Small Gaps and Overbite

This morning I switched to my third aligners for this month. These aligners are the ones that I wear for two weeks instead of one. I would say this set is the tightest, BUT most comfortable. For some reason I barely had to file this one. I filed it just a little to dull down the edges, but this aligner had less plastic than the first two. On the first two sets I had to file a good amount away before they became wearable. There is no cutting or rubbing on the inside of my lip or anything! I also don't have a lisp anymore. I had a slight lisp when I first put them in, but as the day went on the lisp began to lessen. I'm not sure if it's because I've been wearing them for 2 weeks and learned to talk better quicker or if it's due to this set having less plastic. I only experienced pain when putting them on and taking them off for the very first times, and when eating and brushing. When they're on I only feel a lot of pressure. I can see a very slight difference in my teeth, but I can FEEL a big difference especially when trying to chew or bite. It's not excruciating pain, just tenderness. It kind of looks like my front gap has gotten a little bit smaller, but I won't be able to tell for sure until I compare my pictures. According to my 3D plan I should see the gap really closing around Month 3. At the end of Month 1 I'll be sure to add Before and After pics.

So, earlier this evening I switched to my Week 2 aligners for this month. Just when I had gotten used to talking with Week 1's aligners before I knew it I had to switch to Week 2. The last few days of Week 1 started to feel more and more comfortable. The aligners had gotten so loose that it took little to no effort to pop them on. My lisp also was gone. Before putting in my new aligners I made sure to file them down, and I took ibuprofen 30 minutes prior to popping them in (same as last week) Only difference is this time I new exactly which places bothered me the most and made sure to really file those spots. I then rinses Week one's aligners and I placed them back in their appropriate pouch, then I stapled the pouch shut and stored it back in the shipping box, so I wouldn't misplace them. Next, I just went on and did the usual brushing, flossing and rinsing, before putting the new aligners in. Week two's aligners are soooo tight! It felt like day one all over again and of course the lisp is back. Luckily, it only took about 2-3 days for me to get really comfortable with the first aligners so I know what to expect this week. Also, I forgot to use the GLO Whitening Gels that were included in my kit, so I'll start trying them tomorrow morning. I can't wait to compare the movements at the end of this month :)

So, today was my first FULL day wearing the aligners (since they arrived in the afternoon yesterday), sleeping in them was fine, but let me tell you that the plastic on the bottom aligners irritated the inside of my bottom lip all day. I worked 12 hours today and brought everything I needed with me EXCEPT the filer. Smh. Other than that piece of plastic, the day went fine. No one noticed I was wearing them and I didn't talk to my coworkers as much today so I don't think they noticed the lisp. I work in dispatch so I really had to enunciate my words more than usual when speaking on the phone and over the radio due to the slight lisp. It didn't hurt as bad as I thought it would when it came time to take them off to eat, brush, floss and put them back in. I made sure to take ibuprofen with me so the pain wasn't long lasting. When I got home I made sure to really file down that one area that has been bothering, so at this very moment my aligners feel comfortable now that I have it filed to my liking. I'm so excited for the weeks to come. Unless I have some other notable changes this week I won't post again until it's time to switch to the Month 1 Week 2 tray :)