Tray 12 update with pics

This past tray was mostly uneventful.  My teeth are just the slightest bit straighter.  Snaggy seems to be just a little more in line with the others.  Actually, what I recently realized is that Snaggy is actually in the right place, it's just my canine and front incisor that need to move back a bit.  

I've noticed a bit of staining around some of my attachments and am planning to fit in a cleaning in addition to the whitening when I get my attachments off.  No point in having straight teeth if they're going to be discolored! 

On to pictures!

My current tray was a little bit harder to slip on.  I'm not sure if it's just the tray or if my teeth or if something else is going on.  I guess I will wait a couple of days and see how it feels by the end.

Some reasons why it's been hard to keep the trays in for as long as I should lately...

Tray 11 update with pics

My teeth are slowly moving into place as the countdown to the wedding begins.  It's less two months away!  And while there has been a lot of progress and I've gotten so many positive comments on my teeth lately (!!), I'd really love for Snaggy, my little crossbite tooth, to move in line with the others soon.  You know, he just looks so lonely back there.

Now that I'm on a 12 day schedule instead of my original 14, I'm trying to keep my trays in as long as possibly but it's gotten harder and harder with all this wedding business coming up (silly wedding keeps getting in the way of my invisalign!).  I'll have to have them out for close to 3 hours for our upcoming engagement shoot and at least a couple more for cupcake sampling this upcoming weekend.  Hopefully I'll be able to space things out my appointments so they don't both happen during the same tray.

I was thinking back today about whether I should have taken Dr. A's offer at the beginning of treatment to change trays on a 10 day cycle (I was extra cautious and said no at the time).  I might have been finishing up by the end of this month if that had been the case.  Looking back, I probably would have made the same decision to change on a 14 day cycle again.  I might just be overly cautious but I really wanted to make sure nothing went wrong during my treatment and my teeth weren't forced to move too quickly.  To me, having straight healthy teeth is a lifetime investment, not just something to show off in a few wedding photos and hide away in my mouth forever more.

Anyhow, in terms of the actual trays, tray 11 was mostly uneventful.  The one thing I have noticed is  some changes in my gums as a result of teeth moving.  This may be tmi but it looks in some places like my gums are a bit underdeveloped or pressed down where my teeth were overlapped.  Also, I've noticed a line where I assume my gumline used to be on my molars and wonder if it's because my molars, which were tipped on one side before, are being tipped back with these last few trays.  I may take a pic and send back to Dr. A's office.  

Picture update below:

End of tray 10 update with pics

Another picture update:

My front teeth are finally lining up!

Natural smile - midline is lining up just a bit more

A comparison between tray 1 and 14.  Always knew my front teeth were crowded but never realized how crooked my bottom teeth were!

End of tray 9 update with pics

Belated picture post:

Halfway through!

I've been pretty excited about the last few trays. It feels like every day my teeth are straighter than they've ever been and each time I change trays, they get even straighter. Much more satisfying than the first 7 trays or so which were very much of the "it gets worse before it gets better" variety. I'm smiling more and more in pictures I've noticed and I'm beginning to get a better sense of what my teeth actually look like. Not that I didn't know before but I can now make out the actual shape and size of my teeth now that they're no longer rotated and pointing every which way. hahaha... I could go on and on but suffice to say I'm quite happy with the progress I've had so far.

I went to see Dr. A yesterday and he seemed to be quite happy with my progress as well. When he commented on how I must be wearing them 22 hours a day because the trays seemed to be fitting so well, I sheepishly said that I tried even though I've been cheating a bit lately (but only because I'm more this set for an extra day (I'm such a rebel!)). Having just finished tray 10 (half way mark for me!!), I was given trays 11-14 and managed to squeeze a few questions in with Dr. A before heading out.

I'm so glad that I did because (in addition to finding out that I didn't have a tongue thrust problem and that a minor issue with one tooth during tray 10 was inconsequential) we managed to figure out how to time my next few trays up until my wedding.

So this is the plan:

• next 4 trays will be worn for 12 days each- my next scheduled appointment will be bumped up by a week so that I will be at tray 15 by my wedding (clincheck here for reference)
• will take off my attachments at the next appointment
• will do some whitening (2 x 0.5 hours per day, supposed to be more effective) while I have my attachments off for the two weeks prior to my wedding

I suppose I'm being a bit vain but the wedding was a huge motivator for me to get invisalign so I'm just so glad that I'll be about 75% done by July and will even get a bit whitening in. I guess now that I'm on a 12 day schedule I'll have to make more of an effort to wear my trays for as close to 22 hours as possible per day. Will post pictures when I get home!

Woe is me ...

I was hoping that giving the boy at the Mac counter my best big-eyed sad puppy dog impression would help me get the data from my hard drive back but I must have been wrong... because it's all gone now.  All gone :(  It's as if the little Macbook they handed back to me was mine yet not mine, like a vampire who's body was with me but whose soul was long gone.  Serves me right for not backing up more often I suppose.  

Pictures of trays 9 and 10 still on their way because I've still been taking them, just not uploading.  It's just part of my obsessive, compulsive nature.  Will update on my last visit to Dr. A shortly as well.  Lots of progress and news to share, I promise.