10 questions...

 1.  Am I glad I had braces the first time around?

100%

2.  Would I choose Invisalign over options again?

If I were to redo today, I would have gone with ceramics and a proper orthodontist instead of a regular dentist.  I was also a less confident person at the time though so the lower of Invisalign got me over my final hangups.  So it's kind of hard to say,

3.   How do I feel about going through this process again?

It kind of sucks.  I feel like I did everything I could to retain my teeth originally and I feel a little let down.  Two of my friends who got braces around the same time have had no such issues.  In addition to that said that, Invisalign didn't correct all of my issues even the first time around (ie. bite issues) and I've seen much better results in others.  

4. Am I glad I still have my old trays?

It's better then going out and having metal braces in my 40s during the time of COVID.  It was initially icky taking out those 10 year old trays though.  

5.  Do I see a difference in my teeth yet from going through the process again?

I think so?  I'll report on this more thoroughly in a few months.  I'm kind of disappointed about the whitening I did too.  I still have lots of product so I'll try again after the next time I clean my teeth.

6.  What's it like to go through this process during a pandemic?

I have to say I'm really glad I'm not going to my dentist to get my trays right now.  I have to go to the one bathroom on the main floor every day in my building to brush my teeth privately after lunch everyday.  I don't like the idea of brushing my teeth in a shared sink space.  It's a bit unwieldy.  I always have to lay down some paper towel and hurry through the process for fear I'm keeping someone else waiting.  Not fun.  Even though I work in an office I wear a mask whenever I meet with others so even if I had a 1000 attachments no one would notice.

7.  When did I start to notice that I might need to wear my trays again?

Definitely during the pandemic while looking at myself on zoom calls.  My teeth just looked yellow and my one teeth really wonky.  I was getting really self conscious about it.  Having said that, at work we take a lot of group pictures.  I was just looking at some recently and realized my teeth look fine there.  I guess where I notice them more is in our family photos where I'm closer to the camera.

8.  Is there anything you wish could have been corrected properly the first time?

My bite.  I was so concerned about the cosmetic look I was less picky about how my feet fit together in the back initially.

9.  How does my family feel about my re-bracing? 

It doesn't stemlike they really notice.  I just need to run off right after dinner to brush my teeth.  Plus they're all boys.

10.  How long is this going to take?

I have four more trays (2months), plus however long it takes me to get my new retainer (3 most?) and I'll likely where the trays full time for the first while (3mos?).  It's ok, I'm sure the pandemic will outlast this process!

Tray 4

 I didn't switch trays until Monday this week since I was using my previous trays for whitening.  

These trays felt a bit more snug initially though not anymore since it's day 6 in these trays for me now.  I'm beginning to see some of the gaps closing in.  I hope there's enough room for them to manoeuvre this time.  

Here they are:

And again at the beginning of this round for comparison:

Honestly, to me they look better in my Sept photos but the light is very forgiving in those photos too.  

Whitening - the verdict...

So after a week of using this product daily, I'm not sure if I see a difference.  They may be just a smidge whiter??  Now granted I haven't used the light addition very diligently, some nights I just add the gel to my trays.

I've tried really hard to take a very similar picture from the same bathroom.  I'm moving on to a new tray tonight so will hold off any further whitening for now.  Let know in the comments if you spot a difference!

After

Before

Tooth whitening!

 So I'm a bit of dork as you can probably tell from the blog.

Anyway, even the dork in me had to fully take in the set up for this whitening kit I bought from Costco.

Here's the box

Here is what the contraption looks like.  Nice soft rubber insert for where teeth go.  

It looks kind of like a spaceship.

I'm going to try to take pictures in the same bathroom to keep the light source the same in my photos.  I can't tell what colour my teeth currently are.  Somewhere in the middle?

Here is what this thing looks like in my mouth.  Once you put the gel in, the light is supposed to expedite the whitening.  They didn't provide too much scientific material to back that up.

The experience was a little offputting.  Previously I just put the gel in my trays and went around my business until it was time to rinse it out.  This time around, I had to keep this thing in my mouth the whole time, hoping it didn't come out if I sneezed.  I was drooling all over the place.  Next time I may try with my trays on.  I do like the softness of the material they used to make the mouthguard, just not convinced, it can keep the whitening gel on my teeth.

