Progress Weeks 7-8

Tray four is done. It was the first tray with attachments and I can say with pride that none of them have come off yet. Hopefully the glue holds for the rest of the treatment. :) Only 20 trays to go! Apparently people still can't see my trays. I like it.

Below are pictures after tray 4. No new developments; the headaches and tension are around consistently  for the first 4 days of the tray. The lockjaw chooses to be better/worse at random, but sticks around day in and day out. It's not affecting my health or life so I let it be. I did get a prescription for muscle relaxers just in case, but I haven't needed to fill it yet. We'll see.

Front View

Top View

Bottom View

Still on a roll. Consistent wear (hitting my 20-22 hours every day) and flossing every night. Routine is good - time consuming but definitely worth it.

I Got My Attachments

I didn't know attachments existed and I almost let them be a deal breaker. After seeing videos on youtube I  was not excited about having them put on my teeth. It seemed to take away the "invisible" element of Invisalign to a large extent.

By the time I found out they'd be necessary, I was 3/4ths the way through the process and had paid in full. LOL. The options were either suck it up or lose the invested time and figure out how to get my money back. I'm not saying it was an easy choice. The attachments are on for almost a year, but the already having paid part did help encourage me to proceed. Ultimately the attachments were far less noticeable than any braces would be and I was in it to get my teeth straightened.

The attachment appointment:

• The whole process took no more than 30 minutes for 11 attachments.
• They started by slipping on a retainer tray to make sure my teeth were where they needed to be at.
• The retainer came off loose and they were happy with my progress so far.
• The dentist mentioned at this point that all new trays would be more aggressive in terms of movement. FUN.
• To get the attachments on she primed each tooth that required an attachment with a little wash to make the surface less smooth where the attachment would go.
• Each attachment placement got a coating of glue and a UV light treatment to help cure the bond.
• They popped on my new trays (now with bumps for the attachments) and cured  with the UV light again.

After the attachments were seated:

• My teeth felt pretty rough. Lots of excess glue, but the dentist assured me this would come off over a course of weeks as I brushed my teeth.
• The new trays were HARD to get off. Given I was trying to be careful not to pop the attachments off, but she wasn't lying about the movement being more aggressive.
• No pain from the attachments, but the suggested wear time before removal was 3 hours to let the glue set for a while. I went for 5. She kept telling me she expected me to pop one off so I want to try my damnedest not to!

How they look:

I can definitely say that I'm shocked how invisible they are when the trays off. Impressed even. With the trays on...not so much, but I'll let you be the judge.

Attachments front view

Attachments side view

Attachments with trays front view

Attachments with trays side view

All my trays after this have attachment bubbles. I can't loose break or lose trays because none of the old ones will fit!

Progress Weeks 5-6

Tray three is done, this week I got my attachments and new trays! Three down, 21 to go. Below are the pictures while I was wearing tray 3. I had to wear the tray a couple extra days due to the timing of my attachment appointment. Nothing new with tray 3, it was about the same as tray 2 from start to finish with headaches, tension, and jaw getting locked when I first started wearing it, but significant reduction after 3-5 days.

Front View

Top View

Bottom View

Still on a roll, no slip ups. I've consistently worn my trays for between 20-22 hours every day and have flossed every night. Getting into a good routine and being less psycho about brushing every time after I eat something small or drink something sugary during the day. Just making sure not to leave anything sitting for more than a few hours really.

Oh the Lockjaw!

Lockjaw you say? But isn't that something that happens if you've got tetanus. True enough, it does happen with tetanus, but it can also be associated with a bunch of other stuff. A more general term you might see used online is "trismus" or inability to normally open the mouth. What happens is you start to open your mouth and then BOOM, you realize it's locked and can only open so far. Thus the term lockjaw.

As the weeks have gone on, my jaw has been locked more and more frequently. It happens randomly, but usually is more common 1) right when I wake up in the morning or 2) when I've been laying on my side (putting pressure on my jaw).

It's not usually that painful. Just depends on how hard I have to work to force my mouth open.

When I do get my jaw unlocked there's a massive 'click' sound coming from the jaw itself. As far as I know, there really isn't any other thing you can do than just force your jaw open. After you get it open, just work it out over and over again. This gives you back the range of motion and releases the tension. My jaw clicks most of time now but how loud it is (audible only to me vs. audible to people near me) depends on how recently my last "lock incident" was. It kind of sucks and gets more painful over time, but luckily only one side of my jaw is locking.

I've been unsuccessful in getting the jaw unlocked more than a few times, without either removing the trays and massaging the muscles in my cheek. Once the jaw is unlocked, the trays go right back in. No harm, no foul. It doesn't seem to instigate more locking. I'm going to see what the dentist says about this the next time I go in. Not sure what they'll suggest or prescribe. Just haven't found a lot of useful information about this online when it comes to Invisalign-related lockjaw.


JAN 2013 UPDATE: I'm over halfway through my treatment. Something cool happened temporarily during the first couple days of my current tray.

If I had to rate my usual lockjaw tension from 1 to 10 - with 1 being not much tension, and 10 being so tense I can't get my jaw open without multiple attempts - I'm usually anywhere between 6 and 8. When I shoved my current trays on, the lockjaw loosened up for a couple days! It was around a 3 or 4 on days 1 and 2; the usual amount of tension (without pain) returned on day 3. Like I said, it was temporary, but what is cool is that it's a good indicator my bite is starting to get matched up again! Very cool. I can definitely see a lot of good progress since I started with Invisalign now in lots of places.

