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