Has it been that long?

Ok, well I find it hard to believe that it has been since the end of November when I last posted, but it is hard to argue with the dates. So what has happened in the past two months? I continue to progress through the trays, though I am now out of the country and beyond the reach of normal visits or checkups.

I will post more soon, but till then are their any questions?

Invisalign - Doubts?

I guess it is natural that everyone has a moment at some point during their treatment when the reality and scope of the Invisalign treatment hits them, and causes them to question the wisdom of doing it or their ability to follow through with the treatment. For me that time was early in the treatment, early July we will say.

I was just switching to a new set of trays (I don't remember which ones) and it hit me all of a sudden that I will be wearing these trays for at least the next year. Needless to say I was a little taken back by that thought. To that point, everything was a novelty. Sure I was wearing the aligners all day only to take them out to eat and brush, but it was just something new and different. As I put in that new set of aligners, it struck me that it was odd to have your mouth filled with plastic, and not be able to feel your teeth with your tongue. It was only then that the thought came up, crap for better or worse I will be wearing these trays for the next year or more, possibly considerably more if I have to get refinements afterwards which I count as a strong likelihood.

Much like a person who realizes they are trapped in an elevator and gets clastaphobic, I began to second guess the wisdom of my decision to undergo the treatment. I began to wonder if I would even be able to hold myself to the required regime and wonder what kind of an impact it would have on my life. Then I started to think about having to wear the retainers afterward, which depending on who you talk to might have to be worn everynight for the rest of your life. Again that depends who you talk to though.

What ended up helping me get beyond those thoughts of being overwhelmed was sitting down and thinking through exactly why I was undergoing the treatment and what I hoped to get from it. The realization of what I stand to gain, compared to the relatively small committment (though it does seem considerable at times even now), I realized I had no choice but to push through and complete it.

So anyone have any questions that I might be able to answer?

Is Invisalign really Invisible?

This has been a topic which has been near and dear to me since the beginning, probably because it was one major factor in me going with Invisalign at all. The short answer to the title question is that it really depends. I know that may sound like a cop-out but it really does.

When I started the invisalign process I didn't get the "buttons" right away and I can honestly say that even working very close with people who have known me for a very long time the fact that I was wearing my trays was never noticed. I will amend that however by saying that since I have started wearing the trays I can pick out anyone who is currently wearing their trays. Thats not to say that they aren't doing their jobs but there is always a tell, or sign, that gives it away. The faint second line at the top of the tray that edges the gumline, or the slight gloss shine the plastic coating gives your teeth. So for the time prior to getting my buttons, they definitely lived up to their hype.

After I got the buttons however is another story completely. My particular case required the addition of thirteen buttons, all on my forward teeth arching around the sides. The profile change is significant, and for a while it will even change how your gums and lips hang over your teeth. It took a long time to get used to having the buttons, and questions started coming out almost immediately. People started asking what they were, which lead into a long discussion. There are several things that are give-aways with the buttons. For one thing the buttons rarely perfectly fit the trays all the time, and with airpockets come a slightly different color / gloss effect on the trays, making them MUCH more visible. Now, even with all of that said, there are people I work closely with daily who have not noticed yet. As I work in a fairly juvinille environment where good humored ribbing and jokes are always made and expected, I have NEVER had a single person make a negative remark or joke about me doing the Invisalign process.

So, I guess what I would say is nothing is perfect and there will certainly be people who will notice you are wearing your trays, so what? Have faith in yourself and the self confidence that you are doing something to better yourself and so long as you are happy with you, it doesn't matter what anyone else says or does. Have faith in your friends though, if they are true friends they will support your work towards improvement.

It's been a long time...UPDATE

Ok, well I know its been a while...since July, when I updated last. I have been meaning to get on here more regularly and I know what everyone will say, oh your busy. Well thats not it. The problem I run into is I am living the whole Invisalign experience right now and have been doing it for a while so its not a big deal now and when I think back I have a hard time thinking of anything that I believe anyone will have any desire reading about. What I will do however this post is put out my daily routine and some of the things I have noticed and see if that stirs up any questions, so please if you happen to read this and you have ANY questions at all please leave a comment and I will do my best to get an answer for you.

Daily Routine:
I try to work the schedule where I can start a new tray on Friday nights, it doesn't always work but as close as I can get the better. Why at night? Simple self preservation. When you first put in a new tray there is a few seconds of throbbing discomfort but that subsides quickly for the most part. Once you get used to the tray you notice you have them in but its not on the forefront and it is easy to get to a point where you will forget. Taking them out the first time is not too bad, assuming they have been in long enough for your teeth to start moving, in my case about 6 hours or more is good. Less than that and it does cause some pain taking them out, more and thats greatly reduced. Friday nights because it gives me all weekend to get into the routine of having them in all the time and gives my teeth some good movement time before I have to go to work and my schedule gets crazy. Over the weekend I will literally just take my trays out to eat, so all told they are in for 22 hours or say each day. Once the week hits however my day gets to be hectic and eating / brushing gets to be a chore so I average about 20 hours a day during the week, with all of those off hours during my work day sporatically.

So I put in the new tray at night, normally right after dinner and brushing. I spend all night getting used to the new trays and then go to bed whenever I decide. When I wake up the next morning I go to the bathroom and take my trays out and put them in the efferdint denture cleaner. I then eat a quick breakfast and get showered up. Finally I put the trays back in and continue with my day. I obviously have my tooth brush at home and keep a seperate one at work for while I am there. At lunch I take out my trays and put them in their case, eat a quick lunch and then brush quick and put them back in for the afternoon. At dinner, I take them out again, eat another quick meal, brush and then put them back in for the evening. The longest time they are out is for the shower / breakfast routine in the morning, normally an hour there. The other meals are fairly quick, about 30 minutes each before I put the tray back in.

