Tray 15 & 17 - (No 16)

Sorry folks, life intervened and I haven't had a chance to post in a few weeks.   I got a new job in a new city (Elizabeth City, NC to be precise).   This was quite sudden, and I apparently missed posting for Trays 15 and Tray 16. 

Full Face Tray 15

No Tray 15

Tray 15

I don't have any shots of tray 16.  I apparently completely got side tracked.  But without further ado here is tray 17.

Tray 17

Full Face no Tray 17

Before Tray 17 went in.

Dr. Purcell gave me extra trays this time (3 months worth) because of the move.  So I should only have to get one more set of trays before the end of this process.   Hard to believe it's been 32 weeks already.   I'm going to keep Dr. Purcell and make the 2 hour drive to richmond for my last couple appointments and then find a new dentist closer after the ortho is complete.

Hopefully I can get back on track with my posts.   It's a crazy time for the Calder house!!!

Tray 14

Not much to report considering I am at the halfway point.  I have managed not to crack or discolor this set yet.  Though I'm sure today's coffee and soda will change that.

I've been cleaning my teeth with Efferdents Fresh Guard wipes almost daily, and twice a week I use Retainer Brite.  Keeps them in pretty good shape, as long as I remember to brush them clean as well every once in a while.

This weeks shots are a bit bright because they were taken outside.  Even in my rush it still took me a week to post them...

Tray 14

Mug Shot

No Tray

Tray 13

Not much to tell for Tray 12.  There was a worn spot on the bottom of the top tray that felt like a strand of plastic was left after the molding was cast.  Other than that it was pretty uneventful.  Got distracted at the beach, and the salt water didn't seem to affect the trays much at all.   Almost half way done...  

No Tray

Tray 13

The full mug

Tray 12 and some filing

Went in for my checkup and filing today.   They had to file some teeth to make room for movement.  All in all everything is going well.  I did mess up on Saturday and forgot I had my teeth out from breakfast till lunch, but other than that one day I think I've been pretty on par.

Tray 11

Nothing much to post about this time around.   Tray 10 has been pretty stable all week.   I think I stained them a bit drinking coffee this morning, but I knew I was swapping out, so I was a bit more carefree than I normally would be.

Of course that means I'm probably going to end up treating Tray 11 pretty bad.   I guess we will see in two weeks.   Oh this is also the last set before my next visit.   It's a long visit, so I'm trying to remember what they are going to do this time.

The quality of the pics are not great, taken from my dirty iPhone under bad light.

 No Tray

Tray 11

Full Mug

Tray 10 - week 1 is over

The week is over, and I am ready to swap out this set.   I don't know why but they feel like they have been in for two weeks already.   That is a good and bad thing.  It is good because I got over the discomfort zone quickly this round; It is bad because I get sloppy when they get comfy.

 I forget to clean them as often as I should.  at work, I pop them out to eat, but bit when I drink.   I am supposed to be cleaning them either after I take them out or before I put them back in.  Sometimes the best I do is wipe then with a napkin and tuck them in my shirt pocket where they dry out and get bits of gunk on them.  I really should be not conscientious about taking care of them.

Speaking of taking care of things.  I've developed a small ulcer on that salivary gland between the base of the tongue and bottom teeth.  If you get one they are annoying because it hits the lip of the tray when inflamed.   My wife, Liz, tells me that Crest Conplete mouthwash takes care of that, and she was dead on.   It only took a day for the ulcer to heal and for it to stop getting irritated by my lower tray!

Well I'm doing this from the iPhone while riding in the van, so let me try and upload some tray 10 pics

Tray 9 is in

Sitting here listening to Thievery Corporation on Pandora while playing with my braces.  They popped in and out this time with significantly less trouble than usual for a fresh tray.

I normally swap trays on Sunday, but I forgot and didn't swap them until last night.   Nine trays... wow can't believe it's been 18 weeks already...  I still have a ways to go, but I'm feeling better about my smile each time I do an update.

Tray 9.

What a mug.

 

 

Not a whole lot going on so I'll keep this one short.  Oh.. When I saw the dentist she said there was some inflamation in the upper left (right side facing) and that I need to be a little more diligent with the flossing.  To be honest I hadn't flossed much since, maybe three times.  I need to get better, but it seems I can barely remember to floss and rinse after meals now.  I was so on it in the beginning, but have lost alot of momentum as far as my personal wellbeing goes.  I haven't been on my walks, or any of the other myriad of things I should be doing to stave off my meloncolly.  Is that even spelled right?  Anyway... enough stream of consciousness crud.  I'm going to go talk a short walk.

