Friday, August 3, 2012

Tray (3) & I - Still Hanging


Tray (3) went well. I've gotten used to the pain that's involved with switching from one tray to another. I'm not experiencing some of the issues that I've heard others complain about such as headaches, throbbing teeth, loose teeth, or bad breath (well nobody has told me if so LOL). I soak my trays in denture cleaning solution 3 days a week and I brush them with water only prior to putting them in. 

Something that does annoy me is when I'm out and want to go to a drive through to grab a bite to eat. I have to remove the tray from my mouth if I eat in the car. I always request a additional cup of water and a empty cup (Yes for the reason you're thinking). After I eat I rinse my mouth with water and take my tooth brush to get any food that's on my teeth off and put my trays back in until I get to a sink to brush. Don't judge me - Hey it's do what you have to do or be hungry. (LOL) If you don't know - I am a FOODIE to the core of me. Honestly, the time from switching from one tray to the next is just zooming by. I go back to see my orthodontist on the 27th. Hopefully I receive another 5 trays and he's pleased with my progress so far. We shall see. Stay posted. 

Thank you to everyone that has provided feedback on my blog so far. It means alot to feel like I'm not just talking to myself! :)



The end of Tray 3. 

15 comments:

  1. The way that I feel right now, if I had the ability to remove my braces, I would do it and never put them back in! That's one reason I didn't choose Invisalign.

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  2. I understand. I selected invisalign because I was terrified to have metal braces. The twisting of metal in my mouth just sounds scary. I also like how discreet they are. Nobody can even tell I'm wearing them unless I point it out. The best part is I can look at future trays and see how much smaller the gap will be. That keeps me going. I'm truly looking forward to the end result. I have a total of 25 trays for the top and 19 for the bottom teeth. Are you experiencing a lot of pain with traditional braces? How long will you have to wear them?

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    1. Every day is a different kid of pain ranging from pressure to sharp pains. I am not bothered by the pain but I am really annoyed with the buildups on my teeth which make it impossible for me to chew!
      My estimated treatment time is 18-24 months.

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    2. Keysha if that's the case you may be joining me in the weight loss club. I hope it get's better. My treatment time is 18 to 24 months also. That time frame includes refinements. I won't know if or how many additional trays I'll need until I finish these 25. We shall see. I subscribed to your blog so I'll follow your progress. Girl all I can say is Beauty is Pain :)

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  3. Nice blog. I saw that you had frenectomy done, is that required for every patient with a gap? How does a patient know whether they'll need frenectomy or not as part of this Invisalign treatment to close the gap? I've read some blogs where the people weren't required to have it. My gap is around 3mm. Thanks

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    1. Thank you! I'm not sure if everyone is required to have a frenectomy done. Initially, I spoke to 2 different top orthodontist in my area, charlotte. One was a elite invisalign provider the other wasn't but had excellent credentials (i,e harvard educated, graduated at the top of his class, and ortho facial surgeon). The elite invisalign provider told me I didn't have to have a frenectomy and that I'd just use my last tray as retainers. I decided to go with the orthodontist with the best credentials - thinking I'd be happier in the end. He explained to me that the frenectomy was necessary because the fernum is a muscle and it would basically work "against" my teeth and try to separate them. After spending almost $5K on fixing my teeth theres no way I wanted them to revert back to their previous position. I also liked him because he said he'd put a bonded retainer on the front top and bottom of my teeth - this will stay on forever. I'll also have a special clear retainer made to sleep in at night so the bonded retainer won't have to work as hard. I'm all about retention. This process is way to expensive and I in no way have money to waste. I want a permanent fix. I think having the frenectomy was a good idea. The process wasn't painful and it didn't add any extra cost to my treatment. I hope this helps you out. Have you started your invisalign treatment yet? If so, how many different orthodontist did you consult with about it?

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    2. I just wanted to say that I have a gap and a franectomy was never brought up at all, I didn't know anything about it until I read your blog after I had already started with the trays.
      I hope this is just dependent on the case and doesn't mean I will have problems down the road!

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  4. Thanks. I'm on my Tray 1, just started last week. I have 17 U and 9 L, the treatment plan for me is to fix my gap in the upper front teeth which is pretty noticeable. I'm following your blog with interest.

    Curiously enough, most people who do Invisalign don't have this issue and do it for other reasons. I looked on the forum http://www.bracesreview.com/forums/invisalign/ and hardly anyone there is fixing gaps, they're mostly just straightening crooked teeth, so I didn't really find a lot of resources there.

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    1. I too found it hard to find anyone with a similar issue, but I'm glad I stumbled upon this blog and it inspired me to start my own. xtina81.blogspot.com

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    2. I'm glad Xtina. I've been following your blog. I can't wait to see our end results.

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  5. As you can see from my pictures I have the same noticeable gap. Thanks for following my blog. I appreciate it. I haven't found many people with the same size gap as mine blogging about it. The one person that I found motivated me to create this blog. It's genetic and I think a lot of people may be going thru treatment for it but are ashamed of it so they don't want to put it on display for the world to see.

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  6. You get 5 trays at at time? I get three and have to go back every six weeks. No fair! LOL

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    1. I got 5 originally. I'm not sure if that's what I'll get after my next visit.

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  7. This is not anything to do with this post, but how did you get the ticker on your blog? Where did you put it? It hasn't worked when I've tried it.

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    1. I can't remember exactly. After 4 attempts I finally got it to show up. Sorry I'm not more help. :(

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