Will update on the whitening process in a few days after I've applied a few more times.

UPDATED: Sick :(

 One thing I had forgotten about until I reread some of my old posts is how sick I used get.  Now I don't know if I can trace back the cause to Invisalign or not but it was bad.  I was sick with a cough for weeks at a time.  I didn't realize until afterward that some people have an allergic reaction to Invisalign.  I don't know if that was my issue or not.  Coincidentally, once I was pregnant and done with invisalign, I rarely got sick.  Happened at the same time so I can't separate one from the other.  Up until now... maybe?

Anyway, one month into Invislian I'm sick again.  I hope it's not COVID.  I did go get tested this morning after waiting close to an hour in multiple socially distanced lines so we'll see what happens when I get that back.  I wish I could pop in a lozenge right now but I can't.  At least I'm home and at first I thought I'd get a jumpstart on a teeth whitening series of blog of pictures but I'm tired and right now I just want to get into bed and nap.  And I'm done with work emails so there's nothing stopping me.  Nothing.

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UPDATED October 9/2020: So I was pleasantly surprised just before dinner to a get a text re: my results - COVID negative.  Still have this head cold though.

Updated: Time for some gum care

 So I went in for that much anticipated trip to have my teeth cleaned and I had a pretty thorough scaling.  I was going to to start whitening my teeth tonight but as I looked at my gums I noticed a couple of spots where they have really receded and I can actually see between my teeth.  I've had gum disease previously and really worked to get my teeth and gums healthy over the years but maybe I had let things too far when I was younger and was without dental coverage.  I don't know if I just didn't notice the little gaps before,  or if it was due to the cleaning, the invisalign or what but I think I'm going to give my gums a bit of a break from the whitening chemicals.  At least for tonight.

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Updated October 9/2020- after reading up on this, I guess the appearance of a bit recession is normal after a cleaning especially if the gums were inflamed before the cleaning.  They are looking back to normal now.  Will start whitening later tonight.  Can't believe it's Friday!

Apologies...

 Going through my old blog posts I realized that in the couple of years after I finished my first invisalign journey, there were still lots of comments coming in.  While I really doubt that anyone reading my blog back then is still checking it out so many years later, I do want to want to send an apology out into the internet to those that I didn't respond to especially the people out there that were seeking advice (not so much the random dentists).  I usually like to be as helpful as I can especially when it comes to things I'm passionate about, like my teeth!

All I can say is shortly after I finished my last round, I realized I was pregnant (I won't share TMI but another long story) and went into high gear in terms of preparing for my first child.  I'm a slightly anxious person and that was a really big change in my life.  I love being a mom; I must have just gotten wrapped in my new mom life and wasn't keeping a close eye on comments for this blog - eventually I just kind of forgot about it in the post baby haze.

That's all I came here to say today. Have a super week!

Tray 3U/2L (refinement 3) again

 One thing I realized as I was going through old posts is how much I appreciate having pictures of my progress especially in the very early stages of Invisalign.  It's a great reminder of how much work it was, especially seeing those clunky attachments!!

Anyhow, I know progress pictures aren't quite as exciting anymore at this stage but here they are.  I just switched to tray 3U last night and am still wearing 2L.  I don't feel anything when I change trays.  I thought I'd throw in a picture of how the trays look after multiple rounds of Polident and scrubbing.  I did have some reservations about wearing them again.  The most yellowed trays are my final ones which I had to wear for the longest time while waiting for my retainers.  Bottom right picture was taken with aligners in.  You can see my bite and midline are a bit off and my front tooth isn't quite flush with its neighbours yet.  Will see what they look like at the end.    

I feel like a bit of nerd but I'm looking forward to seeing my hygienist on Monday.  I'm honestly not sure what condition my teeth are in after not having seen my hygienist for so long during the shutdown. Hopefully my teeth and gums are doing ok. After I get my teeth cleaned, I'm going to use my trays for some home whitening using a kit that I got on sale at Costco!  Also I dropped by my dentist office for chewies on Friday so hopefully that will help too.  I wish I had asked for them earlier.  they are so expensive online!