Refinement Time!

Well a month and a week ago I went to my orthodontist's office and got all of my attachments sanded off, which was not very pleasant, because my initial 20U/22L aligners were done. I had some complaint about 2 teeth that I wanted moved on the top and he agreed so we did the whole drool on yourself for five minutes thing again with the invisalign impressions and he told me in 4 weeks they would be back in his office and to come in then.

That brings me to the now...

Well on Monday I went and got my refinement trays which surprisingly is only 4 more sets of trays. I had to get some saving done but that wasn't bad. My trays were very tight which I haven't had to deal with in a while. I informed my orthodontist about the fact that my teeth do not touch and he told me that when the teeth cannot touch eachother they forget how to set and the only way to fix this is to not have anything between them meaning no invisalign retainer for me in 8 weeks, I get a permanent retainer attached to the back of my teeth. I hope that my teeth come together! Ahhhh...

Anyway, Until next time!

Love,
Shawnna

I am still here. Waiting for refinement.

Well sorry about the lack of posts a lot has happened to me in the past month since I have posted. I will start here...

*I was laid off recently so have been pretty busy with work and trying to find work.

*I am graduating in one week, yey!

So those two things have really kept me on my toes but here it goes on the invisalign...

I finished my 20U/22L trays which was great, I must say I am very please with my results. I went to the orthodontist on 5/13/2008 and they sanded off all of my attachments.... sweeeet. I let my orthodontist know that there are two teeth on the top that I would like to be pushed in more and he agreed so he took impressions for the top teeth only, he said the bottom teeth are perfect, and told me in about 4 weeks I would have my refinement trays in.

I would also like to add that my bite is off by a lot, off as in my teeth don't touch in the back making it very uncomfortable for me, I am going to wait until my refinement is done to tell my ortho and see if it gets any better, if not he may have to put me in braces so I can use rubberbands to move my jaw.

He didn't order any retainers yet, he just told me to use my last trays for awhile, I also only have to wear them at night but like to wear them all day anyways.

I know I have promised pictures for a while and I have been a slacker but I DO have pictures that were taken at the orthodontists office when I went in to get my attachments taken off. Anyway, to my loyal readers, thank you, and I promise I will do my best to keep posting updates. Talk to you later!

xoxo,

Shawnna

Photos:

Front View

Top Teeth

Bottom Teeth

Tray 19, Day 3

Well, here I am admitting my slackerishness again! I really must get better at sticking the commitment that I made to my poor little blog!

Well heres how it goes-

On Monday morning I went to the orthodontist for one of my last scheduled checkups. Well I must say that Dr. Little was very impressed by my progress and even said that the next time I go in could be to get my impressions for my retainer! *sweet* He said that since I have worn them like I am suppose to my teeth are right where they should be and next time when I go in for my checkup (April 15th I believe) he said that if I like where my teeth are and he like how things look he will order my retainers. *Magnificent!*

Also, I only have one more try after this until my top aligners are up and 3 more for the bottom after this set I am in. Dr. Little said after wearing my last top aligner for 3 weeks I could wear it just at night if I would like. :)

Now that I have told all of my good news I must tell my bad...
The dreaded cut up tongue of doom has returned for whatever reason (I think an unskillful invisalign technician cut this one!) and my torment from it is back... oi

Other than that something happened that I didn't expect to happen, I want to keep my trays out as long as possible because I love the way my smile looks now! I said in a previous post that I liked having them in because they made my teeth look better but now I see them as a flaw! I'm so very excited and especially because I am graduating this May and I will be able to smile big for all those pictures! yey!

Oh, and I forgot to mention I got my Monroe pierced about a week and a half ago but my orthodontist didn't seemed concerned about it. I was afraid he would tell me I should take it out! Nooo....

Anyways, Until next time!

-Shawnna

Tray 17, Day 8 (Sorry For Not Updating!)

Well, I must say that I am being quite a slacker. Well lets update on progress shall we? I am currently on tray 17 meaning I am 3 trays away from ending my top aligners and I am 5 trays away from being done with the bottom! Yey.

My teeth seem very much the same as at tray 11 in this series so I dunno not that exciting. I have an orthodontist appointment on March 17th and I will get the rest of my sets then. I needed dental work done before starting invisalign but never addressed it so I am thinking that in March after I am done I will get all work done so that I can have a 100% beautiful smile when I am finally done with my treatment.

My ortho told me I will inevitably need refinements but my progress is right on track so its not a huge deal.

