Tray Three & Attachments

I have been wearing tray set #3 for a little over a week. I also got my attachments put on yesterday. Getting accustomed to the trays with the bumps for the attachments took a few days. I didnt notice them on the bottom tray, however I did on the top.

It is true what everyone tells you about putting in/taking out aligners after attachments are placed - it's hard! My ortho gave me a very small crochet hook to assist in taking out the aligners. This has proven invaluable for the top aligner. I absolutely can't get the top one off without using it in a few spots. The bottom aligner is somewhat forgiving. I am able to remove it with just my finger nails, and really no more trouble than before I had the attachments.

Eating with the attachments on is taking some adjustment. Because of my overbit, my upper teeth hit the bottom attachments if I'm not mindful of how much pressure I use when chewing. This has gotten better today, but I still have to mentally tell myself to chew slower and more gentle.

The ortho gave me four more sets of trays at yesterday's appointment. He commented that I was right on track with my treatment, and could tell I am religious about wearing my aligners. I will admit I hate being on a "time table" when eating, but I do try and keep the out of mouth time to 2 hours or less per day.  Oh, I also had IPR (space added between teeth) done yesterday which was totally painless I am happy to say! I thought at minimum it would give me a "nails on a chalkboard" feeling, but it was no big deal!

I wanted to add that I have also broken the rules and had pop while wearing the aligners - red pop. No staining of my aligners at all. I did rinse my mouth with water in between each few drinks. When I had fulfilled my pop craving, I took out the aligners and again rinsed both my teeth and the trays very well with water until I could brush. I'll find out if this method was smart or not when I go to my next cleaning in December. I'll update in a future post as to if I ended up with cavities.

Until set #4. . .

Tray Two

Here is the latest invisalign news for my followers, and anyone else who may be reading my blog :)

Yesterday I switched over to tray #2. I know people are recommending that you switch over before bed, however I was anxious for my teeth to do "something different", so I switched right after dinner. This gave me about 11 hours in the new aligners before I had to take them off this morning. It really was not anymore uncomfortable than set #1. I mentioned in my tray one update I was having problems with the upper tray fitting comfortably on the back left molar. This seems to be resolved with the second aligner!! I was very happy about this to say the least!

Not much else to write about so far. The only complaint I might note is that with these aligners I seems to have more of a lisp. Probably because the tongue has to get accustomed to the slight changes again. Hopefully this resolves itself again in a few days.

Day Five

I thought I better update this as it has now been five days since I started the my invisalign treatment.

So far the treatment is going well, and I am getting accustomed to the aligners being in my mouth. I typically wear them for 22 hours a day. This is an hour less my orthodontist's recommendation of 23. Eating three times a day with brushing and flossing is nearly impossible for me to do while complying with the 23 hour guideline. Having researched the amount of time others wear their aligners, I am confident I will be ok at 22 hours per day.

In my day one update, I noted tightness while wearing, and some pain when removing the lower tray. There is still some tightness when I first reinsert them after eating, however it goes away in a couple of minutes. Also, I have learned how to remove the lower tray so that is does not cause pain. The bottom tray is harder for me to get out since I have crowding, but the upper tray pops out really easy.  While eating I have some very mild discomfort for a few minutes, but it too quickly subsides.

I still have a little trouble with the upper tray not fitting quite right on one of the back molars. I can feel that side of the tray flex a little if I bite down on my back teeth. I am going to call my ortho on Monday and see if I should be concerned. It doesn't so much bother my mouth, but I am concerned it might not be moving that tooth like it needs to. I'll update on this once I find out.

There isn't much else to write about. I will say that I noticed the tip of my tongue starting to get pretty sore two days ago. It feels similar to when your tongue gets burnt eating hot food. My trays  are perfectly smooth, but I can feel the slight edge where the upper tray meets my gum. I am sure the soreness is from my tongue rubbing this edge over and over when speaking. I think it will just take time to adjust, and will go away without problem.  

Overall I forget that I have them. The toughest part so far has been the adjustment to not snacking or drinking soda with the aligners. Right now I am dying for a can of Coke, but looking at the stopwatch, I only have 40 minutes left of aligner-free time today. I will have to wait to enjoy the can of Coke with my dinner!

Day One Invisalign

Today I received the first trays for my upper and lower teeth. The initial fitting wasn't what I expected. I think it was better than what I had imagined. I will have 25 upper and 27 lower total trays. The treatment time is right on with what my orthodontist had predicted during my consultation, 16 months.

