Tray 6U/Tray 4L Refinement 3, take 2

 So now I remember why I took so few photos towards the end.  It gets so boring!!  Not very much change from tray to tray but I do feel like overall my teeth are slowly getting straighter.  I also ordered my final tray again.  I still have my old one but I ended up wearing for it for too long (close to three months) and I'd rather have a new one.  It's going be $60 though!  Hope this all worth it when we add in the cost of the new Vivera retainers!

Tray 5U/3L Refinement set 3, Round 2

 So we are at the half way mark.  I didn't really notice much a difference with this tray.  My teeth look I but I'm still waiting for that one front tooth to rotate a couple more degrees.

For comparison here they they are at tray 2 for comparison:

And at the very beginning of this round

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!

Initial progress - trays 1/2 (refinement 3) - again

Picture below taken on Sept 11 shortly after tray 1 (both upper and lower).  Getting the bottom tray in after all these years hurt so much.  Upper trays didn't hurt too much.  I should have taken a proper picture before I started  but this is as close to baseline as we will get.  This is probably a more flattering picture then what my teeth look like in reality.  Notice the not so straight midline.

The two pictures below were taken on Sept 20 after I swapped in tray 2 upper (kept on tray 1 lower).  A clearer photo then the above and really shows my snaggle tooth in all its glory.  Don't let the lighting up above fool you.  It's still hiding out in the back.

I swapped in tray 2 (bottom tray) this past weekend and it didn't hurt nearly as much as the first one.  

The reason why I'm spacing out changing my bottom trays is that I only have 6 of them and 9 upper.  Bottom will be interesting as I had to cut out part of my tray to accommodate a crown I had done since my first round of initial invisalign.  The tray just wouldn't fit and my retainer's broken so we will hsee how that works out.  I have noticed a bit of a between my teeth where my aligner ends so hopefully that won't cause any issues over time.  

UPDATED: Coping with middle age

This has been a rough year in many ways but I'm going to focus on the purely superficial.  I turned 40 a little while back and let's say I've noticed some things about the way I look that could use some improvement.

    - My teeth have shifted and yellowed which is of course why I'm back in aligners.

    - I've gained weight in my abdominal area and things just don't fit the way they used to.  

    - My eyesight is changing and I'll likely need reading glasses soon.

    - My skin is doing weird things and I've developed some dry patches.

    - The greys in my hair are getting more obvious and I've not been to a hair dresser in months.

Thankfully I'm still generally healthy and while I realize the above is pretty typical as we get older.  I don't like it and am trying to address all of the above in different ways.  I've never been super confident about my appearance but working from home in the spring really shifted my attention to my teeth as I watched myself on video conference calls and my waist line as I initially lost then gained weight during the early days of the pandemic.

Now that I'm in the office again, it's a bit tricky dealing with the Invisalign hygiene.  In my work building, each floor has bathrooms with stalls and shared sink space.  Not the most comfortable for spreading out my toothbrushing gear during my first go around but even trickier in a pandemic environment where I need to be extra careful about how I place my things, there being a limit of people in the bathroom and not wanting to gross people out at the same time!  What I've been typically doing is taking the elevators (extra slow due to limits on how many people can go in) to the main floor and brushing my teeth in a private bathroom there hoping that no one else is waiting.  I try to keep it to one per day but twice at most.

The flip side of using the private bathroom for toothbrushing is that I'm not eating all day in my office like I did before.  I do however end up eating and sometimes/often (?) overeating at lunch in order to get through the rest of the day without needing to eat and brush again.  It's been a bit of a balancing act as I try to figure out just how much food to pack and avoid throwing out leftovers.  Initially I was packing way too much food, especially perishables.  In the past couple of days, I've been peckish by the end of the day so I may need to readjust again.  It's a learning process definitely!   

One thing I have to say is that while I enjoyed working in yoga pants, t's kind of fun to dress up for work again and I did buy myself some nice things (over the spring, summer and into the fall...) online (basics, accent pieces, shoes, you name it!) but I've been really conscious of my waistline and how my pants and skirts fit.   I've always been slim and petite with a squarish figure but now there's just a bit of bulge in the middle that is unsightly to me.  So as a result, in addition to adjusting my food intake I'm trying as hard as I can to find time to exercise regularly.  But here's the thing - that's not always enough in your 40!  Plus I love my wardrobe, I have some great investment pieces and I really don't to want to go up a size.  I'm also frugal and don't want to spend money needlessly.    

