight difference, but I noticed my spit (sorry - gross, but true) swishing around in between my crossbite tooth and my canine. COOOOOOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It felt so different when flossing, since some teeth I knew were tight, now felt so spacious. Yay!

Onto the pictures!

Center, smiling:


Center, mouth agape:


Lower jaw:


Upper jaw:


Right side, crossbite area. Notice how my teeth have moved apart to make room for this tooth to push ahead? And yes, I'm biting down in this picture. My bite will be flush again once movement in both jaws have ceased.


Compare this to what my teeth looked like after my 1st tray:


Not extremely noticeable to you, but very noticeable to me. I'm so excited!

Atka's Smorgasbord of Tricks

With Christmas nearing, thought you'd like to see a little video of my favorite furball at his best in a slightly Christmasy background.

Atka shakes paws, lies down, rolls over, pounces, waves goodbye, begs, jumps up, plays dead (hear him groan as he covers up his nose, even tho his tail is still wagging), gives me kisses, then waves goodbye again.

Enjoy!

Atka's Smorgasbord of Tricks
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Santa & Mrs. Claus come to town!

And here is the amazing Santa procession I mentioned in my earlier post. Count 'em - 15 cars!!! Santa and Mrs. Claus are on their own motorized sleigh, complete with lights and Rudolph driving. For a little town like Barnegat, this is truly spectacular. I LOVE this event - it's what kick starts my Christmas season for me! Check out the movie I posted below on YouTube:

Santa & Mrs. Claus come to Town!
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6th Trays

Again, a pretty unmemorable set of trays, which can be a good thing! The only thing that I noticed this time was that my top trays were actually giving me the tiniest bit of discomfort on my tongue for the first time. I had been really trying to clench my teeth to get that "good fit", and had been sucking that stupid extra spit out of them alot, and my tongue was getting caught up in the upper trays more so than usual. Before it could get really noticable in any way, it was already time to change the trays.

Thanksgiving occurred during these trays, and my relatives came over from OH and PA. My 2 cousins are teenagers, with one still in her braces. No one noticed my braces until I pointed it out to them - yay! Here's a picture of me (in red) with my mom (in orange), aunt, and 2 cousins on our stairs. I love the fact that I can smile as big as I can, and not have to worry about my braces being noticable in pictures!


Now, for the closeups!

Center with mouth agape:


My right side (so you can see my teeth moving back and making way for the crossbite tooth to push to the front):


Upper jaw:


Lower jaw:


And finally, a smile:


We'll be getting our tree today from Home Depot, and might start on some decorating. I think I want our Christmas cards this year to be our puppy by the fireplace decorated with the garland and "PEACE" stocking holders. I'll have to get crackin' on that in order to get them out in time!

Later on tonight, Santa makes his way around our part of the neighborhood. I LOVE this event. I've seen Santa come through many different towns, but this one is, by far, the BEST! Not only do ALL the firetrucks come, but all the ambulances do, too! AND, Santa and MRS. CLAUS go around in a motorized sleigh all lit up! It is definitely the grandest local Santa visit I've ever seen. If I get a video of it tonight, I'll be sure to post it.

We might also visit "Santa Paws" as well. A neighboring town holds this event as a fundraiser for the First Aid Squad. It's pictures of Santa with your pet, and you can buy the pictures on snowglobes, frames, etc, afterwards. It's cheeesy, but it's a worthwhile cause, and has become a bit of a tradition now, so we'll probably do that, too.

Til next time!

5th trays & my 1st Oops!

Now, for my 1st Oops!

I had been warned about it from my ortho, Trish, and everyone else with Invisalign: "BE CAREFUL ABOUT THROWING OUT YOUR TRAYS BY MISTAKE IF YOU HAVE THEM BALLED UP IN A PAPER NAPKIN!!"

Of course it had to happen to me at least once. Luckily, it happened on the very last day of my trays, so there was little of any harm done.

Again, no problems whatsoever with this set. I can't believe how quickly time is flying by with this treatment! I love it! I know I'm not going to see real results until the last 4 sets of trays, but it's still really exciting that I'll be about halfway done with my treatment at the beginning of the year. We all know how quickly the holidays go by, and the holiday season is definitely upon us.

Going on a tangent.....I love Christmas -- it's my birthday (besides someone else's....what was his name again? lol), so I'm totally into it. But, some people (like our neighbors) are TOO into it. It's not even Thanksgiving and they have ALL their Christmas decorations up. And I mean all. One has a bay window in the front of their house, where they proudly display their all white Christmas tree, which is very nice, except for the ROTATING BASE UPON WHICH IT SITS AND SPINS. I kid you not.

The day after Thanksgiving, our neighborhood turns into Disneyland with all the lights people put up. It's a major competition around here. My husband and I decided we'd do something different from the rest of the neighbors the first year we moved here, and love our decision. We got a GIANT 8 foot wreath that goes around our door! Yes, you have to walk through it to get through the front door.

Here's a picture of it with our furry American Eskimo son, Atka:


Adorable, isn't he? Anyway, I can't wait for Thanksgiving to be done and over with, and am looking forward to a nice and quiet Christmas and New Year's this year!

Back to my teeth. Here 's what they look like after the 5th tray:

Center, mouth agape:


Top:


Bottom:


Smiling:


Hope everyone has a happy and safe Thanksgiving!

4th trays

After the end of my 4th trays, I was able to get my next 4 sets from the ortho while they did an intermittent checkup of my progress. So far, so good. The ortho told me he was looking for a nice tight tight fit, and that it would help to bite down a few times a day to make sure the trays are where they should be.

Since I've been applying that towards my trays, I've found that they definitely "settle" into their new positions MUCH more quickly. What a difference some grinding makes! It didn't hurt that work was pretty stressful for me lately, and gave me a reason to grind my teeth in order to figuratively bite my tongue :)

My ortho and the girl who works there with similar dental issues to mine were really surprised that I had started a blog. I promised them a link, so hopefully they'll be reading about themselves and about my experiences on here. Hi Dr. Sargiss and Trish! :)

Some of the concerns I had about my treatment were answered by Trish this time. I was worried about my bite aligning properly after all was said and done. She said no problem, it all works out in the end, and that it was something Dr. Sargiss had ensured with Invisalign before he approved my treatment as well.

The other concern I had was about my crossbite. Eventually, the tooth that had been behind the other teeth will be pushed over to the other side. There will be a time, however, when this tooth will neither be behind the other teeth, nor in front of them, but right on top of them. With the trays in, it's impossible to hit your teeth against each other, but what happens when I take them out to eat? Is this going to become a major problem for me? How do I chew if this tooth may be getting in the way?

Trish said it was going to be rough period when that happens, and that I'll just have to be extra careful during that time. She said it happened to her while her company was having their Christmas party, and it was painful to eat at the party because she kept on banging her teeth against each other. She said she went through a period of about 3 weeks before it finally made it "to the other side" completely. Ouch! I'm already getting a taste of it, because that tooth of mine is already moving closer to the front, and there are times when I catch myself wincing a bit when my teeth clash with each other. I'll just have to be more careful about it when it really starts to happen.

So, here are the pictures of my teeth after my 4th set!

Center with mouth agape:


Top:


Bottom:


Smile with bottom teeth showing: