Hurray for Braces!

I have my first invisalign tray in! I put it in last night before bed, as recommended by my dentist. He suggested that putting it in at night can help with the pain. I'm not sure if that's what helped or not, but my teeth don't hurt at all! I actually worried for a bit that it wasn't working somehow because my mouth feels just fine.

The trays are surprisingly thin and completely clear, but they still feel a bit weird in the mouth. I can't bite down all the way with them in, so I've been keeping my mouth parted and open most of the time so it doesn't look like I have a mouth guard in. When I say words with the letter "S," there's a slight lisp, but other than that, you can't tell they're there at all.

The only downside so far is what a pain it is to take them out! They have to be removed for eating and drinking (except water). My weak little nails aren't strong enough to remove the liner (I bent them back three times and yelped in pain and began to worry I'd never get to eat again), so I had to resort to using tweezers. I also have to brush and floss before putting the trays back in, so I think I'm going to have to go out and get a travel toothbrush as well.

All in all, I'm very happy with my invisalign braces. They're completely clear, they don't hurt my mouth, and they're going to give me straight teeth by Christmas! Hurray.

Fun with Teeth

Today, I went to the dentist and got my first invisalign tray! I am so, so excited.

He put on three button "attachments" to my teeth. Basically, this means he glued on a button like piece to three of my teeth. This gives the invisalign trays something to push on for the teeth that need to be rotated. Plus, it helps hold the trays on.

The trays are surprisingly thin and extremely clear. They don't feel too tight, and they don't scratch my gums. Perfect!

My dentist recommended I wait until this evening to put my first trays in permanently. He said if I put them in after dinner & brushing and take an ibuprofin, my teeth pain should be minimal in the morning. We'll see!

Braces!

It's official; I'm getting the invisalign braces!

Today, I went in to learn about how well they'll work on me, specifically. There were computer images to see how my teeth are now, how they'll look like in the end, and how they'll look like step by step, with each tray.

I'm very excited. I need a total of 14 trays on both my top teeth and my bottom; each tray, I'm to wear for 2 weeks. This means 28 weeks (or just 6 months!) of braces, and then I'll have straight teeth!

There's enough space in my mouth where I won't need my teeth filed in the gaps. Also, it sounds like my insurance is going to cover half the cost! I couldn't be happier with that.

Woohoo! I'm excited not to have my one front tooth in my way all the time (one of my incisors has dropped so low and so far back, when I bite down, it touches my bottom teeth before any of the others, so that's the only non-molar tooth I can touch to my bottom teeth). I'm just... excited!

Hurray!

My first tray should arrive in 2 weeks :)