 

 

Tray 7 and 8 A double Post

Realized I forgot to post about my last tray.  Things have been busy at work, and I just kind of forgot.

Here is the grill

 

Tray 7

 

 Tray 7 got stained this time around.  Forgot to take my braces out when I was trying to cleanup an icecream cone my little boy was about to topple onto the ground.  It was a green and orange sherbert ninja turtle from the ice cream truck and made my braces glow bright green for a couple days.   It wore out a bit, but you can definitely tell the color was off.

Tray 8

Tray 8 is in now.   Hurts a little bit on the front two teeth, but nothing like the past ones.
My upper canine is getting into place which is awesome.  I can feel the difference in my alignment.  20 Trays left to go, time is going by fast!  I need to play with the whitening stuff, but just haven't had the time nor inclination...  Maybe around Tray 10.

Mid tray report - picking up habits

Hi again.  One thanks for stopping by to read my rambling about my braces.  I am enjoying the process for the most part.  I could do with a little less of the pain in the first couple days.   I am current enjoying a car ride home and realized I haven't mentioned my tongue and its inclination to play with the ridges of my trays.  That dandy new habit to try and suck all the air out.

They fit snug mind you, I'm not saying they are not fitting correctly, but as with any plastic, pockets of air form either on the outside facing side and fit snug along the inside facing part or vice versa.  I can fix the one air just to form.  For instance my bottom tray is pretty snug on bit side right now but I can "suck" the air out of the outside upper tray. It doesn't affect the inside at all when I do this; the outside just sucks back in air.  Think of a snug boot and how it gets looser as time goes on.

Today the bottom inner ridge is rubbing my tongue raw.  It is all my fault because I keep playing with it.  It is a bad habit that I think I have picked up.

Also I haven't been brushing this tray as often as I should, but the Retainer Brite has been keeping them shiny.  I was brushing the tray when I brushed my teeth, but I've gotten pretty lackadaisical about it.  Ranks up there with my other bad habit of not removing my tray when I drink on car trips.  This is probably going to bite me back in the butt...

Looking forward to the next tray! Thanks again for stopping by.

Tray 6 Almost a quarter of the way there!

Tray 6 is in and the first day hurt like hell.  It is a different tooth it seems each time that decides it doesn't like being turned this way or that way.   Likewise, by the end of the two week period the tray seems like it is getting more worn and jagged that I can barely wait to put the new ones in; Until they get in then I wish I had the other tray back in.  This is day two with this tray and I am already feeling jagged spots.   When I pop them out I can't find them so I can't do anything about it. 

Anyway here are the grill shots:

No Tray

Tray 6 in

My Ugly Mug

Tray 5 Week 1 complete

Sorry for the delay in the posting of this update, but the Verizon service went down for a few days causing some havoc around the house.

These new trays are killing me.  They hurt like hell the first few days when I put them in or when I take them out. They are a major pain to get in an out with the new attachments, and by the end of the two weeks I managed to crack Tray 4.

On the plus side, the diet has me down 10lbs since we started this.  I didn't realize how much snacking I really did until I wasn't able to anymore.  I'm getting sloppy about brushing before putting them back in and managed to cause some bleeding in my upper tray.  Seems better now that I'm back on track.

Here are the Tray 5 Grill Shots.

Tray 4 - Now with Attachment Action

15(?) attachments were put on my grill on Monday. Been pretty rough this week. Couple of my teeth have become pressure sensitive. And getting the new trays with the attachments off is a bear. I'm sure I'll get used to it, but it kept me distracted from posting my Tray 3.

So here is tray 4 in and out.

Tray 4 is in

And without. As you can see, my smile is no where near where I would like it. But I'm still 24 trays out. I'm just going to go pop some Ibuprofin and see if I can get rid of the ache. This put a stop to my bleaching because I don't want to pop my tray in and out for it right now.

Tray 2 Complete - Stains and Retainer Brite

Last day for tray two, no cracks this time.

Had to cheat a few times this set because I forgot my toothbrush or was caught without my retainer case.  I feel like a paranoid parent when I have to put my tray in a napkin while eating because of the missing case.  But I feel less timid about drinking and eating because I've gotten a handle on removing the trays.  I do feel naughty when I have to do the quick rinse and replace method knowing that I need to do a proper scrub when I get back to my toothbrush.  Retainer Brite has wen a godsend for little bits and minor stains, but I find that I still need to brush brush my trays every few days to get  plaque out from between the tooth spaces.

Here is a shot of Tray 2.

I'm starting to use a whitening gel with my braces.  More on this on my next post.

Two Weeks Down - Time for Tray 2

Good timing, I cracked part of my upper tray on the same day I am trading out my tray.  Hopefully I won't need to redo Tray 1, but if I do I'll just deal with it.  Apparently one spot where I hook to pull the top tray off developed a stress fracture.  It was really annoying on the car ride home whith my tongue smacking it and snagging the crack.   This is the only day where I won't have worn my tray for 22 hours, I just couldn't take the last hour of the ride home and popped them out.

I took advantage of the reprieve to enjoy some Doritos and a soda...  Speaking of which.  I never realized how much I craved snacky foods until I put these puppies on.  I am drinking a lot more water which is a good thing.

Realized I never posted a shot with me wearing my First Tray so here you go.

And for your pleasure, my cracked upper tray.  The crack is fourth from the right.

Let's see if I can be better with Tray #2.  I took some pain meds and going to sleep while they do their initial adjustment.  They are not terribly uncomfortable, but I'm hoping the ibuprofen will let them set while letting me sleep!

Awkward Moments

Still getting used to popping my Invisalign braces in and out for meals.   At this point they feel fine before I pull them out, but the pressure feeling comes back when I put them back on.   I'm guessing that's my teeth trying to go back to their old spots. 

It's not as annoying as it was the first few days.  My tongue doesn't bump into the ridges like they did, though they do continue to bite part of my cheek when I put my upper tray back in. 

Had my first awkward feeling moment yesterday.   I went out to lunch with an old colleague who I haven't seen in a couple months.  We went to a local dive and I excused myself.  I don't know why I felt it was necessary but I told him "I have to hit the head and remove my teeth" which of course brought on a odd look.  I then explained that I had braces, and they told me they didn't even notice.  That made me feel good, but I wish I did a better job of letting them know.   The awkwardness came back at the end when I told them I needed a moment to go brush my teeth and put my tray back in.  

Not the end of the world, it went pretty well. It was a total of 30 seconds of awkwardness in a 45 minute catchup session.  Just need to keep chugging...

Cheek Biting and a request for a Crowbar.

Seriously... I wonder if I'm going to be dealing with 56 weeks of these things trying to take a chunk of my chubby cheeks every time I put them back on.   The DIET is going well, I have no inclination in anyway to remove my trays unless I absolutely have to.  That and the fact that I still need a crowbar to get the trays off, and yes, I'm removing them from the back to front like you are supposed to.  These don't even have the little protrusions yet.  Growing pains I guess...

On a side note I got a nice Phillips Sonicare toothbrush that I can take with me to clean up after meals.   I'm loving that thing.  It sounds like a high speed drill, but man does it plow through the gunk.  I just got to remember to take the time to make sure I hit every tooth.

Day 1 of Will's Invisalign Journey - The Invisalign Diet

I finally took the leap to get my teeth fixed.  After 40 years of Military Dependent style neglect, they are not horribly crooked, but will require 56 weeks of initial treatment.  That's 28 trays and I just started tray 1.

They are not completely uncomfortable as I feared.  There is a little bit of a ridge on the bottoms that my tongue keeps hitting and I can't stop playing with.  Taking some minor OTC pain meds definitely helped the transition as the first set settled.  I haven't become a pro yet at popping them in and out.

I thought I got all the food out from brushing yesterday after dinner, but apparently not as there was a bit of nastiness waiting for me this morning when I popped my tray out to clean my teeth.   I need to be careful about that, I've heard that it can cause cavities alot faster now there is food being pressed against the teeth if I don't clean it. 

This is also my first real blog, so let's see how well I can stick to this Diet thing.   I know why they call it the Invisalign Diet, after the first day, I've noticed I don't want to snack because I don't want to pop these puppies out and brush all that junk away again.  Likewise there is a little drool action when popping the trays out.  I'm sure it will get better as I become more skilled...