On weekdays, my routine is the same, with the exception that it is sometimes hard find the time to brush and put them back in. Furthermore, there are certain things that I find I have to have them out for, such as large briefs. Whenever I have to do a long detailed brief, I find that if I have my trays in my mouth dries out faster and I start stumbling over my words more, where as if the trays are out, its not a problem. In that case I take them out right before and put them back in immediately following. Also, and worst of all I find it hard to ensure I have a place to brush some places and as a guy its difficuilt at times to keep everything required on my person. For instance, having to carry the container, a tooth brush, and tooth paste is a bit much. At these times when I don't carry a tooth brush I simply put the trays back in without brushing. I know what you are going to say, thats disgusting. I know, I know, but there are times I just can't brush. I try to minimalize it and try to plan a detour to brush as soon as possible after but it still happens. I don't have a purse afterall to store this stuff, all I have is my pockets.

There have even been times when I have gotten lax and left my trays out for hours on end. I pay for it afterwards when I put the trays back in and I end up having to shift my switch to the next tray but it does happen sometimes. Anyway, so thats my routine.

After looking at the length of this post I am going to split up my thoughts afterall so it doesn't get crazy. More to come on specific topics in a sec....

Switching trays early...

The idea of switching to the next trays early and thus cutting the amount of time doing the treatment is very appealing and something I have to admit I have talked with a few others about online. I did a little while back though talk to my Orthodontist about it and what follows is basically what he told me; Don't do it.

Why? The trays spend the first week or so moving the teeth into position and the second week maintaining them in that position so that the bone and muscle can adjust to the new positioning. If one were to continuously switch to the next set early then you could risk the success of the treatment but also cause serious bone problems as well as making it far easier for the teeth to return to their previously jacked up position faster.

4th trays and more insight into the process...

Well, here I am back again, though after a long delay typing on a computer about the process I am now undergoing. I recently posted a link to this blog on an Invisalign Facebook group so if you are here reading it please feel free to comment or leave questions and I will try to answer them in detail.

Ok, so what has been going on with my invisalign treatment? Well since my last post I had my appointment where they put on the attachments and likewise put in my 3rd trays. I will say that one huge lesson learned on this is try to avoid switching to a new tray (especially once you have attachments) if you plan on eating in the next, oh say 8 hours. The procedure for putting on the attachments was simple enough. They first clean the surface of the tooth, with some sort of acid I think, but it doesn't hurt at all. Once the surface is clean, and dry they apply a liberal amount of adhesive onto the tooth and apply a slight amount of UV light in order to make it tacky before applying the attachment itself. While this process is going on the Orthodontist is putting the attachment paste into the mold on the setting tray...which while is similar to the regular aligners is much lighter and more flexible. They then fit the aligner onto your teeth, applying enough force to get them into position and then use the UV light again to set the adhesive and the attachment. The process is then complete and they can remove the setting tray and insert your next tray set, for me that was my 3rd tray. So, they inserted the tray and as usual I felt no discomfort of pain, merely a little pressure at first but I got used to it quickly.

The issue came about three hours later however when I decided to go have lunch and could not get the tray off using the method I had become accustomed to. I called the office and they were extremely helpful, providing me with a tool and great advice on how I should do it. With a great deal of effort I finally got the trays off, though I lost a few attachments in the process. I did call the office and tell them of my problem and they scheduled me another appointment to reattach the missing attachments. Since then I have not had any repeat problems, nor do I expect any.

So what is it like now? Well the attachments, or buttons as they are sometimes called, are rough at first and really irritated me...not to the extent of causing damage in my mouth but drove me nuts because it was like always having a corn kernel stuck in my teeth whenever the trays were out. Well the simple answer to that was to not take my trays out unless absolutely necessary. They trays are still somewhat difficult to put in and take out but no where near what they were that first day. I still find it easiest with the tool for my upper tray but only because it was tearing up my fingernails doing it that way. I have moved onto my 4th trays without any fanfare or problems and am looking forward to moving up to my fifth trays in another week. All in all I think I am adjusting ok to the transition and while everyone has started to notice my treatment since I got the attachments they have all been very supportive.

2nd Tray and 3rd Tray appointment

Well, I know I should have posted this sooner but I have been busy lately and frankly I feel weird posting similar things over and over again. Anyway, this past Friday I started my 2nd trays, yeah I know a few days early however the 1st trays had ended their effectiveness or at least thats what I guess because I could take them out and put them in super easy.

So thoughts on 2nd trays? Well they were tight at first by not nearly as tight as the first trays but maybe thats because I have learned how to take them out and put them back in better. So they are tight but not bad, I have become accustomed to a little soreness early on, and look on it as proof that they are working. I haven't seen seen any progress yet but from what I hear thats not unusual. I can't wait for the day when I can see the progress and start to notice the difference.

Today I also called the Ortho, my original appoint to put on the attachments and start my third trays was June 15th, but seeing as I have had some progress early on so far I asked to have an earlier appointment so that I won't be getting them the same day I leave on a trip. They have been super accommodating and readily agreed to see me first thing next wednesday. So, at 7am next Wednesday I will be getting my attachments on and starting my 3rd tray, a full five days early. I only hope my progress continues and maybe I can finish these early. Well, more later.

On a side note, I do have videos posted on YouTube but marked private for now until I get more used to the idea of everyone know what I am doing. So far no one has noticed at work.