1st Check-Up

So today I had my first check-up. I sat in the chair, they looked at my teeth (aligners were on) and made sure they were sitting properly on my teeth. I told them how they felt loose after wearing each Aligner for a little over a week. They had me take out my aligners and the woman said, "I just need to polish a bit where it's crowded." I didn't know what that meant. All of a sudden, the woman has this floss-like thing in her hand and starts flossing my teeth. However, it wasn't floss. It felt like sandpaper. I immediately knew that they were filing my teeth. During my pre-invisalign days, I read a bit about IPR where they file in between teeth to create space for the teeth to move. Most reviews I read screamed out how painful it was....well here's my review, IT DIDN'T HURT AT ALL. Like at all. It honestly felt like she was flossing with an extremely hard piece of floss. She didn't file too much away, in fact, you can't even tell that she filed them. She had to of filed at least 5 different spaces and even chuckled, "are you even able to floss?" The answer is yes, by the way. 

No harm, no foul. 

Then, she gave me my next 7 aligners, had the doctor check me out and I was off with my chart to make my next appointment, which is not until mid-Januray. That will be when I'm about half way through my treatment. That will be my 5th appointment with this whole process and that includes my consultation appointments (there were 2), the one to get my aligners, and then today's. Not bad at all.

I can't wait to see my final results. I feel like the last 9 weeks have flown by!

Until next time 😄

Almost to My Fourth Aligner 😃

Only a few more days until I switch to my fourth aligner! I swear it feels like just yesterday that I started this process by meeting with an orthodontist for the initial consultation. I have now found that I feel weird without my aligners in, sort of like a naked feeling, but on my teeth. I've done fairly well wearing them for the recommended time. Occasionally, I go out and know that I will have a few drinks so I just don't wear them out. I brush my teeth and put them back in when I get home. This doesn't happen all the time so I figured it'd be okay. 

To be honest, I feel like the process could speed up a bit. After wearing an aligner for a week, they feel loose. One of them wouldn't even stay on my teeth. The back would sit a bit up and I couldn't maneuver it to get that tight grip feel. I have my next appointment in 2 weeks so I will totally bring it up then. I'm secretly wishing that my Ortho will say to switch aligners ever week instead of every 2 weeks. Whenever I have switched, I only feel a small bit of pressure. I'm proactive by taking ibuprofen before putting them in and then again for the next day. Other than that, I'm doing very well with them. I'm thankful for my decision to get them as next August (around the time I am expected to finish with my treatment), I'm going to be a bridesmaid in one of my best friend's weddings. It's going to be an all-day thing so I already know that I won't be wearing my aligners. I'll have so much going on that day that I won't want to add to it. Not a big deal in my mind. I'll be just 2 weeks shy of a full year of treatment. That's why I'm hoping I can speed up my treatment so that I won't even be wearing them by then. My Ortho says I will most likely have a retainer to wear at night once I'm done. That won't be a big problem. I'm spending this much on my teeth and don't want any setbacks. 

I'm happy that I have my friend's wedding to look forward to near the end of my treatment. I won't focus on angling my head correctly during the wedding so all pictures should be great! 

I'll post an update after my next Ortho appointment with hopefully the news I can speed up the process. Anyone out there with invisalign or who had invisalign that could switch every week?

Life Gets In The Way

So I sometimes, life gets in the way. Since I last blogged, I've hiked 12 beautiful miles through the Colombia Gorge in Oregon

 and I've also found a teaching job. My old teaching job to be exact. I got the call the day after I last blogged and it has been a whirlwind ever since. 

Not sure I mentioned this in previous posts but the third night of wearing my first aligner, I drooled uncontrollably in my sleep. I was afraid that was going to happen every time I wore a new aligner. Luckily, it did not happen this time, which is great considering I was staying at a friends! Nothing else to report on this topic. 

Flying back home was just like flying there, except is brushed my teeth in the airport as I was taking the redeye back to Boston. No need to eat on the plane. 

Teaching has been interesting with them. I take them out for lunch and then brush my teeth before going back to class. Not too bad. I don't think anyone has noticed, except for those lucky few who get to see me take them out right in front of them. I gave them a heads up prior to that so they weren't completely disgusted. I told a coworker and she said that she couldn't even tell. Luckily, I think I got used to talking with them in. I just think there will be a day or so after putting new ones in that I will struggle a bit with talking. I'll just plan for partner work or tests on those days so I don't have to lead a whole class 😜

The only part I'm a little unsure of is telling my students. Half of my students I had last year and some have had braces out on over the summer. They're so proud they have braces and I keep myself from going "hey me too!" Not that I'm afraid of their reactions, I really could care less what 10-12 year olds think about a 25-year old getting invisible braces. I just don't have time in my classes to explain!