As of writing this, I have had the trays on for just over seven hours. There is certainly tightness, but no pain. Oddly, the tightness is somewhat comforting, but still distracting for the time being. I have removed them twice. Once right after I got done at the orthodontist, and once before eating dinner. Both times no pain involved with the top tray removal. This was not the case with the lower tray however. There was some mild to moderate pain with the lower front teeth during and immediately after removal. I though eating would be difficult, however I had very little soreness after a few minutes of the trays being out. Reinserting the lower trays was also a little painful, but it passed after about a minute. 

I am apprehensive about what the removal will feel like in the morning after having wore the aligners all night. Hopefully it will continue to be just brief discomfort and not agonizing pain.

The only real problem to report so far is the upper tray is not fitting as well on one of my back molars. There seems to be a gap between the tray and my gum. This is causing my tongue to rub the edge of the tray while talking and swallowing. My orthodontist stated it appears to be fitting normally, and may take a day or so to properly seat. I am hoping this happens sooner than later.

I dont think I have much else to report on the experience. If anyone has any questions, please ask!!

Invisalign Seat Date Moved Up!

Today I got some exciting news! I looked at my cell phone after getting home from work this afternoon, and found I had a voice message from my orthodontist office. My invisalign trays have arrived ahead of schedule! Upon hearing the good news left by the treatment coordinator, I immediately called them back to find out what seat dates were available (hoping they would have something as early as this week). Turns out they had an opening for 12:00 tomorrow (8/3), needless to say I grabbed it!


I knew there would be a slight chance the aligners may come in early. However I didn't think it would be SO early! No complaints, just surprised! I am actually getting butterflies in my stomach now. I thought I'd have plenty of time to prepare myself over the next few weeks. Not to mention get a few supplies ordered over the internet such as disposable toothbrushes, aligner cleaner, etc. I am going to venture to a few of the drug stores to try and find disposable toothbrushes. I really don't want to drag my sonic toothbrush to work. I hope I can find something that will work until I can order some off the Dentakit website.


My first seat date was at 5:00 in the evening. I purposefully scheduled it late so I would have the evening after work to obsess with my mouth, get somewhat accustomed to the aligners, and figure out how I was going to speak with them in. Now, since my appointment is in the afternoon, I am trying to decide if I should return to work afterwards, or just take the rest of the day off. I am leaning toward just going back to work. At least I will have something to keep my mind off the new foreign objects in my mouth (or in theory keep my mind off of them).


I don't expect to get much sleep tonight. The excitement and anticipation is going to keep me awake, I just know it.


I will update this again after I have been fitted with the aligners. My mouth is on it's way to a better smile, sooner than expected! :)

Invisalign Impressions

This morning I went to the orthodontist to have impressions made of my teeth and bite for the Invisalign trays. I had researched this part of the process before hand so I would know what to expect. I can honestly say it was not bad at all! Some of the posts I read by other people stated they had problems gagging while the procedure was being done. I didn't experience this. The putty was thick and did not run down my throat. There was one mold taken for both the upper and lower teeth (one at a time, not both together). The only part that felt odd about the impressions was then they were removed. There is some suction that you feel when the mold is first removed, but its not painful, just a little pressure. The time needed for each impression was two minutes. The third impression was a bite impression. This did not use a plate to hold the compound, rather it was squirted directly on my lower teeth, after which I had to bite down on my back teeth for 30 seconds. Again, when you try to open your mouth, there is some slight suction while the teeth come apart. The whole process took about 30 minutes. My suggestion to anyone apprehensive about this step would be to not get worked up about it. IT IS NOT BAD! Relax and breath through your nose. Again, if anyone has any specific questions about what happened during my procedure just ask!

My next post will not be until after I get the Invisalign trays from my orthodontist (currently set for August 26)!

Orthodontic Consultation

On July 13 I had my orthodontic consultation for the Invisalign treatment. It began with a panographic x-ray of my mouth and jaw, followed by close up pictures of my face and teeth. The pictures and x-ray were uploaded into a computer and prepared for the orthodontist to review. I was told by the orthodontist my approximate treatment time is 16 months, at a cost of $5,995.00. This was actually less than I had anticipated, but still expensive for sure. (I hesitated to post the cost, however when I did my research, I always wanted to know roughly what to expect. Keep in mind everyone's case will be different. This is just to give a ball park idea. I want to be upfront and candid with this blog, so the cost is an important part to know).

The price includes all orthodontic treatment and appointments, refinement aligners should I need them and final retainers.

That was about it for the consultation. It took a little less than an hour. I asked several questions about the aligners and the overall treatment process, otherwise it would have been a little shorter.

If anyone has specific questions about the consultation procedure just ask. It was really straight forward, so I dont have too many details but will answer anything I can.