Tray # 2!!!

Hello....
Thought I better give an update on how everything is going....
I changed to my 2nd trays thursday night (2 days ago) and was excited but also a bit nervous, scared I might have difficulty putting them in and scared they might be more sore than the 1st set? Anyway, so after dinner (and after my usual floss/brush/rinse routine) I opened up the sealed bag and gave them a quick rinse and started with the bottom tray. I clicked it down on the front bottom teeth but the sides wouldn't fit properly?! I started to panic!!!! So I took it out and compared it to my 1st tray and it looked pretty much identical so it had to fit! So I tried again and this time wiggled the sides around a bit and then the next thing you know both sides clicked perfectly in place! FEW!!!!! Did the same with the top tray. They felt very tight but I like that feeling of tightness, it makes me feel like it is working! No need for painkillers, it is just a nice tight snug feeling! (maybe it also makes a difference that I use sensodyne toothpaste!?).
Then next morning I was nervous about taking them out to eat breakfast (remembering the 1st time the dentist took out my 1st set! OUCH!). It was difficult to get out because of the tightness so I had to go back to using my special tool/hook thing to help get them over my attachments. Yes it was sore getting them off but no-where near as sore as when the dentist took them out 2 weeks earlier! My teeth were a bit tender eating (especially my 2 front teeth) but its managable.
This morning I've had no problems and I didn't need my tool/hook to get them off so I'm hoping that with each new tray I will only need to use the hook on the 1st day of eating! I'm still using a glove and I think I will continue using it as it is easier to grip them to get them off and doesn't hurt my fingers/finger nails.
I ran out of the hydrogen peroxide to soak my trays in and instead have been using white vinegar (recommended by my Dentist) and it works just the same, comes in a big bottle and is nice and cheap! I soak them in 50/50 vinegar & water while I eat my breakfast and then after doing my brushing teeth routine I rinse the trays under a tap of cold running water and then give them a brush with a soft toothbrush. My last set of trays I was using my whitening toothpaste to brush them with but noticed they started looking very scratchy and I read on the internet that using whitening toothpaste on the trays is too harsh and will scratch them so now when I do use toothpaste I use a normal toothpaste on them.

First day back at work - Day 11 in 1st aligners

I have been off work for the last week & a bit for school holidays so today was my first day back at work with my invisalign!
Everyone was pretty much amazed at how UN-noticable they are!!! YAY!!!!!
My only issue was lunch time - finding somewhere to secretly take them out! I went upstairs to the toilets but it was so busy in there that I didn't feel comfortable trying to get them out there with people watching me so I went back downstairs and managed to get them off pretty easily in my own little work area. It was the first time I have ever taken them off without a mirror! Impressive! (Although I am still using a latex rubber glove as it is easier and I don't get sore fingers).
After lunch I decided to walk to other toilets (a bit further away) and brush/floss my teeth in the disabled/wheelchair access toilets (private with own sink & mirror!), so this might be my new place to brush my teeth at work privately! However, I was a bit paranoid that I might get in trouble using those toilets since I don't have a wheelchair!
I'm looking forward to changing my aligners on Thursday (3 more days) because the ones I have now are a bit scratchy looking so it will be nice to have some fresh ones on!

Day 5 in 1st aligners

Last night I was getting frustrated again because I had trouble getting them out to eat dinner. I think the problem was that I was stressing out because I had just finished cooking dinner and wanted to get them out before dinner got cold so rushing things just made things more difficult and stressful. Plus for some reason it felt sore again! :(
However today has been good and no problems getting them out and no soreness.
I went to a friends place for lunch today (who doesn't know anything about my braces or even that I HAVE them) and I was talking with her for about a good 1/2 an hour and we were just about to eat and I said "Oooh... I just have to go to the bathroom and take out my braces" and she was confused so I did a big cheesy smile and showed her them & pointed out my attachments and she was amazed! She didn't have a clue! She said she hadn't noticed them at all! That made me feel GREAT! So, this was the first time I have taken them out somewhere else (& brushed/flossed my teeth) other than home (apart from the dentist's) and no problems! Just time-consuming!
After lunch I was driving home and all of a sudden I could taste blood in my mouth, I looked in the rear vision mirror and my whole top aligner was filled with blood!!!!! Arrrrrggggghhhhh!!!!! It looked disgusting! and I couldn't do anything about it until I got home! Looked like I was a vampire and had just had a really good feed!!! LOL
Got home, took off my top aligner easily and gave it a good wash/rinse.... it seems as though the blood was coming from the hole from where my left tooth was extracted. Hasn't bleed since so not sure what that was all about!!???
My aligners feel a little looser today (probably explains why no longer sore when taking them out) and this morning when I took them out they STUNK!!!??? I gave them a good soak in hydrogen peroxide and a real good brush with toothpaste but it took longer and more effort to get them looking as new again..... I still have 9 more days before changing to my next set of aligners so I hope they won't end up too yucky!

3 days in and starting to feel good about it all!

