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!
Your frequent colds are likely due the chemical coating on the trays. Immediately after opening the package, soak the trays in denture cleaner for at least 30 minutes and brush them thoroughly before putting them in your mouth. This has seemed to resolve the chest cold issue for many people. The Invisalign people really need change the chemical or at least warn us to clean the trays prior so we stop getting sick.
ReplyDelete-An Invisalign user
I am beginning to wonder if I have some seasonal allergies that may be exacerbating my cold symptoms. I hadn't thought that it was my trays up until now but those are good tips.
ReplyDeleteI saw how you said on your last birthday as well as this one you had the aligners on and that by the next birthday you hoped to be in retainers.. youre not still going to be going invisalign that long right? I mean you must mean retainers like every person that has done some sort of braces wear
ReplyDeleteWell - it's hard to say. I'm supposed to be finished my current set of refinement aligner by the end of September and I'm hoping that will mark the end of my treatment. If I'm not happy with my teeth by then though. I'd be willing to go through another set of refinements. We'll see...
ReplyDeleteOh okay I kind of counted it wrong in my head. At first i thought that would mean you would have had them in for over 2 yrs but I guess that only bring it to about 1 yr and 9 months right? Still your teeth are looking GREAT!
ReplyDeleteOh okay for some reason when I first counted it I counted it wrong. I thought that would have meant you had them in for a bit over 2 yrs but I guess that would only make it 1 yr and 9 months by the end of sept right? Still, your teeth look GREAT!
ReplyDeleteThanks. Yeah, my first round was 20U/21L which took about 10 months. There was about a month gap until I received my refinements (23U/13L) and so I'm about 6 months into a 11 month stint. It's been totally worth it though and now I barely even I notice I have them anymore.
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