Well, this has been a quick update as my life is crazy busy between getting thrown back into teaching and this 3-month old adorable puppy, Copper, trying to play all the time with my 6-year-old lab, Trouble. For now, I'll leave you with a picture of my cute fuzzies🐶❤️

Flying with Invisalign

Hi all! So last night was my first time flying while wearing invisalign. I'll most likely be flying a lot this next year as my two best friends have moved to different places. One is in Missouri and the other is in Oregon. I'm currently in Beaverton, Oregon hanging out with Tina and Luke's fuzzies while they're at work. The plan for the day is to just stay here, relax and read until they get back from work. Then I'll see Portland. I'm just to exhausted and jetlagged to go out an adventure. It also doesn't help that it's ridiculously hot outside. AC is where it's at!

Anyways, back to flying with invisalign. For starters, I wasn't too nervous on flying with invisalign. I've flown enough in my life to know what works for me on a plane and what doesn't. I have to chew gum on take off and landing because if I don't, my ears hurt real bad and stayed blocked for days. Not good. My flight last night left Boston at 7:35pm so I had dinner at home and did my normal invisalign routine. I bought water and a snack at the airport for the flight. When the plane started to taxi to the runway, I took out my aligners and started chewing gum. I did not care what the woman next to me thought about me taking them out. To be honest, I'm not sure she noticed. I made made sure that my gum was sugar free so that when I was in the air at a high enough altitude that my ears would hurt, I used a Colgate wisp to "brush" my teeth. I then out my aligners back in until the flight attendants came around about an hour later with drinks and food.

I took my aligners out so I could enjoy my Sprite Zero and snacks. I then went to the bathroom to brush my teeth and rinse out with mouthwash. Conveniently I also had to use the restroom at this time so I was good to go for the rest of the flight. 

When we started out descent into Portland, I repeated my takeoff routine. It honestly wasn't bad to fly with invisalign as I had the necessary equipment (i.e. Wisps, mouthwash, travel toothbrush and toothpaste) to make it work, my aligners were probably out a bit longer than normal (and for less time then suggested) but that was just one day. I don't do that often mad I usually get 21-22 hours of them in. It was just not practical to keep track of the time my aligners being out yesterday as I don't have a watch! Oops. That just shows my generation. I rely too much on my cell phone and iPad, both which were safely stowed in my bag by my feet for takeoff and landing. Not a big deal.

Overall, I'd give this a rating if a 9 out of 10 with that minus one as I had to do things on my flight that I did on my pre-invisalign flights. 

On a sort of off topic note, today marks 2 weeks of wearing my aligners! I'll change into my second aligners tonight before bedtime as I have read that it helps curve the pain while sleeping. I'm being proactive today by taking ibuprofen to subside the pain when and if it comes tonight. 

Until next time!

Week 1 complete!

So I've had my aligners for a week right now and my only complaint would be that sometimes my aligners rub the wrong way on my tongue and it is a tad bothersome. I have tried using a nail file to file it down a bit, but I'm afraid I'll break them. I'm only 7 days in so I don't want to start off badly!

I've been real good about wearing them the recommended 20-22 hours a day, averaging on 21.5 hours a day. I take them out for 30 minutes for breakfast, another 30 minutes for lunch, then for dinner I give myself am hour break. Then, sometimes for a snack or just to enjoy a nice non-water beverage (whether lemonade, soda, or of the alcoholic version) I take them out for a 30 minute break around 8pm. The only exception has been last Saturday. I had a small cookout to go to and a Red Sox game⚾️ to attend...please, not hate on the Sox, I know they're doing poorly this year...after winning the World Series last year 😉...Anyways, I had breakfast and then took them out at the cookout for my 30 minute lunch. No one noticed me taking them out or how funny I sound when I talk. It was great. Then I headed into Boston, took them out about 5:20 for a beer while waiting for a table. I didn't put them back in until about 7:20ish after enjoying an ice cream for the first inning of the game. I used one of those Colgate Wisps to sort of brush my teeth. Once I got home I was going to really brush my teeth. Not too bad!

Another funny aspect of these aligners is that like night 3 of these, I kept waking up because I was uncontrollably drooling a, it was SO disgusting! I've read that it can happen in the beginning of an aligner because your mouth is like "what the heck is inside me right now?" It could happen after every new aligner and if that's the case, I need a waterproof pillowcase for the next time!

