Aligner #1. (Week 1 and 2 of 66)

My aligners came in about a week and a half after I had my pictures and molds taken of my mouth.

Week 1: 

I think this was more of a trial week.  I went into the office and was shown exactly how to insert and remove my aligner. It was so awkward talking with it while it was in my mouth. I also realized that I had a lot more saliva in my mouth. I know...gross, but it is true.  I actually had stomach aches throughout this week. 

Eating and Drinking became more difficult.  EVERY TIME I wanted to eat or drink, I had to take my aligners out. Talk about being a pain in the butt. I have always been a snacker and I suddenly turned into someone who ate three meals a day with no snacks. I called this the " Invisalign Diet. " Once you eat you have to brush your teeth and the aligners before putting them back in your mouth. I had to being a toothbrush and toothpaste to work to brush my teeth and aligner after I drank my coffee and also after lunch. 

Week 2:

I went into Dr.Edwards office to get the "buttons" put onto my teeth.  I have 12 buttons total, Six on the top and six on the bottom. These buttons go on the teeth that are going to be shifting the most. Once these were on, my aligner fit a lot more tightly and it was harder to get it on and off. These buttons were also rough and would cut the inside if my lips up :(.  My teeth really did not bother me, although I still had difficulty talking.  Two of the buttons were put on my "fang" teeth. This actually looks like I have fangs on my fang teeth.  

Aligner #3 (week 5 and 6 of 66)

Week 5: 

This was a new aligner week! This is #3 of 33 aligners, which means that I am 1/11th way done! :) I have one thing to say... MY TEETH HURT! I think everyday this week I had to either take Advil or ibuprofen.  There was even one night that I just went to bed early and almost put an ice pack around my jaws because the back of my upper jaw was hurting to bad.  A few times this week I was thinking that maybe I should have got the clear braces with the metal wire. One day for lunch, all I ate was a smoothie, because when I would take my aligners out to eat, my teeth felt so sore biting down on something. Oh well....here is hoping that next week is a little easier. 

Week 6:

This week was a lot better than last week. My teeth aren't hurting and I did not have to take any Advil. Whoo hoo! 😀 I did wake up one morning and both of my aligners were laying on the bed.  Why I took them out? I have no idea, but this was the first time that this has happened.  One thing that I did notice was that with this aligner, my teeth towards the back of my mouth hurt the most. 

Below are what my teeth look like after 6 weeks:

Pictures of my teeth before Invisalign

Below are the before pictures of my teeth before starting Invisalign.  These are the pictures that my dentist, Dr.Edwards, took in order to get a video of how my teeth are going to move. 

Aligner #2 (week 3 and 4 of 66)

Week 3:

I decided to switch from aligner #1 to aligner #2 at night instead of in the morning. I figured that since I knew my teeth were going hurt, I might as well be sleeping during the first 10 hours of having a  new tray in.  I also took some Advil before I went to bed, knowing that my mouth is going to hurt for a day or two with the new tray. When I put my new aligner in, I noticed that there were small gaps between my aligner and my teeth. I am sure that this is because throughout the next two weeks my teeth are going to be shifting into these gaps. 

Week 4:

My teeth aren't hurting as much and the gaps that I noticed the week before are not really there anymore. I think this is the real first aligner to the process. I am thinking that the first aligner that you have does not really shift any teeth but it just gets you used to wearing it all the time and also to get used to talking with it in. 

Below is a picture of my teeth after wearing aligner #2. (4 of 66 weeks into the process) you can see the "buttons" on my fang teeth. I have a total of 12 "buttons". There are six on the top and 6 on the bottom. There are three on each side of my mouth.

It is weird to see my teeth like is, because I feel like they are a lot more crooked now than when I started. I am trusting this process, but I am very anxious to be done with it. 

The day I found out I needed braces/Invisalign

I went for a routine cleaning at my dentist at Edwards Family Dental in Dublin, Ohio. I have to admit that I  was devastated when I found out that I was going to need braces. The thought of wearing braces at 31 years old was not something that I was looking forward to.  The way that my bite is, my teeth are just grinding on each other instead of sitting nestled within each other on the top and bottom rows. Dr.Edwards explained to me three options that I could choose from: 

1. Metal braces

2. Clear braces (clear brackets with a thin metal wire)

3. Invisalign 

After looking at MANY websites and emailing Dr.Edwards office back and forth, I decided to go with Invisalign.  I thought that with my job (Property Manager at an Apartment Community), that this would be the best option for me. Invisalign costs quite a bit more than doing traditional braces, but I do feel that it is more professional to have Invisalign as an adult that braces. I went ahead and scheduled my next with with Dr. Edwards to get pictures of my teeth in order to send into Invisalign to get a video on how my teeth would change throughout the process.