Yesterday morning I began my year and a half long adventure with Invisalign. I am so excited. I have wanted braces since I was in middle school. Both of my sibling received them (although their teeth were far worse off than mine) and I have always been a little angry about that. So after some saving and a blessing from my husband, I got Invisalign.
I will wear each tray for 3 weeks and then put in a new one. Each new tray will use pressure to slowly push my teeth into place. Kind of like when you get your traditional braces tightened. I have 10 trays on top and 27 on bottom. I did not realize how much worse my bottom teeth were than my top, but I also have a couple teeth that are turned and they said it takes more time with those. By my calculations I should be finished with the top trays on August 11, 2010 and finished with the bottom trays on August 3, 2011. My son will be 2 years old. Having a 2 year old seems so far away....but only wearing these clear retainers that long doesn't.
They hurt way more than I expected. When I first put them in they were tight but not painful. By they end of the night I didn't want to remove them to eat and by 2am I was wide awake with pain in my teeth and gums and I swear I could feel my pulse through my teeth. I popped some Tylenol and though it didn't help completely I was able to fall back asleep. These does help with the whole eating less plan. I really want to avoid taking them out to eat except for my three meals a day. They are so sore, at least right now. I also have to brush my teeth and the trays before putting them back in. It is a lot of work to eat right now! This isn't a bad thing though. I makes me decided if my hunger is true or just our of boredom. I think this might stay with me even after I am done with treatment.
(When Colin doesn't sleep well because he is cutting teeth I might understand his pain a little better and not be so frustrated!)
I did a lot of research before deciding on these...I have been reading about them for years...probably since high school. When I Googled Invisalign hoping to get pages about personal stories and picture of finished smiles I didn't come up with much. So I am going to periodically write about my progress and hopefully post pictures of the trays so that if someone is doing the same research I am they might come across my blog and get some useful info.
On my way to straighter teeth in 2010!
oh yeah, i had braces twice growing up, each for about 2 years. i feel your pain. it's awful. i felt like if i was to bite something, my teeth would fall out- they just felt loose.
ReplyDeleteugggh. sorry for you.
and the sleeping in it part, oh gross, you wake up with funky feeling and the retainer is all slimy. i gag just thinking about it!
YEP.. it sucks.. at least you dont have to go get those big metal brackets tightened. Shew. Motrin seemes to help better than Tylenol with tooth pain! Good luck!!!!
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