I'll update next after switching to my second aligner next week!

Until then💚

6 Hours Down, A Year To Go !

So I finally got my invisalign!!!! My appointment was at 11:40am and as usual, they took me a tad early. They brought my aligners right out to me. I have 31 aligners for both top and bottom. They did tell me they give a couple of extra aligners at the end so I think I have about 26-27 of actual aligners. I was told the same information that I change them every 2 weeks...

The assistant put them in for me first and then had me take them out myself and practice putting them in. Pretty simple. Then she said she has to wait to the doctor because the attachments we're put into the first trainer...I was originally told that the attachments would be put on after 6 weeks. Not a big deal though to have them earlier. My orthodontist thought he was doing me a favor as 6 weeks would put me right during the first month of the school year...little does he know that I am currently unemployed. Woops! Anyways, so my 5minute appointment turned into just under an hour. But now I go back in 8 weeks so really, NBD.

Real close in you can see 2 small attachments on that troublesome front tooth. From a normal distance, you really can't see them at all. Without the aligners in, they are practically invisible from the front. From the side you can kind of see them. I have 7 attachments on top and 6 on the bottom, which you can kind of see in the above picture. Here are the 2 side views. 

Oh yeah, my aligners are on in these pictures. I think you can only tell because they are partially shiny. So far I am happy, but I know it's only the first day. So far, no pain or discomfort. I've been proactive on taking ibuprofen (as mentioned in a previous post). We'll see how this goes!

Why?

So you're probably wondering where all those crazy teeth before pictures are, if you don't know me. For those that do know me, you're probably wondering why I'm doing it as my teeth aren't bad. For me, I have a few small reasons to do this and I've come to the point in my life that I am financially stable to do so. So here goes nothing! 

In this picture, you can kind of see my front left (right when looking at this picture) is slightly crooked. At this angle it's not noticeable at all.

But...

At this angle, it looks like a different tooth is crooked. 

Here you should be able to identify my main problem.

I first became serious about straightening my teeth after looking at photos from the wedding of my best friend's brother. None of the pictures looked good because any angle made my teeth look weird. What also helped is knowing that my other best friend is getting married next August. I'm a bridesmaid so I know there will be tons of pictures. I want those pictures to be something I'm happy about and not spending all my time at the adventurous wedding worrying if I'm at the right angle for okay pictures. Since I'm starting today with my invisalign, I'll be just about done with them when the wedding will take place so the results should be what I'm looking for. Stay tuned for tonight's posting to see my thoughts after the first half day with my aligners😎

Almost Here!

So tomorrow is the day we've all been waiting for...well, I guess just me. My invisalign aligners have arrived and I have an 11:40 appointment tomorrow to get them! I'm nervous to start this journey to see exactly what it's like, but happy to finally be starting! I wore the trainer aligners for awhile to get used to them when I last updated the blog, but with a Florida vacation, I haven't been wearing them lately so we'll see how tomorrow goes. I'm already being proactive by taking ibuprofen to help with the pain I'm sure I'll experience tomorrow. Saturday will be my first real true test. I have a cookout to attend during the day and then heading into the city for the Red Sox game. I'm supposed to wear my aligners for 20-22 hours a day so that only leaves me 2-4 hours with them off. I'm hoping to wear my aligners for 22 hours each day, just to try to stay ahead of them. If possible, I'd like to finish my treatment sooner than later. I'm scheduled for 12 months but would love to wear them less. Only time will tell 😃 

In personal news, I currently am unemployed so at least the invisalign won't be a bother for teaching. It's a long story but hopefully I will be back in the classroom soon!

Oh, and I'm now 25😎

Introduction😃

Well, hello! For those of you who don't know me, my name is Debbie. I am 24 years old and spend most of my time teaching. When I'm not in the classroom, I am always thinking about what I want to do in my classroom. Six months ago I started on this journey of changing my lifestyle to make myself a happier person. So far, I have lost 31 pounds. I'm not where I want to be but I am incredibly happy with my lifestyle change. Too often people are too caught up on dieting. Dieting is not the way to go. In order to get results you want, you cannot diet because then you'll go back to the ways before dieting and it will go all downhill from there. Now that I'm happy with my lifestyle, I decided to make a change in another aspect of my life. My teeth. I know it seems cosmetic, but it's something I have been thinking about for years. I am currently typing this blog entry wearing my invisalign trainers to get myself prepared for the real ones in a month, just in time to get used to thembefore school starts back up in September. Join me on this crazy roller coaster ride of changing my lifestyle to create a happier me.