I've finally done it! I've approved my revised ClinCheck and treatment plan. This is actually happening! I suppose I might be getting a little ahead of myself, though. As with any good story, it would be best for me to backtrack and start from the beginning. As most others on here, I was not blessed with a perfect smile! Don't get me wrong - my teeth weren't horrible, but they definitely needed work and were bothersome enough to make me feel self-conscious about them, and my smile. I was one of those people that always smiled with my mouth closed. So much, in fact, that my close friends often yelled at me when we took pictures because they felt as though I wasn't "smiling". I've recently discovered that my dental arches are far too narrow (which, my orthodontist believes is caused by years of heavy snoring - who knew?!). As such, my teeth are severely crowded, causing them to be crooked and for the front of my teeth to be much closer together than they should be....almost like my teeth form the shape of a "V" as opposed the shape of a "U" (very scientific of me...I know!). I've scoured my Facebook account and was able to find a few *rare* pictures of me actually smiling with an open mouth. I've attached them to the post for your viewing pleasure. I recently started going to a new dentist (who is also an orthodontist) and during my first visit, she advised me that my teeth were so crowded that they were causing me to have more severe bone loss than I should have at my age. She asked me if I'd ever considered braces, but not for cosmetic purposes. I admitted that I had, but for cosmetic purposes, but never had a reason to justify it. After discussing it with her, in addition to the fact that my health plan covers braces to a certain extent, I agreed to go in for a consultation. One thing lead to another and I agreed to get Invisalign. I had my impressions taken on January 3rd. On January 13th, I received a voicemail from my dental office. I excitedly called them back, hoping to hear that my ClinCheck was in for my review. I was disappointed to hear that something had happened with my impressions and they needed to be taken again. I went in again that same night to redo them. My ortho advised me that for some reason my upper-right molar was incomplete from the original impression and that was why she needed to retake it. I asked how if, based on her experience, she had any sense as to how long she might think my treatment would be. That's when she informed me that she had in fact received my ClinCheck - that's how she'd noticed the missing molar!!! She showed it to me...I couldn't believe it...the excitement and "realness" of it all was beginning to set in. Even though we were talking about 48 trays! :S Then on January 21st, I received another voicemail to notify me that my ClinCheck was finally in. I reviewed it, however noticed that my midlines were off-centre. I shared that concern with my ortho on January 22nd, and on January 23rd, I was informed that she'd sent the corrections to Align Technology and later that day received my revised Clincheck & treatment plan. The midlines were better - I'm happy I spoke up! I analyzed it some more, and my OCD self was afraid to "approve it", however my ortho had informed me that approving it doesn't mean it's final. Given that I have Invisalign "Full", once I reach the end of my treatment, if I'm not pleased with the end results, we can order more trays/refinements. Given this, I bit the bullet and approved them! Let the waiting game for my first set of trays begin. The file type for my ClinCheck videos (.wmv) isn't supported by this site so I'm unable to post them for the time being. If I find a method to convert them, I'll upload them later. In the meantime, they can be found on YouTube if you search the following: - Invisalign - ClinCheck Simulation - Front (FINAL Treatment Plan) - Invisalign - ClinCheck Simulation - Sides (FINAL Treatment Plan) - Invisalign - ClinCheck Simulation - Under (FINAL Treatment Plan) My treatment plan consists of: - 37 or trays (~ 1yr 5 mths.) - Start of treatment: February 7th, 2015 - End of treatment (not including refinements): July 9th, 2016 - 14 buttons - 2 different IPR sessions (the second one added because I asked to centre my midlines) I've been reading through many reviews. Thanks everyone for posting your experiences. While I'm sure no amount of preparation will be enough, at least I'm going into this expecting the first 5-10 days to be a bit of a nightmare - and that that's perfectly normal, and more importantly, only temporary. I'll be sure to update this post as I start my treatment. Hopefully my experience, along with all of yours, can help others who are currently in my shoes and about to embark on this journey! Updated on 27 Jan 2015: A friend of mine in the dental field asked to see close-ups of my teeth the other day. I figured since I took these pics for him, I may as well share them with the community. They give a much better impression of my over-crowded-crookedness in all its glory! :) Updated on 7 Feb 2015: Happy Saturday Invsialigners! Well, today's the day. As I write this, I'm having one of the last coffees I'll be able to enjoy without being on a race against the clock. I'll most likely had another immediately following this one, but let me tell you, I can already tell that this one tastes glorious. I'll be visiting my ortho later this afternoon to get my Invisalign (and 14 buttons) put in. As luck would have it, I also had an appointment for my regularly scheduled cleaning today. As the timing would have it, I'm going in for my