Yesterday I was having a nightmare of a time trying to get the aligners out to eat!!!!
It hurt like hell and I was getting so frustrated that I burst into tears and felt like I can't do this for the next 14 months!!!????
However, today is a different day and a whole different story! The trick to getting out my aligners is with latex rubber gloves and gripping the inside of the aligners on my back molars and then slowley peeling off over the attachments using the tool the dentist gave me to help get over the attachments (remember I have 14 attachments so its quite a big deal to try get them out)! Also it wasn't sore at all today getting them off! FEW! So it is true that it does get better and that the first couple of days in each new set of aligners is the worst.
Its also quite a mission rushing to eat (and also eating as much as I can since its too much of an ordeal to snack) then floss, brush my teeth then get the aligners back in after each meal! I am used to only brushing my teeth twice a day and flossing once so this is adding more work! I am rinsing the aligners in the morning in a bowel with hydrogen peroxide & water to keep them nice and fresh, hope they keep nice until its time for my next set!
I had a look at my future aligners this morning (the dentist gave me my whole set of 30 aligners all at once) and I had a good look at my last one (#30) and wow! perfectly straight aligners both top & bottom! amazing!!!!! I had to peer through the plastic bags they were in as they are sealed until its time to open. Even aligner # 6 shows a huge improvement! (BTW, aligner # 6 I have to get 2 more attachments on my bottom teeth!!! Yippeee! not!).
I am also getting more used to the look of them now too and not so self conscious in them anymore! YAY (but still hoping the next 14 months fly by)!

The next day with my 1st aligner! (pic attached).

Well, I slept well last night with my 1st aligner, no problems at all which is great.

As per my previous post, the Dentist didn't want me taking them out until I saw him again this afternoon so I was STARVING by this morning. I had an Up-N-Go drink through a straw as I didn't want to make a mess of my aligners.

I had a big look in the mirror this morning and started feeling really really blaaaaaaggghhhh.....

the attachments look HUGE and really noticable. I am sure I will get used to them but I just didn't expect them to be so big & funny shaped? From far away you can't notice anything but anyone a reasonable distance from me can see its pretty obvious! I am sure people will soon be asking "Whats that on your teeth?"?

I went to the mall and tried to keep my mouth closed the whole time but I'm finding it hard to close my lips together cos of the trays so now when I try to close my mouth, it feels forced. I am sure as my teeth start to move back then I won't have this problem, but for now I feel like I don't want to smile for the next 14 months!!!! LOL

Visited the dentist at 1:40pm and straight away he pulled the aligners out..... OOOOOUUUCCCCHHHH!!!! Talk about sore!!!! Felt like my teeth were being ripped out!

Then he cleaned them and got me to put them in, no problems & no pain but then he got ME to try and get them OUT and wow! talk about mission impossible!!!!???

I used a hook to try lift up one of the sides from the upper aligner and it took like forever! I was so scared that I might damage the aligner or poke a hole through it! He said I have to just be forceful and DO IT!!!! So we had several attempts of putting them in and taking them out until I felt I knew what I was doing and then on one attempt taking out the bottom aligner it flung up in the air & hit him smack in the face, saliva and all!!!!! Lucky he has a sense of humour and thought it was hilarious! I then left them out so that I could go get some much needed lunch from the next-door bakery!

All my appointments over the coming 14 months are all now booked in the system, there are a couple of appointments where I have to get IPR (shaving between teeth) to help make more room for the teeth to move. Damn, I was hoping I wouldn't need that since I had 2 top teeth removed? Maybe its for my bottom teeth?

After the dentist, I was sooooo starving, I ate a sausage roll, vege samosa and a custard slice! Then I couldn't wait to get home to fully floss & brush my teeth and put the aligners back in again!

I have attached a close-up pic of me wearing them so you can see what it looks like (also with my attachments). As you can see the aligners are hardly noticable but its the attachments that stick out!

Finally braced!!!!

I had a feeling today would be the day!
The receptionist phoned me this morning at work to tell me that my invisalign trays have arrived and if I can go in today @ 4.20pm to get them fitted. YAY, FINALLY!!!!!!!!
I was really nervous leading up to it, almost as nervous as getting my teeth extracted!
Anyway, first thing the dentist did was give me a goodie bag (toothbrush, mouthwash, floss, toothpaste etc) along with 2 invisalign holders, aligner chewies, a special tool to help get the aligners out, invisalign info pamphlet & my dentists own 10 commandments of what to do/not to do etc!
Then I had to go through the whole time-consuming process of getting my attachments glued on to my teeth. I have 14 attachments in total, thats HEAPS! It was quite a job!!!
When that was done he gave me a mirror so that I could have a look..... aarrrggghhhh! I was quite shocked seeing my attachments because they look ENORMOUS!!!! I am sure I will get used to them. Lucky there are none on my 2 front teeth! They will stay on for my entire treatment.
Next was time for inserting my 1st aligners. Brett (Dentist) said that since it has been a while since I had my moulds done, the aligners are going to be extra tight because my teeth have slightly moved since. He wanted me to practise getting them out but it looked to be quite difficult so he suggested I leave them in and come back tomorrow afternoon to take them out so that by tomorrow my teeth will have adjusted etc.....
I'm gonna be very hungry by tomorrow thats for sure! He said I can eat very carefully in them if I'm starving (just this once) and that he will thoroughly wash them tomorrow but I don't want to do that so I might just drink a smoothie tomorrow morning. Hopefully there won't be that much of a mess to clean!
It has been about 2 hours since I left the dentist's office and so far no pain! Very tight feeling/pressure but nothing I can't handle. He said the 1st aligner would be the worst so hopefully this is it??? I'll let you know if I suddenley get any pain later on. I have taken 2 nurofen tablets just incase.
My husband says my aligners are hardly noticable. I think they look pretty good compared to a mouth full of metal. Its just the attachments that look quite obvious! I'm sure I will get used to them but it just means that these 'invisible braces' are not completely invisible. If I didn't have any attachments then no-one would be able to notice at all! Oh well, its all part of the process I guess.
I can't be bothered taking any pics tonight so hopefully I will tomorrow so you can see what my teeth look like with them in.