Anyhow, it's hard being in my 40s, back in invisalign, trying to keep my weight in check and not get sick.  Add to that taking care of my family during COVID, including 2 school aged kids, maintaining some order in our house, trying to stay in touch with friends and extended family, reading, and keeping up at a demanding but meaningful job and some days it just seems like too much.  But then I have to remind myself that self care is important too and I've really been neglecting myself since I've had kids.  And if I it makes me feel better to invest some time in improving my appearance, that's ok too.  Because when I feel good about myself, I'm more likely to be at my best and giving my best to those around me ; it's an example to my kids that I might have some responsibilities to them that I take seriously but I also have things I do just for myself too.

I know I have so much to be grateful for in my life. I am also aware that there are so many important things going on including COVID that are of importance socially and politically on a large scale.  Having said that I am glad to have this simple straightforward goal for myself of straightening out my teeth again using these aligners that I kept from so many years ago.  I'm really looking forward to the day when we are out of our masks and being out and about with straight bright little teeth.  In the mean time, I'll keep posting progress photos here :)

UPDATE October 9/2020:

So one thing I realized is how important it is to control my fibre and water intake.  Now I'm not fluctuating so much between pant sizes and looking 4 most pregnant periodically- phew!  On top of that, I think I've mastered the art of packing food for the day when I go to work.  Not much food wasted, with minimal hungriness at the end of the day.  As for my hair, I discovered a new shampoo from Sally's that I love (it smells like apples!) which means my hair isn't so frizzy all the time.  I may just let the grey hair blend in for now.  Between that, a little bit of wardrobe updating and dealing with the teeth, I think I have managed to keep the forty-something frumps at bay for now!

 

UPDATED: An inspiration photo - (with more pictures!)

 As I flipped through my old blog posts, one thing I realized was that I had never posted an after photo once I was finished with my third set of refinements and into my retainer way back in 2011.  Well, there happens to be a good reason for that which is that I found out I was pregnant just at that very same time.  As a result, following the progress of my teeth took second fiddle to sorting out a baby room, prenatal vitamins, lab test, sharing the news and all that good stuff.

Anyhow, at some point I stopped taking regular close up photos of my teeth.  The best I can do is from a selfie I took during a trip I took with a good friend in the fall of 2011.  Here's hoping I can get my teeth to a similar state by the time I'm all done - again!

***Update - October 9/2020:

I had a bit of time to dig around in my old computer today.  It reinforced my suspicion that I didn't take a round of photos after I was done with Invisalign.  Though I found many pregnancy progress photos.  Not reposting those here!  I did find some smiling photos that are a bit clearer than the previous one I posted from this period:

This was taken during refinement round 2 - you can still see the attachments, taken in summer of 2010

Based on time, this was half way through refinement round 3, you can see a few gaps, taken early fall 2011

Taken after refinements round 3, February 2012

Taken after refinements round 3, October 2011

Taken after refinements round 3 with tray on, October 2011

So as you can see, my teeth were never "perfect" after round three but if that's as good as it gets for my case, I'm happy to go back to it.  One thing that's interesting to me is that I'm sure if my front right tooth and it's neighbour to my right ever fully aligned.  Will have to see how they look at the end of this process.

It's been nearly 10 years and I'm back again!

I didn't expect to be here again yet here I am.  Of course there are a lot of things that I wasn't expecting in the year 2020.  I plan to share a little bit more of the details over the next few weeks as I take some time to reflect but here are the high/lowlights of my post braces life:

- still married and with two kids now both in school

- have been working full time outside of maternity leave so its been a busy 10 years

-  have worn both a wire and multiple essix retainers regularly and have broken a number of them over the years

- have seen some regression since being in retainers and been somewhat unhappy about it over the last year or two.

- the last time a retainer broke and I went to see my dentist he suggested I try Vivera retainers.  When I mentioned I still had my old trays.  He suggested I try cleaning my old retainers and popping them back in before we do a new mold.  

- I really want this right so I went back to the beginning of my final refinements (6U+ 3 overcorrection trays) so it'll take me a few months to get through them all.  I've also purchased some whitening gel so looking forward to having a straighter and whiter smile again soon.

One thing I'll note is that brushing my teeth as a middle aged working mother, while working in a senior role in an office tower during a pandemic, keeping up with the invisalign hygiene is way different then the first time when I started this process in my late 20s.  It's brutal and takes so much more discipline.  I sometimes think, if only I had started this process when I was still working at home several months ago. But then again, nothing ever came of coulda woulda shoulda.  I'm back here now and I'm going to just get it done.

My teeth at the beginning of this "reboot".  Not as bad as at the beginning of treatment but leaves some room for improvement!