33 Might Be Making a Jewel Move - Indianapolis, IN

Wow, I reigned on my promise of keeping constant updates. Sorry. However, after passive prodding from the newsletter delivered to my inbox, I give you my progress. I took a turn, and unfortunately not a good one. My uppers haven't jumped over the lowers, and Serkis is not happy. I've noticed but not made it a concern when my top teeth haven't been fitting into the successive trays, because I know the CliniCheck is just an estimate of results. The lowers have been improved, especially after the spaces were put in, and to an extent the top has moved. I requested refinement, but Serkis is still not optimistic it'll help with the greater issue; which is my bite. So, all in all, I am now left with the decision of pulling two of my lower teeth and having braces put in so that I can close the gaps, or altogether jaw surgery. I wish that I had the cash to get the surgery so that it would be 100%, but I'm deluding myself into the belief that the option is the end all be all. After research (and Serkis' ability to lay it on the table in an unbiased manner) pulling my teeth seems like the direction I'm favoring. I just need a few more questions satisfied in order to lock in my decision.

For those of you that are interested in my little neck of the woods, I decided not to tease this for weeks on end. I'll keep the progress more consistent and less weighty... unless needed. Currently on tray 15 and since the spaces have been made, these last two have trays have been interesting, to say the least. Although I have totally owned the discomfort level that I experience within the initial insertion of trays past, these two have taken it up a level. Just one notch though. And, again, the overall sensation still subsidies after a day or two. That probably means that overall the movements are being taken up a notch. Another of my top four have started to touch a bottom. Licking my tongue across the back of them, and I'm forced to realize that they are being trained to line up all the way across. (I realize that I'm saying this as if this wasn't the point, but still...) I pulled out my first tray to compare and was amazed at how far they'd come. Now I am looking... I can see changes in some of the recent pictures that I've taken. This is getting exciting! However, I still have a long way to go.

So... unassumingly I went in to my latest ortho appointment, expecting to— more or less— get a reload of trays, when I was met a realization. The moment had arrived for Serkis to shave some teeth. (Well, it actually wasn't supposed to happen until after the next time I swapped trays, but, since I suppose it was so close, I was given the option to take care of it within the one visit or come back in two weeks.) I knew it was supposed to happen somewhere down the line; who’d thought down the line is where I currently was. As most of the current and past Invisalign wearers know, that in some cases this is an expected part of the process; to create spaces in between teeth by shaving mere millimeters so that tooth movement into their resulting position can effectively happen. So, I wasn't at all nervous when I was made aware that this would be happening from the beginning, nor when it happened upon me. Not even a bit skittish when the rotary-like tool was used in my mouth, and even 1-10 on the discomfort scale was at best a 1. It's just that when I got home and saw it for the first time, it was in that moment when I thought to myself that this was the point of no return. See, I'd grown comfortable in the monotonous routine of swapping trays in and out of my mouth, with not much in the way of visible results (although Serkis still praises and can very much see [with his professional eyes, of course] my progress). And, to put it in complete perspective, the spaces are not big whatsoever; so to anyone in the beginning stages or are still even thinking about it, please don't be hesitant on account of my post. I just got hit with a good ol dose of the magnitude of this change. Shook some stuff up, if you will...

At current, I am on tray 14 of 33, and almost mid-way through its wear time. According to my ClinCheck, there is definitely supposed to be movement; again, none of which I can actually see. However this hasn't discouraged me one bit for reasons I’ve already went into great lengths in my last post. So long as Serkis is happy, that means he can not only see something’s going on (and I will too, eventually), but also it is exceeding his expectations. For the first time, though, I can feel one of the four front teeth that are in need of the most movement touch the bottom corresponding tooth without me pushing my jaw forward to do so. I can also definitely feel more of a difference when I eat. My bite is adapting though. This particular tray has also been one that has given me the most "tightness" when initially inserting it, although the sensation still all but goes away about the halfway mark, where I am right now. I'm thinking because of the spaces created gives the tray more opportunity to work them back together. I don't know... In any case, aside from the initial month or so, this seems to be the highlight of my eight -and-some-change months since putting theses trays in my mouth and starting this ol journey.

All of that has been really encouraging to me, especially seeing as I have 19 more trays to go. That may also mean that my class 3 might just be dental and not skeletal, lending to the very real possibility of no surgery afterwards. I was definitely supposed to ask Serkis on the last visit, but our conversations are almost always so casual and encouraging, and the experience is more procedural than a neurotic me going in with another host of issues and concerns, that I forget it's an orthodontic appointment and not a visit with a mentor. I'll compose an email and follow up.

As another way to spice things up I suppose, I decided to whiten up just a touch. I know it's not a practice that is necessarily encouraged particularly because if you have anchors like I do, their natural color will start to contrast against those pearly whites of yours; and that's not even mentioning what you have on your hands when they are finally buffed away. However, even with those considerations in mind, I still made the choice for a few reasons of my own. 1. I wasn't going extreme with it, so the contrast wouldn't be that apparent. 2. Just as I'd expected, not only did I not have to worry about contrasting, but also the change shows significantly through my trays. (*Side note* My buttons are more of an ivory color, which— as it turns out— made it almost complimentary with both the original color to the desired shade that I finally landed on. Again, this was all with the intent of keeping to a "moderate" whitening.) It was like I had a dial on the side of my mouth and by turning up the brightness setting just a few clicks, it made a world of difference. And finally… 3. I did my homework. Since my initial intent was only to “change the wattage in the lamp” going out to see someone that does Zoom wasn’t even in the equation. Suffice it to say that leaves me with just the other option. We all know that there is a plethora of whitening products out in the market, some more effective than others. After reading a few message boards (this one included) and trolling a few products of my own, I knew how I wanted to approach this. Two words kept coming to mind: dental grade. Even the best and most expensive Crest Whitestrip can't do that, which can only be obtained through a dentist. (And, those of you in-the-know )

A bit more research then led me to a little product called Opalescence. Comes in syringe-like tubes of different flavors and strengths varying from 10 to 35%. The strengths, of course, dictating how fast the results will be. I won't go into too much detail about the particulars of the product, but I will say that I am wholly satisfied with the results. In just three tubes, I look as if I've restored the whiteness from what took 33 years to produce the contrary. Now even my fresh trays look appropriately clear.