It seems like forever since I received my first aligners, but they're still here in my mouth. Today I have an appointment with the ortho at 2:20pm. Kinda an inconvenient time in the middle of the day since the dental office is close to home, not work. Hopefully from now on I'll get the early am appointments.
The next appointment I have is for 8:30am, but it's not until May 15! 5 weeks with one aligner seems very unreasonable to me, when they are supposed to be able to be changed every two weeks. Three and a half weeks with the first aligner has seemed really long so going 5 weeks will seem an eternity.
I am hoping that he will give me two aligners at this visit, as it seems other people don't have to have a visit for EVERY aligner. *crosses fingers* Or else I may just have to go to the Forest Hill office (FAR!) to get an appointment in between.
I sure hope the scheduling becomes easier for this...
Oh, and I still have not found those pictures!
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Teeth pics
I seem to have lost the pictures I took of my teeth on the first day... shame, because they've moved a bit now, so it's not like I can just re-do them.
I'm going to look a bit harder and see if I can't find them :)
I'm looking forward to aligner #2 next week, and hoping he'll give me #2 and #3, or else I'll be stuck with #2 for a month as he'll be away...
I'm going to look a bit harder and see if I can't find them :)
I'm looking forward to aligner #2 next week, and hoping he'll give me #2 and #3, or else I'll be stuck with #2 for a month as he'll be away...
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Invisialign progress
I wish there wasn't 3.5 weeks between my first and second trays... My next appointment is April 10. Then my appointment after that is not for over a MONTH! I'm gong to see if he'll give me two trays at once, because it seems others on the board get a bunch of trays and don't have to actually go into the office every two weeks.
I'm going to ask him if I can see my clincheck when I go too - it seems most people have got to see them before they start treatment. Since I go to the alternate office though, I figure he probably won't have them there, and I'll have to wait until I need to go to the main office, which is much further away.
Also, from taking the trays out on the left side all the time, my top trays have developed this little fissure, and I've had to start taking them out on the right side. They are a little more fragile then I thought they were...
I can't find the pictures I took of my teeth the first day of invisilign anywhere. What a great start to the blog ;)
I can actually feel that my teeth have already moved though!
I'm going to ask him if I can see my clincheck when I go too - it seems most people have got to see them before they start treatment. Since I go to the alternate office though, I figure he probably won't have them there, and I'll have to wait until I need to go to the main office, which is much further away.
Also, from taking the trays out on the left side all the time, my top trays have developed this little fissure, and I've had to start taking them out on the right side. They are a little more fragile then I thought they were...
I can't find the pictures I took of my teeth the first day of invisilign anywhere. What a great start to the blog ;)
I can actually feel that my teeth have already moved though!
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Aligner 1 - Day 4
The aligners still feel weird in the mouth. But then they feel weird out of the mouth too, as it feels like my teeth have already moved. But mostly because of the little attachments. At least with the aligners in all I feel is smoooooooooooothness.
They are not really hurting anymore though, and slip in and out much easier!
I'm drinking my morning warm lemon water with a straw :)
Hopefully this weekend I'll get around to posting the pics I took . Also I'm going to look for the pictures my mom took the day I got my braces off as a teenager. I may even be able to find my old molds of my original crooked teeth.
They are not really hurting anymore though, and slip in and out much easier!
I'm drinking my morning warm lemon water with a straw :)
Hopefully this weekend I'll get around to posting the pics I took . Also I'm going to look for the pictures my mom took the day I got my braces off as a teenager. I may even be able to find my old molds of my original crooked teeth.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
First Aligners
Yesterday I had my appointment to get my first Invisalign aligners.
They have a blueprint from Invisalign on which teeth they have to put the attchments on, and how much space to file away from in between which teeth. So the process is:
* stick attachments on teeth (4 upper, 4 lower)
* sand in between certain teeth to make room for movement (Interproximal Reduction or IPR)
* put aligners in and learn to take them in and out
I found it really difficult at first to get them in and out at first, but now in day 2, I already find it easier.
When I got into work, and for the rest of the day, I was constantly aware of (and annoyed by) the aligners being in, but surprised that they weren't hurting at all when they were obviously moving my teeth.
That all changed in the evening when my teeth started aching real bad.
Painkillers.
Bed.
Today they still hurt, but much easier to get in and out. And I took some before pictures, though it's too bad I didn't do it before the attachmetns and filing, but at least it will show the original tooth positions.
They have a blueprint from Invisalign on which teeth they have to put the attchments on, and how much space to file away from in between which teeth. So the process is:
* stick attachments on teeth (4 upper, 4 lower)
* sand in between certain teeth to make room for movement (Interproximal Reduction or IPR)
* put aligners in and learn to take them in and out
I found it really difficult at first to get them in and out at first, but now in day 2, I already find it easier.
When I got into work, and for the rest of the day, I was constantly aware of (and annoyed by) the aligners being in, but surprised that they weren't hurting at all when they were obviously moving my teeth.