Progress Weeks 3-4

Tray two is done and I'm halfway though tray 3! Two down, 22 to go. Below are the pictures after tray two, posting them a little late, but equal intervals from the last progress post. I'm starting to see like one or two teeth moving, but other than that not any major differences. I can definitely feel a difference.

Tray two has been somewhat annoying with headaches and lockjaw. Based on my progress so far into tray 3, I'm expecting things to get more annoying/painful. It's not killer - maybe an average 4 on a pain scale of 1 to 10 when it hurts - but the headaches are inconvenient. Sometimes they try to rage on me when I'm tired or trying to work.

Front View

Top View

Bottom View

No painkillers for you! The dentist is being totally lame about giving me the pain medication I need. Taking 4 advil at a time (800 mg) does very little and any less does nothing. Not really keen on taking that much advil all the time. It's bad for your workout progress and for your tummy.

My previous dentist gave me vicodin and muscle relaxers for some jaw pain which helped tremendously. They want me to come in to talk to the dentist, because if I look him in the eyes and say the same thing, that will be more effective. I'm going in next week for my attachments so I figured I could suffer until then rather then go to the dentist 20 times each month. My dentist's office and I talk almost every week. They're always messing something administrative up, but damnit I like the dentists.

I've been a pretty good girl.
I've worn my trays for between 20-22 hours every day and have flossed almost every night. :) I've been a little more lax about drinking non-water things with the trays in. I keep my trays clean though so it hasn't been an issue. Yay progress.

Cleaning Your Trays (and Your Teeth)

It should go without saying that you should clean both your trays and your teeth if you want to avoid bad breath and cavities. I'll make no assumptions and just give you the run down on what seems to be the easiest way to stay fresh, clean, and keep your trays see-through.

A note about toothpaste and mouthwash: My dentist recommended that I not use any sort of whitening toothpaste when brushing my trays due to it's abrasive nature and potential to cause damage to the trays. That said, it's totally OK to brush your teeth with whitening toothpaste. I was also advised to not use mouthwashes with alcohol before putting the trays on because alcohol can dry out the trays and make them brittle. I'm not going to cover mouthwash here. If you use it, get the alcohol-free version of your favorite kind.

Daily Routine - Brushing / Flossing

You'll need:

1. Two soft-bristled toothbrushes. One for home and one to take with you every where else.
2. Toothpaste.  If your usual toothpaste has "whitening action" you'll also need one without.
3. Floss. I like Oral-B glide. Crest also makes a glide floss.

Morning Brush: Your mouth is going to be full of funk, your trays are going to be in, and you need to brush to be clean.

1. Try leaving your trays in and brush them with non-whitening toothpaste.
2. Spit and rinse, not pop out your trays.
3. Brush the insides of your trays with the remaining non-whitening toothpaste left on your brush.
4. Now brush your teeth with the toothpaste of your choice.

Midday Brushing: You'll be brushing to get the food out of your teeth before putting your trays back on after you eat.

1. Brush your teeth and trays (inside and out) with non-whitening toothpaste.
2. Floss if you're amazing. I only floss at the end of the day.

Final Brush Before Bed: You'll be prepping your teeth for an overnight stay with the trays on. You don't want to leave anything in there. Brush well!

1. Brush your teeth with the toothpaste of your choice.
2. Floss like you mean it, leave no gunk behind.
3. Brush your trays (inside and out) with non-whitening toothpaste and pay special attention to get all the crevices.

Technically if you flossed the night before you should be set so you don't have to floss in the morning. Pay attention to white cloudy stuff on the insides of your trays. This can be brushed off. Also pay mind to any roughness you feel on your trays while you're wearing them. Brush these parts thoroughly before bed.

Weekly Routine - Soaking

You'll need:

1. A cup or a glass big enough to hold your trays.
2. Retainer Bright cleaning tablets.

Easy to find on Amazon.com

About once a week (or when the trays starting to have a smell about them - ick!) I'll give them a soak in the Retainer Brite. You can find lots of sellers on www.amazon.com. I think I paid around $25 for 64 tablets. I think 36 tablets would last you way longer than 1 month, assuming you're brushing your trays.

The instructions are printed on the side of the box. Cleaning is a snap and takes less than half an hour. I've pasted some images of the process below.

Instructions printed on the side of the box.

Take out a Retainer Bright cleaning tablet.

Put the capsule in warm water

It gets pretty fizzy! Toss in your trays.

Wait till the water is clear and then you're done!

Don't forget to rinse your trays after you take them out of the solution. If you notice they aren't as clear as you were hoping, it could be related to needing to brush the trays OR torquing the trays. The trays get bend when you bite down while they're in your mouth or when you remove them. This can cause the plastic to look more white towards the end of their cycle. Cleaning them won't help this. Just try to be careful of bending them.

Progress Weeks 1-2

Tray one is done! 1 down, 23 to go. Below are the pictures after tray one, I don't see much of a difference. Tray one gave me little to no pain. No one has noticed my trays so far. Very cool.

Front View

Top View

Bottom View 

Tray 2 is in! On Monday evening I put in tray two. It's been pretty painful for the last few days. I've had a headache going since Tuesday. Poppin' lots of advil which is helping some, not a ton. The top tray is giving me the most pain, but surprisingly comes off pretty easily. The bottom tray is less painful, but is nearly impossible to get off. Makes no sense!

Today is day 3 of my second tray set and it feels like my teeth are all over the place every time I put the trays back in. It seems to take at least 20-45 mins before I feel like my teeth are lined up inside the trays again. Definitely encourages me to keep them on for longer.

I've been a good girl!
I've worn my trays for between 20-22 hours every day. I've also been flossing almost every night. :)