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.  

Wedding day update with pics (limited time only!)

I could be wrong but I think I've finally recovered from my wedding day festivities as evident from my desire to do laundry, organize our house and getting around to writing up this post.

The wedding itself went surprisingly smoothly.  While there were a few glitches in the morning, it got better and better as the day went on.  And what a long day it was.  The girls and I started getting ready at about 6:30 am, the tea ceremony started just after 9:00am, followed by a buddhist ceremony at 11:00am, vegetarian lunch and then formal photos until cocktail hour at 5:30pm, reception at 6:30pm and a dance that went from about 10pm until sometime in the wee hours in the morning.  

I had my aligners out all day.  To make matters worse -  I forgot them at my mom's house and didn't get them back until the next day so in total I probably had them out for upwards of 36 hours or so.  I was so glad when I finally put them in that they still fit although my teeth were supersore after having them out for such a long time.  We took some friends from out of town to see the Canadian rockies for a few days after that so my teeth had a chance to readjust to tray 14 before I went in to get my attachments reattached.

Getting my attachments back was pretty non-eventful.  One thing I did notice is that is there considerable more bonding left around the attachments on my teeth this time but I didn't notice that until I left Dr. A's office.  I have to say, my teeth look a lot more crooked now that the attachments are back on and it took my teeth a few days to get used to having them on again.  

It probably wasn't a bad thing to have them reattached at this stage though as my aligners seem to be a better fit again and hopefully will line up nicely with these last few aligners.  Speaking of which, I found out from the assistant during my visit that I actually only 3 aligners left instead of 6!  Yes, you read that correctly.  My first round of aligners ends at tray 17U and not 20U as I originally thought.  Dr. A had a few over-correction trays ordered just in case my teeth haven't moved as planned by the end of tray 17 (mid-August!!).  

While my teeth still look a little ways from being done, I'll reserve my judgment until I've finished tray 17 at least.  Having said that, I'm glad I have a couple of options to address any remaining issues (over correction or refinement).  Tray 15 which I switched to last Wednesday, left me pretty sore for a few days;  whether it was because of having attachments again or there was a lot movement involved, I'm not sure.  It seems though that there might be some hope to be finished sooner rather than later yet.

I wish I was able to capture the whitening process somehow but I wasn't able to get the same lighting or positioning more than once.  I did notice that my teeth were noticeably whiter in my wedding pictures though and you'll have to let me know if they seem whiter to you.

Anyhow - a few pics from the wedding.  I'll just leave them on here for a few days.  After that, just send me (lemon_tree) a note on bracesreview.com or archwired.com if you've missed the cutoff!

Post wedding thoughts...

Total cost of my wedding $$$$$

Cost of my photographer $$$$

Cost of invisalign treatment $$$$

Cost of whitening gel: $$

Being to smile confidently in my pictures and all day long: priceless

So glad I decided to go through with it.

Will post pictures when I get a chance.

Tray 14, attachments off and whitening

Considering how sore I was after tray 14, it didn't really result in much movement.

For the most part, Dr. A seemed to be pleased with how things were progressing with my teeth.  The one sore point was that I was hoping to move on to tray 15 by the wedding but given that I wanted to do some whitening (take home kit to be used with my trays) before the wedding and was getting my attachments off in between, he suggested I keep tray 14 on.  I have to admit I was a bit disappointed.  

The removal of the attachments was less painful than I expected though a bit uncomfortable.  It took less than 15 minutes.  While removing my attachments my dentist noticed some plaque build up and suggested that I get my teeth cleaned prior to whitening to increase its effectiveness.  I was kind of hoping to wait until July 1st when my benefits would be renewed to have them cleaned but at this point what's the full cost of another cleaning?  Having said that, I'm kind of glad I did get them cleaned...

Notice the staining around my attachments?  yuck

more of the same

Some staining around my molars too!

So given all the staining that was going on and that Dr A's hygienist had a cancellation, they were able to fit me in and I agreed to it.  It was one of the most uncomfortable cleanings I've had in a while (ever 3 mos for the past year!).  I'm not sure if it was because my teeth were more sensitive after having my attachments taken off or her technique or some combination fo the two.  I have to say, given how much time I've been dedicating to keeping my teeth clean, I'm disappointed I'm still needing such frequent cleanings.  I'll have to talk my regular dentist about this when I see her next.

My schedule for the next couple of weeks looks something like this, 2x daily in tray teeth whitening for a .5 hour each time, 2x daily rinsing with a special mouth wash, same trays until wednesday after my wedding (July 4th).  On the flip side, it's been kind of nice to have a break from wearing the trays as much as possible all the time.  I figure since I've already them on for 2 weeks plus, taking the odd long lunch, or evening out (wedding tomorrow) shouldn't hurt too much.

My teeth after my attachments were taken off

My teeth after 4 days of whitening - i don't really see a difference yet.

my fiance's teeth were a bit jealous mine were getting so much attention so they tried to sneak into a side shot.  silly teeth but so so straight for being post braces 15+ years.  someone's been really good with their retainers.

Almost there...

Yikes!  16 more days until the wedding.  

I have to admit, I've been a bit bummed that my teeth aren't straighter by now.  Having said that, they are way way straighter than when I first started and based on our viewing of our engagement photos today, they seem to be camera ready too.  I don't have that awful shadow where my snaggle tooth is anymore, which to me is worth the price of my entire treatment.  

Allow me a moment of vanity here but I used to think I just wasn't very photogenic and kind of accepted it but now that I'm smiling more confidently, I'm finally enjoying having my picture taken which has never been the case.  It's not just having straighter teeth, just feeling less inhibited about showing some teeth makes such a huge huge difference.  I wish I had engagement session photos to post but we're still negotiating this with our photog.

Anyhow, here's a recap of the last few trays just to show you how much my teeth have changed.

tray 1

tray 3

tray 5

tray 7

tray 9

tray 11

tray 13

Oh, and I finally got my wedding shoes!  

No one will see these under my huge dress but they are studded with swavorski crystals and are so much fun to wear.  

Tray 13 update with pics

Sorry I've gotten so boring with these updates! I've been a busy girl. Had my staggette this weekend and work has been nutty not to mention all of this wedding stuff that needs to be taken care of...

Pictures:

Natural smile - with aligners on.

It's funny, but I usually don't smile like this (ie. with my mouth upturned) becauseI've always tried to minimize what people see of my teeth.

My midline is almost lined up!

My teeth look whiter than they actually are due to lighting.

I keep wondering if that upper canine and the neighboring premolar are getting into each other's way.

A bundle of contradictions.

I'm a just a bundle of contradictions lately.

In the mornings when I look at my teeth they look pretty good to me but in the evenings when I floss and the light is a bit harsher I don't think they look quite as straight as I would've hoped for the wedding. I guess we'll have to wait and see how the next couple of trays move my teeth.

As my teeth were falling into place I was wondering if I had unusually large front teeth but now that things have progressed further, they seem to be almost normal sized.

One night, one of my bridesmaids admitted to not being able to take her eyes off of my teeth as she was thinking of going the invisalign route. Out of instinct, I commented on how straight her teeth were already and immediately regretted it... I don't want to be one of those naysayers that everyone on the blogs always complains about!!

I think I'm being just a little bit obsessive, hopefully it's just a phase.