That all changed in the evening when my teeth started aching real bad.
Painkillers.
Bed.
Today they still hurt, but much easier to get in and out. And I took some before pictures, though it's too bad I didn't do it before the attachmetns and filing, but at least it will show the original tooth positions.
My orthodontic history and the Inivisalign Decision
When I was a teenager I went through the whole train track braces deal, and afterwards the teeth were perfect!
I had one wisdom tooth show up in an xray at age 18, so out it came so that it would not mess up my teeth.
As I got older, the teeth started shifting a little bit, very very gradually.
In my early 30's my hygienist did a full xray, and while looking at it I hear her exclaim "what the... you have another wisdom tooth" noooooooooooo!!!!
Sure enough, deep down in there was another wisdom tooth, but at the time I had dealt with so many doctors, and had spine surgery and couldn't face getting my wisdom tooth out and I just left it.
Teeth shifting even more, yet still gradually. And finally I get that wisdom tooth out.
Had to have spine surgery again after that, which made me quite ill afterwards. I think 2 spine surgeries plus a wisdom tooth out in less than a 30 month period, was a bit much for my body to handle. But that's beside the point.
I couldn't have physically gone through orhthodontics back then, even if I could have afforded it, though the look of my teeth was bugging me more and more each day. The part I hated the most was how one of my two top front teeth was out much further than the other. I felt like "Lucky" on King of the Hill - ugh.
But now my Aunt has left me some money, and I'm feeling healthy so I decided to go for it and made an appointment with the orthodontist that is in my dentist's office. Dr.Hirsh. He presented me with two options - traditional braces, or Invisalign. Actually he said I had a very nice smile just as I was, so I could opt for just evening out the two front teeth, but I knew that would not be satisfactory for me - I knew I wanted them fixed properly, and I just had to decide on which route to take.
Invisalign sounded like a good option for me, since my teeth are really not all that crooked, and after some research at home I decided to go for it.
I made the appointment and went in and Dr.Hirsh took all sorts of measurements of teeth being offset, and over bite and all sorts of things like that. Then had to make another appointment and go for some special xrays.
Then an appointment to have the molds taken of my teeth to send to invisalign. Yuck. Very unpleasant! And then had to wait for the aligners to come in.
I made an appointment for when they were supposed to come in, but they hadn't come in yet, so I rescheduled. But by then we were planning our trip to Belize so that I figured I really didn't want to start the process right before going travelling in the jungle so I postponed until we returned (and I'm really glad I did!).
We returned from Belize on the 10th (actually it turned out to be the morning of the 11th), and on the 17th I had my appointment to get my first aligners!
I had one wisdom tooth show up in an xray at age 18, so out it came so that it would not mess up my teeth.
As I got older, the teeth started shifting a little bit, very very gradually.
In my early 30's my hygienist did a full xray, and while looking at it I hear her exclaim "what the... you have another wisdom tooth" noooooooooooo!!!!
Sure enough, deep down in there was another wisdom tooth, but at the time I had dealt with so many doctors, and had spine surgery and couldn't face getting my wisdom tooth out and I just left it.
Teeth shifting even more, yet still gradually. And finally I get that wisdom tooth out.
Had to have spine surgery again after that, which made me quite ill afterwards. I think 2 spine surgeries plus a wisdom tooth out in less than a 30 month period, was a bit much for my body to handle. But that's beside the point.
I couldn't have physically gone through orhthodontics back then, even if I could have afforded it, though the look of my teeth was bugging me more and more each day. The part I hated the most was how one of my two top front teeth was out much further than the other. I felt like "Lucky" on King of the Hill - ugh.
But now my Aunt has left me some money, and I'm feeling healthy so I decided to go for it and made an appointment with the orthodontist that is in my dentist's office. Dr.Hirsh. He presented me with two options - traditional braces, or Invisalign. Actually he said I had a very nice smile just as I was, so I could opt for just evening out the two front teeth, but I knew that would not be satisfactory for me - I knew I wanted them fixed properly, and I just had to decide on which route to take.
Invisalign sounded like a good option for me, since my teeth are really not all that crooked, and after some research at home I decided to go for it.
I made the appointment and went in and Dr.Hirsh took all sorts of measurements of teeth being offset, and over bite and all sorts of things like that. Then had to make another appointment and go for some special xrays.
Then an appointment to have the molds taken of my teeth to send to invisalign. Yuck. Very unpleasant! And then had to wait for the aligners to come in.
I made an appointment for when they were supposed to come in, but they hadn't come in yet, so I rescheduled. But by then we were planning our trip to Belize so that I figured I really didn't want to start the process right before going travelling in the jungle so I postponed until we returned (and I'm really glad I did!).
We returned from Belize on the 10th (actually it turned out to be the morning of the 11th), and on the 17th I had my appointment to get my first aligners!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
