"whirrrr pssh whirrrr pssh..."

That dear reader is the sound that my trusty Macbook is making right now (it won't even turn on anymore). It looks like I will have to bring it into the Apple Store to have it repaired when I get a chance. Despite how much my PC using fiance usually teases me about my Mac, I must have looked so lost and forlorn about its current condition that he has been entirely sympathetic about it.

Honestly, the sudden onset of whatever ails my Mac does not agitate me quite as much as potentially losing some of the files including my wedding guestlists, tasklists, reception program and.... dozens of photos of my teeth. Having said that I've emailed a lot of these things to the fiance, important appointments are my blackberry, I still have this blog and have access to an old laptop my fiance doesn't use anymore so it's not the end of the world.

Anyhow I've taken pictures of tray 9 but won't be posting until I know the fate of my Mac. Let this be a lesson to all of you to remember to back up your files frequently!

How will I know??

I am and have always been a self proclaimed master of the no teeth smile.  Actually, I take that back, I've tried to master the no teeth smile to varying levels of success throughout my life.  Sometimes it looks ok, sometimes it looks like I'm fanged or either have a tooth missing or a very large gap (due to snaggy the crossbite tooth) and the rest of the time I look somewhat unnatural and self-conscious.

Consequently when I got my braces, I was really excited but a bit anxious at the same time.  I wondered to myself, after so many years of trying to hide my teeth, perhaps the part of my brain that was wired for smiling widely had atrophied?  What if I didn't know what to do with my newly straightened teeth?  What if I looked goofy in all of my wedding photos?  Should I consider enrolling in some modeling classes or will I just end up looking pouty and feeling hungry?

As it turns out, I had nothing to be afraid of.  I was just looking through some of my pictures from my (surprise!) 30th birthday and noticed how broadly I was smiling all the way through.  This was 2 trays ago before my teeth started showing noticeable signs of improvement.  It could have been the pina colada or that I was pretty happy to come home to upward of 30 people hiding out in my house but I think that at some level, I've just begun to feel a lot more confident about my smile now that I'm finally doing something about it.  And let me tell you, it feels great! :)

End of tray 8 update with pics

So out with tray 8 and on to tray 9 tomorrow (or maybe tonight). Don't tell Dr. A this but I was thinking about cheating and changing trays one night early. I am going to my trial dinner at the reception site on Tuesday and wanted to thoroughly enjoy it without having to mind sore teeth. I figure this is about the only time I'll be able to enjoy the meal since I probably won't have a chance to at my actual wedding. I'm otherwise very compliant when it comes to my trays, really I am!!

Anyhow this particular tray did not leave me nearly as sore as tray 7 for which I am thankful but I have a feeling there will be a lot of movement in tray 9 based on my clincheck.  My teeth look like they're straightening out a little more with every tray.  I do have some concerns though that first premolar on my top right is getting caught behind my cuspid based on how it feels when I floss and the front of the teeth doesn't fit right into the tray like the others.  I'll have to see how tray 9 feels and call Dr. A's office if it doesn't get better. 

Pictures:

Front - can still see some of the IPR gaps

Right side - notice how right side of cuspid blocks pre-molar

Left side - pretty much the same

A smile - straightening out little by little

Notice how saliva collects in pre molar tooth compared to surrounding teeth.   Attachment doesn't seem to be quite flush with tray.  (or maybe I'm just being overly obsessive about this??)