Im dreading getting my attachments taken off to get impressions made because the tool they use makes such a horrible sound when they sand them off, eekkk.

I promise I WILL post pictures asap!!! Hope somebody even reads this!

Talk to you soon,
Shawnna

Tray 11, Day 2 Will Post Pictures!

Wow! What a difference one aligner will make!

So as I posted before I had an orthodontist appointment yesterday, Monday the 26th, for my 8 week check up and distribution on 4 more sets of trays. He said I was being a "good girl" and wearing my aligners prefectly since my teeth are right where they should be at this point in time. So he put in my 11th set and man were they snug! I was so excited to be more than half way through! I felt like a million bucks when I left his office, so off to McDonalds I went to eat breakfast before I went to school.

So here I am with my nice little breakfast sandwhich and I go to take out my brand new very snug aligners right? Well I go to take them out same as always and one of my attachments got ripped off! In fact my attachment was still stuck in my aligner when I looked at it!!! So I thought I was doing so well with my attachments and the happened. So I call my orthodontist and he said my attachment is important for my aligners but I will not need it untill my next aligner so.... in 2 weeks I have to go back in to get my attachment put back on. :(

Also, something that has never before happened to me before except for my very first tray is my teeth and tongue are killing me!!! I feel that I am getting more done in this tray than I have in my last 10, so I guess that is a good thing.

I asked my orthodontist about my retainer and what he will have me use as a retainer when my treatment is done and he said that is dosen't matter which one I use, the one with metal or the ones provided by invisalign, and that I will have to wear both the same amount of time. He said that I will have to wear them day and night for about 8 months then I will go into wearing them at night about 2 nights a week for the rest of my life. And it makes me laugh because people are like, "Do I have to wear retainers forever, if so then what is the point?" I don't think people realize that 2 nights a week for the rest of your life is a small price to pay for your expensive treatment which makes your more confident in your self, if you didnt want to maintain your beautiful smile for the rest of your life and you don't want to take the steps to keep it the way YOU wanted it in the first place then why waste the time AND money to get the smile you wanted anyways?

Anyways all in all I am VERY VERY pleased with my progress, and let me tell you sometimes I just want to say I give up and throw my aligners away, It may sound weird but, I miss the feeling of my own teeth =( but then I remember how bad I WANTED THIS SMILE and how long it took me to convince my mom to let me get orthodontic work done and I just deal with it. I have my next appointment in 8 weeks or on Jan. 21st, 2008 and will get 4 more trays putting me at tray 18 by March 10th or so =). Anyways untill next time! And I hope my pictures of my progress inspire you all to just keep going.

Xoxox,
Shawnna

Like I Promised!! Update on Last Post!

Alright so like I promised I took pictures of my current progress! Yey! Well I think you will all definitely see a big difference from when I first started this tedious journey we all call Invisalign. I will put the beginning photos before its newer counterpart so that you can really pick out the changes. Happy thanksgiving everyone! Hope that this post inspires those who think this is a waste of time, just keep going!
- Shawnna

Tray 10, Day 8

Alright so I haven't been updating at all, shame on me!!! My last update was on tray 5 and I am not on tray 10 so I have been neglecting this blog for about 10 weeks. So to start...

Not much has happened in the way of my invisalign experience. I had a check up with my orthodontist at tray 7 and he said things are right on track to keep my progression going. They said that I am doing great sticking to my wear time since I am a teenager and they have had tough times getting their teen patients to do what is expected of them. The appointment made me feel great.
My smiles is soooo... different! I am so please with my results. I am set to have 20U/22L and have an orthodontist appointment on November 26th and my orthodontist will give me about 4 to 5 new sets to take home before my next visit. That will put me at about 14 or 15 meaning only 5 more trays left! w00t. I am sure I will need refinements but, I really haven't had any problems with treatment so hopefully I can keep the refinements at a minimum.

My teeth arn't putting up a struggle to move. Actually I don't have much pain with new aligners at all. At my very first appointment I got 13 attachments put on and those haven't given me any problems either, other than getting food stuck on them, that is. I haven't had any problems with getting my aligners off either, actually all it takes is a flick of my tounge and they go flying.

A habit that I have picked up along the way, which shamefully is a bad one, I no longer brush and floss after every single bite of food that I consume. I will rinse with water and brush within a few hours after eatting. I still clean them in my sonicbrite system every three days.
Well that is my update not much of anything going on but I am so happy with my results. I will post pictures soon as well as an update on how my orthodontist appointment goes. Talk to you on Monday!!


-Shawnna