Half way through refinements! (tray 10)

... well that's if you don't include the 3 over-correction trays at the end.

In the past month, I've managed to get sick as many times as I've changed trays and so this past month has felt exceedingly long. I am hopefully getting over my second cold though and with some luck the rest of treatment should just fly by. I've got a few weddings to attend over the summer and elated about it the unseasonably warm weather we've been getting (no more snow!).

Not surprisingly, these past two trays have been pretty uneventful. The one exception being that the attachment on my left canine did not seem to sit properly and the top of it was cutting my lip. It sat properly after a few days though so no biggie. I was slightly worried though that it was the beginning of the end and that the rest of my trays wouldn't sit properly, optimist that I am.

I went to visit Dr. A this past Thursday and was given my next two trays. Only two as I am supposed to be getting more attachments at tray 13. These of course will be on my front teeth which I have mixed feelings about. On the one hand, they'll be a lot more noticeable, but on the other, I really hope those front four finally move into place. It's about time! The other thing I was instructed to do was to slow down my bottom tray changing schedule. I had actually thought about it earlier but never got around to asking about it so I'm glad Dr. A mentioned it. My last trays from my previous set were pretty gross by the time my refinements arrived.

Some comparison pictures between re: tray 2 (first set with refinements) and 10:

natural smile (tray 2)

natural smile (tray 10)

Bottom and top teeth - Tray 2 (this was taken right after they added the new attachments)

Bottom and top teeth -

Tray 10

Right side - tray 2

Right side - tray 10 (sorry my attachments are a bit stained and gross - it does look like my one incisor has moved a tiny bit though)

Upper arch tray 2

Upper arch tray 10 - a little more rotation required

(picture removed Sept 2020)

A big birthday smile. Luckily, I was healthy enough to celebrate in between two separate bouts of the cold. Just like last year, I had to spend this birthday in braces but hopefully I'll be in retainers by my next birthday!

And now for a special public health message directly from my sick bed

I've been quite sick for the past week or so and am hoping to be able to drag myself into work tomorrow. While I've been quite miserable, I feel even worse that I seem to have made a couple of colleagues at work sick too. So given that I've got some time on my hands I thought I 'd draw up a list of things to keep in mind during invisalign treatment for those who are sick, living with others who may be sick and/or having a tendency to be a bit of a hypochondriac.

1. If you've decided to get your flu shot, get it early on in the season. If multiple flu shots are available, make sure you get all of them and remember that the incidence rate of various flu strains can change within the same season.

2. Even if you've gotten your flu shot and seem to be immune to a house mate's illness, don't let down your guard in case they catch a cold towards the end of the flu and unknowingly pass it along to you!

3. Always wash your hands before and after taking off/putting on your trays and try to wipe down the surrounding area as much as possible. You never know what germs you may have picked up or unsuspectingly left behind.

4. Have some hand sanitizer on hand in your purse if you use one or in various places where they would come in handy. That way if you need to pull out your trays quickly or decide to bypass a bathroom to put/take your trays on/off, you can ensure that your hands are reasonably clean.

5. Put your health before your invisalign treatment. That's not to say that it's a good excuse to be lax about cleaning your trays and dental hygiene. However, if you haven't been able to eat well for the past while and finally have your appetite back, it won't hurt to spend some time without your trays on so that you can have a bigger meal or snack in between meals if you can only eat a little at a time.

Aside from that, I try to make sure I do all of the usual things like get lots of rest, take in Vitamin C, stay hydrated. Hopefully later this week I'll be able to work out again too.

Anyhow, that's all I can think of for now. Do let me know if there's anything else you'd recommend.

Refinement tray 8 pictures and more!

Hello! Sorry I've been so lax about updating as of late.

I don't have any good excuses really aside from being on vacation and getting sick over the past week. Teethwise, it's been business as usual for the most part. I went to see my dentist just before my trip as I noticed some issues with my teeth and gums. She was really impressed (again!) with how much my teeth have changed since the first time I saw her but mentioned that I seemed to be having some trouble reaching my back teeth and below my bottom attachments (which were turning a bit yellow - yuck!) as she could tell from the build up. She checked my gum pockets and said there's been some pronounced improvement there as well. I guess I've come a long way from where I started.

In retrospect, it might have been better to have my teeth professionally after I got back from my teeth but hopefully it doesn't make too huge of a difference and I tried to be as diligent as I could while I was away. We were in Miami for a few days before our cruise (funnily enough, we were there for superbowl weekend and didn't even know it until after we booked our cruise - silly Canadians, we are) and enjoyed some really good food. This meant of course that we went to quite a few restaurants and I ended up brushing my teeth wherever I could as soon as I could. Most of the time, it wasn't a huge deal, since we ate at off peak times (empty bathrooms!) and our hotel was close to a number of eateries so sometimes I just waited until we returned. There were a couple of times (ie. Sat. before the superbowl) though when I had to just whip out the electric toothbrush in front a bathroom full of women primping and preening. I find if you don't look all embarrassed about it, nobody really seems to care but I still get the odd sideways glance (if I don't have a toothbrush in my mouth, I just look directly at them and smile warmly).

Surprisingly enough, once we went on our cruise (7 days through the Carribean with NCL), it was a lot easier to either get to our cabin or a semi-empty bathroom in between meals. Trying to keep my trays in for a decent amount of time was another matter. Between all of that food (everywhere, all the time!) and getting to various events, I have to admit, sometimes I slipped my trays in after a quick, discrete swishing and other times, I just kept them out for a bit. I thought the port stops would be more difficult to manage but we went on a lot of Cruise organized excursions and while they charged an arm and a leg, they did include lunches at nice venues with clean bathrooms. With all of that negligent tray wearing going on I ended up wearing tray 7 for a few extra days to make up.

We spent a couple more days in Miami (24C and they described it as cold!) before coming home to snow, -10C (mild by our standards), and all of the excitement around the Olympics (Vancouver's a pretty long way from where we live but it was still easy to get excited being part of the host nation). Since then I've been down with a bit of a cold but hopefully I'm getting through the tail end of it.

One thing I've noticed as of late is that I'm not quite as motivated to stop everything and put them in after meals anymore. I guess I'll just have find a way to keep myself on track - perhaps, thoughts of yet another long refinement set??

Pictures from the end of tray 8:

My crooked tooth catches the light a bit, me thinks.

It'll be interesting to see what my bite looks like at the of treatment.

Darn front right incisor.