cleaning at 2:00 ET, and will then immediately switch chairs at 2:45 to have my ortho get me all Invisaligned-up. I'm quite happy that the two appointments ended up on the same day. I knew I had a cleaning coming up and was afraid that it would end up being a week or two after I started my Invisalign treatment and had some concerns about how uncomfrtable it would be so early in the treatment. This way, I get that out of the way before even starting so that's a big thumbs up! I'm starting to prepare my list of things to buy/get for my kit. I know I really should've been getting all of this stuff over the past few weeks, but what I can I say, I'm a bit of a procrastinator and figured I'd do it on my way back from the Ortho's. So far my list includes: - More toothpaste than one would ever need; - A few extra toothbrushes - A compact travel/foldable toothbrush (if possible) - A baby/child's toothbrush - Lib Balm (I already use the Vaseline tubs and still have 1.5 ones left) - White Vinegar (for daily soaking in the morning to keep them white) - Advil - OrthoWax - Cheap Emery boards of varying grit (if possible) Am I missing anything?! A few questions I still have and would like to put out there in the community: - Has anyone tried Advil Nighttime? It's described as "When you can’t sleep because pain is keeping you up at night, it feels like time is your enemy. Say goodnight to your aches and pains with Advil Nighttime, the only product that contains the pain-relieving power of Advil and helps you sleep." I'm wondering if it would be useful for when switching trays. - I'll ask my ortho regarding tray cleaning routines, however I'd be interested in opinions regarding the use of denture cleaners. Yay? Nay? I think that's it for now. I'll be sure to post another update later in the day post-procedure to provide everyone an update. Happy Saturday everyone! Updated on 7 Feb 2015: THEY'RE IN!!! I was at the dental office for ~2.5 hrs, but as I'd mentioned, I also had a scheduled cleaning prior to getting my Invisalign put in. When it came time to attach the buttons, there were a total of 4 people in the office with me: my dentist/ortho, 2 assistants, and someone else who was observing the procedure. My dentist/ortho cracked jokes like: "You're in great hands. *Counts* 8 of them! And 4 gorgeous women!". Also, after attaching the buttons, she noticed that a few of my teeth had accidentally been bonded together (I'm glad she checked!!!). She proceeded to tell the assistant to pull out the saw, and in a joking fashion, ran her hand across my neck and said: "Right here...". Her dark humour didn't put me off at all, and in fact, was rather appreciated. She made me feel very comfortable throughout the process. i'm back home now and have had my retainers in for just over an hour. So far, my observations are as follows: - Not as invasive as I expected. I know many people complained about very aware that they had foreign materials in their mouth. To be honest, my trays, while tight, are quite comfortable and having them in isn't bothersome. - While I have pressure, I can't say that I have pain. I will say, though, that I think I feel the makings of a headache on its way. I felt quite a significant amount of pressure on my lower teeth when I put the lower tray on, so I fully suspect that the pain might build and catch up to me later. Will report more on that tomorrow. So far, so good. *Fingers crossed* - I'm super self-conscious about my buttons. I have 8 on one side, and 6 on the other. I took my trays out (for practice, again) when I got home. I'm super afraid that I'm going to pop one off without noticing. The dentist/ortho told me to call them if ever any detach. I have so many of them...how will I know?!?!?! My mild-undiagnosed-OCD is going to be counting the buttons on a daily basis. I can already see this happening. I don't want to be that person that calls the dentist's office in a panic to find out it was a false alarm. Anyone else have this problem...or is it just my OCD? LOL - No real challenges at removing my trays. A few of them got a little "stuck" over the buttons (and of course I'm super scared, as mentioned above, to break/detach them). So I tend to be a little extra cautious when taking them off. - They're not quite as "invisible" as I'd expected. My upper aligners don't quite fit my two front teeth perfectly and actually protrude a bit below my tooth line. They didn't have any chewies as they'd run out and were waiting for a new batch (I'll ask again during my next visit), but I've been constantly applying pressure against my upper tray to push them up against my teeth as best as I can. Hopefully it's just this one tray. - I noticed that while I have 37 upper trays, I only have 33 lower. This means I'm going to have to wear my last lower retainer for 8 weeks. I am NOT looking forward to that. It's gonna be soooooooo gunky by week 8. :S Thankfully I'll have 1.5 years to practice and perfect keeping them in pristine condition before then! :D - My treatment package said "Estimated treatment duration 18 to 24 months". So while my aligners end in 17 months, it looks like I have the potential of an extra 1 - 7 months of refinement trays afterwards. I didn't get any extra aligners this time. I don't get IPR until tray 23 (or maybe it was 28 or 29), so until then, the Dr. doesn't really need to see me again. She scheduled me again in two weeks to make sure everything is progressing well, and she mentioned that at that time she might be able to give me up to 3 months or so worth of trays. That's all for now everyone! I can't believe