invisalign relocation diy - 28yrold open bite + crowding - Nashville, TN

Ok so I am 1/3 of the way into my treatment when I had to relocate from the US to Europe. I told my ortho who has been awesome and he gave me the rest of my trays up until the end of the treatment plan (ie. pre refinements) I had 21 Trays in total and I am now on Tray 9. Eventually at the end of the 21 I will find someone to collaborate with my current ortho and continue my case if I feel like I need refinements. So for now Im on my own apart from the once a month pics I promised I would take and send to him so he is updated on the progress.
I decided that as I am doing it this way i would like to share my story for people who fly around and are not stable in one place. If this works it will be awesome!
A little bit about me.. I had braces for 8 yrs growing up and didnt wear my retainer + wisdom teeth coming in + my oral behavior created my open bite and crowding.
I though about this aloooot it bothered me aloooot and made me upset and annoyed cause of all the 8 years I wasted being a metal mouth I said to hell with it I want a f**in gorgeous smile!
Many people said they didnt think I needed it or it was too expensive and not worth it - I thought I would for once be selfish and vain and make a gift to myself I will smile at and live with for the rest of my life!
Up till now I have not regretted it one bit. Here is my progress in images up till end of Tray 8. I will post updates and what it was like at the beginning as well as very helpful tips shortly. I am so excited to see such progress and highly recommend invisalign! And Dr Gluck is awesome!

The first week was the hardest. Mostly though the first 4 days. If one can get through the first week the rest is pretty much all about commitment. I had my attachments put on day 1 with Tray 1 so it was intense but my excitement and Advil helped me through that week. At first there was some getting used to the lifestyle but by the end of the first month it really becomes the norm. Also having worn metal braces in the past these are so unobtrusive that I really dont mind wearing them at all. As someone said its like wearing a comfortable pair of shoes.. Once you put them on in the morning you dont really think about them until you take them off. Plus at night when you wanna look good going out guess what its dark and No one can see anything!
So the most important thing is commitment and full time wear! I got 3 apps that kept me on track and helped me stay committed and excited!
1. To Track Wear Time:
This is the most important app at first because it tracks time and helps you stay within your wear time. I actually used it to calculate how long I had them off. Its called ATracker and here is the link : http://www.wonderapps.se/ATracker/
Its not Invisalign specific but you can add any title to your tracking and it will also give you charts on your general non wear time and it is super easy and helpful especially in the beginning.
2. To Track Tray Change:
I used this app and enter the days when i need to change trays and it will count down the days for the next tray changes. I also can see how many days passed since day 1 and how many I have left till the end. It is a fun app and I look at it to feel motivated. It is called Dreamdays and is also not Invisalign specific but good to have if you are like me and want to know how much u have left to go.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/dreamdays-lite-count-down/id590349173?mt=8
3. To Track Visual Teeth Progress:
This app is pretty cool as you can add an image to a specific day and put a title on it. I guess it is the least useful cause it just archives images but I like to have my invisalign progress in one place so here it is.. It is called Collect and is like a photo journal and here is the link:
http://thelenslab.com/collect-photo-journal/
Attached are some images of these apps to get a sense. These apps helped me push forward more than anything and I will not ramble on about the typical brush floss routine as many have described that already. Hope this was useful! xo

As I am now on Tray 9 and doing well I can review what happened at Tray 8. The day I needed to change from Tray 7 to Tray 8 I was booked for an overnight direct flight from NY to Dubai that is a 12hr flight. I didnt think anything of it so 4 hours after take off I put Tray 8 on. DO NOT CHANGE TRAYS ON AN AIRPLANE especially on a long flight. For the following 1 day after I did that I was in pain but it felt normal. The next two days I woke up at night from this deep nerve pain I felt inside my gums under the right side of my teeth. The pain extended to my ear and also had a throbbing headache. It was a lot worse that week 1 pain. It extended from the top right molar to the bottom right molars. the following days I felt the aftermath of this nerve pain and was sensitive to hot and cold food and although I was not in pain when I bit down on my food that deep pain was still somewhat there. I am writing this post after having taken panoramic xrays and been to an oral surgeon and dentist and both said that I have nothing pathological or bad teeth. The dentist did say that the pain I experienced must be the Trigeminal Nerve and that something triggered it. I am 4 days into Tray 9 and I have had no problems at all. Just the basic teeth moving pain. A pilot friend of ours told me that it was a bad idea to swap trays in an airplane because of all the pressure that goes on up there inflammation can be more severe and I have now come to believe that it played a big role to the pain I experienced. If you think about how much your feet swell up there it might makes sense.. In any case I wouldnt try it again ever.