50+ and Trying Invisalign to Improve my Smile - Starting April Fool's Day 2014 - Waterloo, ON

So I went to the Dentist’s for my consult. I have reached the end of my treatment. I wasn’t sure what to expect. His first question to me was, before I even look at your teeth, “are you happy with the results?” “Was it worth it, in the end?”

The answer to the first question is a firm, of course. Yes I am happy. My teeth are straight! Is one tooth not quite as great as the others? Yes, that is true. It was also a badly turned tooth at the beginning and has come a very long way. If I consider where it was originally positioned, it is one hundred percent better. The big question is, do I want to stop? Or go for perfection. Realizing that the rest of me is not perfect either, I decided that the one tooth on the bottom, that unless I stick my face in yours to see it, is quite acceptable. If I did want to keep working on the one tooth, the dentist would take new impressions (with that horrible goo) and we would continue with more sets of aligners. At this point, without doing the actual impressions, he could not say how long the process would take. Given how compliant a patient I was, he was surprised how stubborn my tooth was.

So I have decided that this is the end. My treatment is complete. Then my dentist said, “Great. Now let’s have a look.” He agreed that my teeth look fantastic and didn’t need more work. He said he would order my retainer immediately. Tomorrow I come back in to have the attachments removed. Then the most amazing thing happened. He said I only need to wear the retainer at night. I was shocked. I thought I had to wear the retainer at least during the day for the first 3-6 months. He said if when I put the aligners on at night, and they hurt, then I should probably wear them during the day too.
The only other thing he suggested was teeth whitening. I will research that some more. Some people complained of tooth sensitivity so I want to be careful.
On Wednesday I returned to the dentist with a sinus infection. But that wasn’t going to make me postpone my attachment removal session. With a wicked headache and face pain, I just closed my eyes and let them do their job. It took about 40 minutes of grinding and polishing. The dentist handed me the mirror. It was a bit surreal to see straight, not lumpy, teeth staring back at me. Putting back in the last set of lumpy aligners was a buzz kill, but understandable.
We talked about whitening and I said I’d like to do it. What is the cost? He smiled and said that I have been so compliant that he will give me the Zoom in tray cleaners for free. Nice, eh? He also told me not to start whitening right away as my teeth will be sensitive from the attachments being removed.

Two hours after I got home, the dentist office called to say my retainers were in. Are you kidding me? I zipped back to get them. As per usual with a new set of trays, I decided to start wearing them at night. Wow! Did they hurt!! I wonder if that was because my one tooth wasn’t where it was supposed to be, but ‘thought’ to be. I decided to wear them all day too because wearing them only at night wasn’t going to work for me. It is now the second day. They hurt a wee bit less. Progress. I have decided to wear them during the day, but never to cheat with them. If I want a coffee, out they go. Or a glass of wine. Because you have to wear the retainers forever. No switching out to a clean tray every two weeks. I am going out for dinner tonight and I will take them out before I go! Such a rebel. In the end, I will likely be wearing them 18 hours a day. I will try that until September.
So that’s it. I’m finished. I will still update about my retainer wear since I was disappointed not to find people keep letting us know what the routine was like AFTER invisalign.

Wishing you all the best on your journeys. And remember, there is light at the end of the tunnel!

Last tray. This tray doesn't hurt. Not like the last one. No pain. Small amount of pressure. The bones in my mouth definitely feel sore. I can't bite very well with my front teeth. At the end of this two week period I will return to the dentist to see what happens next. Then I will let you know if it was really all worth it in the end (for me).

Tray 31 - This tray feels quite snug and makes my teeth feel a little achy. I was very surprised. I guess I thought as my treatment wound down, so would the pressure I felt from the aligners and the amount of room my teeth would still have to move. So it's good to know that everything is still shifting until the bitter end! I feel that my top right tooth has now lined up much better. That is a relief. It's just the bottom one that could move a wee bit up if it wanted to. Perhaps it will be the last tooth to fall in line.

I attended a friend's surprise birthday party at a German restaurant on the weekend. Foregoing the appetizers, I ran to the restroom to take my aligners out the minute everyone was seated for dinner. Then I ran back to the table, the last guest seated. We had only one waitress for about 40 people, so dinner came slowly. By the time dessert arrived, I quickly took 2 bites of Black Forest cake and gulped down a cup of decaf, I looked at my watch and discovered two hours had elapsed. I swished some water, ran back to the busy restroom and flossed and plopped my aligners back in, having decided to brush my teeth at home. I really won't miss this part of the dining experience - the dine-dash-floss&brush part.

I am excited to see what these last weeks have to bring. Onward we go!