this day is finally here and it's finally said and done. I'M ONE OF YOU! :D (Of course, I mean that in a very positive way). That's it for now! Will update everyone again tomorrow, or sooner, if anything drastic occurs/changes. Happy Saturday evening everyone! Updated on 9 Feb 2015: I'd forgotten to include a pic with my first set of trays. This was right after I came back from the dental office...in for ~1 hr at this point. I'm noticing that my upper trays protrude further down than my two front teeth causing a little gap between the teeth and trays. I find that because of this, I tend to notice that gap more than if they were hugging my teeth. Oh well, perhaps that'll change as I progress through the two weeks. Updated on 24 Feb 2015: Hey Invisalign buddies!! Well, it's been just over two weeks (17 days, to be exact!). I know I've disappeared for a bit, but I thought it best to ride this out a bit and post an honest update. I'm now 3 days in my Tray 2, and honestly...things are going absolutely great! Let me try to recap as best as I can. Tray 1: I honestly expected the absolute worst. Excruciating agony. Discomfort. The general sentiment of "I hate life" etc...If I can be completely honest, it couldn't have been further from that. The next day, yes, I had tenderness...but as I posted in one of my comments, I was still able to eat just fine (just much more carefully). It was completely tolerable. I've gotten accustomed to flossing/brushing my teeth four times a day...though usually in the comfort of my own home (I've been fortunate to be able to work from home a lot the past few weeks). I have eaten at work twice, and like a champ, have marched on into the washroom and brushed/flossed, without a care in the world. I went for my follow-up apt on Thursday. I pointed out to my oath that I thought I was missing an attachment. I think she might have accidentally sawed it off when she'd originally bonded two of my teeth together - Oops! She confirmed that one was missing and re-attached it. She gave me 6 more sets and told me she's see me again in ~3 months (12 weeks). Tray 2: I swapped out my trays Saturday before bed...popped an Advil and went to bed. I woke up Sunday morning expecting pain...and to my disbelief: nothing! THAT SAID, I did start noticing the tenderness later Sunday night. But again, nothing unbearable. The new tray was surprisingly painful to take off....I think partly because of the tightness of the new tray, combined by my 14 buttons which latch onto those trays for dear life, compounded by a new attachment I'd been living without for 2 weeks. It's now been about 72 hrs and taking the trays off is already getting easier and less painful. I know this update isn't super detailed, but to be honest, I don't think the intricate details of my day to day routine would differ much from what we've read on these posts a thousand times before. But the point I did want to be sure to convey (to any new Invisaligners out there) is that it isn't all that bad...at least not for everyone! So while you should be prepared for the worst, know that it isn't always guaranteed for everyone. Don't get scared! :) Random facts so far: - There's no keeping my bathroom mirror clean with the constant barrage of flossing and tray cleaning...spots EVERYWHERE! (Am I just sloppy?!?!) - I've quit smoking since Invisalign. There's no way my mild-undiagnosed-OCD would allow myself to smoke with trays in! - Dry lips, yes...though not much worse than I suffer on a day-to-day basis. - The trays surprisingly shield my teeth/gums from the frigid -30C weather outside. It's kinda nice! :) - I still have random dreams about my trays....had one just last night, actually. - Couldn't figure out how to use Orthowax to save my life....it just gooped up my trays, but Emery boards, let me tell you: MAN'S BEST FRIEND!!! There is NOTHING WORSE than using alcohol-based mouthwash with fresh irritation spots/areas from the trays on the inside of your lips. OUCH! - I have NOT managed to lose weight. #InvisalignDietFail - I have the freshest/mintiest breath EVER! Though I'm sure brushing/flossing 4X a day and quitting smoking DEFINITELY had something to do with it! ;) - I'm pretty good with my 22 hrs a day. Sometimes I go slightly less than that, but nothing major. - I've cheated a few times and drank either white wine or vodka with my trays in (they're clear, right? PLUS, I removed the trays and swished water - or brushed - when I could!). - No visible changes, in my opinion (I know - it's only week 3!), HOWEVER, I will say that I've noticed a few areas that are MUCH easier to floss now. Where the dental floss used to get caught between my teeth contacts, in a few areas, the floss slides right in and right out without even trying....so that's a positive and noticeable change! - Already I think I'm beginning to adjust to the "schedule" or routine....it's definitely a process, though I think that's the part that I like (again, refer to mild-undiagnosed-OCD above). LOL ;) - Though I'm sure it's your head (and also due to the fact that I've just had a cleaning a few weeks ago), I feel as though my teeth are cleaner...possibly whiter? Again though, probably WAY too early for that and mostly in my head. But I'll take it! :) I think that's it for now. Sorry if this is a bit of a random rant....I'm sure I'll have more focused posts once I have less "new things" to post about! In the meantime, I thought I'd share a few pics taken just now. Enjoy, and talk to you all again soon! Updated on 24 Feb 2015: For some reason the pics didn't load with my post :S Here they are again.
