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!

Refinement tray 12U/10L pictures and 3 new attachments

Update photos from the end of tray 12:

The new attachments:

Trays on - the new attachments are a little wider than expected. My right lateral incisor has been so so sore.

Trays off

(picture here removed Sept 2020)

Goofing off with my new mitts during a trip to the mountains.

My eyes are nowhere to be seen but at least my teeth look pretty even!

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!

Refinement tray 6 pictures and update

I used to wonder where all of those formerly avid invisalign posters/bloggers went after they disappeared off the face internet. Now I think I know. After the majority of the correction has occurred, it's not nearly exciting to track to progress from one refinement tray to the next. It feels like quite a slow process at times until I remember that I've already gotten through 6 trays. I picked up trays 7-10 earlier this afternoon and am going to take a look to see what sort of differences I can spot between refinement trays 1 to 10. Now that I'm on refinements, Dr. A is making himself more available for questions and the like. I wish I had more teeth questions with which to impress him with my eagerness to comply or exhibit my curiosity but at this point I don't have too many questions, save one. I keep seeing this little space between snaggy the little top right lateral incisor and he explained that since my front incisors are both being intruded, I'll see a bit of space there all the way through treatment.

Other than that, I've started to lose weight again since I started working out and am going to have to readjust my meals accordingly. Nothing major, it just offsets the weight I put on initially with Invisalign and seems to be able now. It's an opportune time to lose the extra bit of flab since we're headed south for a much belated honeymoon starting next week. Perhaps when I return, I'll have an update on the challenges of wearing invisalign while on vacation.

Pictures:

My midline is finally lining up!

As snaggy finally comes forth, he's showing some signs of possible decay on the one side that developed in the shadow of the neighboring incisor. I booked an appt with my dentist for next week to see what she thinks and an early cleaning.

Tray 17 update with pics

So I had a pretty quick visit with Dr. A today but a few important things were discussed albeit pretty briefly.  It looks like I'll be going through all of my over correction trays (18-20U and 19-21L) and will likely need refinements (he thinks it would probably just be a few but was hesitant to commit).  I'll also be getting a permanent retainer on the bottom and a clear essix type retainer on top.  Finally, he explained that my over correction trays will only bring my teeth together more tightly rather than continue to rotate my teeth into the correct position.  My next visit if all goes well is in 2 months.

I really wish I had had written down all of my questions for him in advance but I was in such a rush to make my 7:30am appointment this morning I didn't have a chance to compose myself and ended up rushing through the appointment.  What I would have asked and may still ask via email was when my attachments were coming off (so I can book a cleaning), if my next appointment would involve molds, if the shooting pains in my front tooth were normal, if refinements would fix my bite (molars still aren't touching) if it doesn't feel normal again by the end of this set, my angled bottom tooth, the excess attachment material on my teeth etc...

Oh well.  I'm onto tray 18 now and my teeth are really sore.  I may just give in and take something for it.  I can see that front tooth moved a bit with the last tray though so I am sort of ok with it for now - no pain, no gain!

Pictures!

Almost there, my mutant extra long canine and uneven gumline kind of spoil the effect.

Snaggy's almost in line...

funny how this canine seems to be at such a weird angle

I think my front tooth is finally starting to slide into place!  The letter must have helped.  

Tray 15 update with pics

So tray 15 ended rather abruptly as they had split on day 11 of my wearing the tray.  I'm not too down about it though because I managed to move my next appointment up a bit.  I still don't know how I can be potentially done in two trays but I'll wait and see.  

End of tray 7 update with pics

This tray was really tight and reminded me a lot of my tray 3, when they first put my attachments on.  My IPR gaps haven't closed yet but it looks like my right front tooth is finally looking a bit straighter which is nice to see.  On one hand I want the next few trays to hurry up and be over with but on the other hand, I've got so much to do with the wedding still.  My mom has just returned from a trip overseas so I'm excited to see if she notices any progress over the last several weeks, well in addition to seeing her again of course.

Pictures below:

End of tray 6 update with pics

Pics from the end of tray 6 below:

I had such high hopes for this tray.  I really hoped that this time I’d see some noticeable differences as I assumed this tray would close the IPR gaps made at the end of tray 2.  Alas, the gaps are still there and Snaggy the little crossbite tooth is still trapped behind my front tooth.