Can't Wait Until the Invisa-end of The-line! - Brandon, FL

I'm a 45 year old mother of 3, overcrowded crooked teeth for as long as I can remember. Couldn't afford braces as a child, consult at age 15, dentist said insurance wouldn't cover them because it was cosmetic so that was the end of that. Decided to start this journey now because of a few things. My 2 girls wear braces which made me start paying more attention to my own mouth. Also, I started having gum issues...turns out that crooked "cosmetic" tooth is experiencing some bone loss due to its positioning. I decided to do a review because reading these reviews have helped me so much so far. and I haven't seen or read much about Invisalign with patients who have some gum recession. I'm starting out with the dreaded "black triangles" due to gum surgery to reduce the pockets that I had. I think it will be interesting and helpful to share my journey for those that might have this issue as well. I'm hoping my end result will be worth it.

My Invisalign treatment consists of 31 trays, upper and lower. I was instructed to change them every 12 days. My treatment is a little different from what I have been reading here. I had IPR done before I had the imaging done for my trays. I also had 13 attachments put on at my initial fitting- 7 upper, 6 lower. I wanted to cry when I saw myself with the buttons on my already prominent front teeth... And with the trays... Ugh. I called them Inspitalines for the first two weeks or so because I was a mess! The first three days were the worst but it slowly got easier. I am very compliant, only taking them out to eat, then brush, floss, and use my waterpik water flosser. Oh and clean my aligners. I average 22+ hours a day. I cheated once due to a wedding, but it was my last day of aligner1 so I didn't feel so guilty! Tray 2 was very difficult to get in initially, I'm not sure if it's because my aligners were out about 5 hours before I put it in. These first photos are right before I started tray 1, and then immediately before tray 3. No difference as of yet that I can see.

I find the waterpik to be invaluable. Even after brushing with my electric toothbrush and flossing, there is still somehow debris left behind. Gross. I don't even want to imagine what would happen if I put my trays in without getting that crap out! I also use mouthwash in the water well. I am experiencing some staining on my teeth... Not sure if it's because of the trays... My oral surgeon said the dentist could remove it at my next cleaning in a few weeks. I'm only eating twice per day on average. It's just not worth the trouble of the whole rushing to eat then clean regiment... On the bright side I may be able to finally rid myself of that last 5 pesky pounds I want to lose! I'm starting to feel more comfortable with the trays in rather then not...