mini update and photo

Hi everyone,
In five days I go for my appointment, THE APPOINTMENT!!! Just thought I would share a quick update with you - my teeth huuuurt :( They are still incredibly sensitive to pressure, hot, cold, anything, air, food, gum, toothpaste, mouthwash, water, etc etc. Also I am sharing a photo with you all - these are my rubber bands in perspective - see how small they are!!! That's why it hurt so much when my teeth were first starting to pull!

And yes this is completely un-blog-related, but Scoobie says HI!

And that his waggy tail is evidence that he secretly loves his turtle coat: I call him teenage mutant ninja scoobie

See, what an awesome little update - I bet you werent expecting doggie photos!

F

Disappointing appointment

Hello there everyone in cyber-space.

Just thought I'd update you - it's not much of an update to be honest, but I thought I should be a good blogger and keep you up to speed coz even the smallest thing for someone can install fear/happiness in others.
Yesterday I went to the orthodontist for what I very excitedly and wholeheartedly thought was THE DAY - when I get all my attachments taken off and my teeth shaped into the beautiful pearly whites I have always dreamed of getting. my appointment was at 4.30, and even though I knew, and they knew, that my appointment was going to be a long one, they didn't mention to me anything that would make me think otherwise.
Upon arriving, my orthodontist looked at my teeth and explained that he would start shaping them. Great I think. But after a while it became clear to me that not everything would be done in this appointment as it was getting rather close to 5pm, their closing time. Now forgive me for whinging, but surely, when my teeth alone are generating over 7 thousand dollars for their business, half an hour of over time won't hurt, considering they don't actually have to work it to pay bills like us common folk, and for the reason that I had to take unpaid time off work and spend around $40 petrol to get to my appointment, I find it a bit rude that they made me reschedule for another day, a middle of the day appointment, where I have to take even MORE time off.

Rant over - I am quite happy at how my teeth are shaping up! All the "notches" are being taken out and my teeht being smoothed into normal shapes. This does cause some sensitivity to my teeth but it's not too bad and I am told it will lessen with time, in the mean time I am to use a desensitizing toothpaste as a ointment twice a day.

In two weeks time I will be back there, at 4pm whith a whole hour up my sleeve, to get the rest done. This includes taking new moulds for my retainers.

I hope this was a good little update for you, although there is no not much progress to report I'm sure if you are interested in Invisalign, any information from humans you can get your hands on is a plus.

Til next time :)

Faith

Set 22 of 22!!

Well hello everyone!!
My lack of speediness in the blogging department once again shows that nothing too exciting has happened since I last checked in, apart from in the last week.
I have been on set 22 of 22 (hells yes!!) for three weeks and four days now. I was advised to wear this set (remember my bottoms finished way back at 14) for longer as my orthodontist wasn't too sure if my teeth directly on either side of my front ones (insert flash name here) would drop down level by themselves or not, so we decided to wait another week before taking any action in the hope that it happened. It did not. So now, as of Monday just gone, I have two metal attachments, one on the gum line of each of the two offending teeth, which rubber bands hook onto and to down the tooth, around the bottom and back up the inside where they slot into grooves made into my aligners.

 Not very sexy! But it does make me so greatful at how invisible my treatment has been so far, and reminds me how lucky I was not to have full metal braces. These will stay on for a month, a bit of a disaster it is my birthday in 5 days and I do feel self conscience around people a lot more than I used to, and also, I have lots of job interviews to go to and am worried that my appearance may affect getting work. In retrospect though, a month is a short time to be inconvenienced - I am lucky.

Now, I have talked about the pain invisalign causes in the past, but let me tell you, I was NOT prepared for it this time. Thinking my teeth were straight (well almost) made me think there would be no more pain - turns out that pulling teeth downward instead of just moving them is much, much more painful. Pair that with being cold and having no painkillers on hand, Monday night was not a nice one for me or anyone in my company - at one point I was awake in the night trying not to wake Josh with my whimpering.

I'm sure you all can see from the photo above that my teeth are looking great! The two teeth with the bands still need to move around a bit, which is a huge hastle because it means that I have to get all my buttons/attachments taken off, moulds done again and all the process started again for refinements. This will happen on the 18th of June at my next appointment. This appointment will be along one, because as well as that being done, I also get my teeth shaped to be all uniform, and my front one that is chipped filled in. In earlier photos I think you will see that my eye teeth and others too have notches in them - these are from when your teeth first cut thru at a child, normal wear and tear get rid of them - unless you have a screwed up bite, like I did. They have not had the chance to wear down naturally so my orthodontist will be working his magic and doing it for me. I think that bit excites me the most - finally having not just straight, but uniform teeth!!!

In past posts I complained about my bottom aligner that is being used as a retainer was getting scungey. Well, after more than 16 weeks of having it, my mouth just feels foul. The aligner has build up on i that a toothbrush cant get away, it is not clear now, rather opaque and foul smelling, and I am constantly paranoid of having bad breathe. Even now, just after brushing and flossing and soaking my aligners in denture cleaning fluid - the dissolvable tablet kind - I feel I do not have very fresh breath. Yes I can taste mint, but also yucky mouth taste too. If anyone has tricks to get rid of or help with this, please comment on this post - I feel pretty unhygenic these days :(

That's all for now - I'm sure this has served as a decent lengthed update for yall!!

Comment if you have questions etc!

Faith <3

Aligner set #2

Hey everyone!!
Last night I changed my aligners for the first time - I am seriously glad as my number 1 ones were waaaay past their use-by date, so munted and yucky! I made sure I ate heaps, anticipating that I may notb  able to get them off for breakfast. Yummy beef cassarole for dinner and banana choc chip cake and jellytip icecream for pudding, mmmmmmmm :)

Anyway, I brushed and flossed and rinsed and jammed them in, holy cow, they felt great! All new and smooth and a bit squeaky and I could REALLY feel the pull on my teeth. So I went to bed and woke up with a wet pillow - DRIBBLED AGAIN!!! yuck.

This morning I took painkillers and then half an hour later decided to take them out for breakfast - and it was super easy! I guess I know how things work better now! My teeth arent sore like what I talk about in my posts from my first set of aligners, rather, they feel like they are being pushed up into my gums???? But it's a good, productive feeling in any case, because I know they are doing their thang!!!

Ok and I have a naughty confession to make to you all - if I want an energy drink or I'm having some wines or whatnot - as long as the liquid is clear or close to clear - I dont talk my aligners out. After every glass I rinse my mouth really REALLY thoroughly with water and when I'm home I have a big frantic "righting my wrongs" scrub, floss and rinse.

Just another funny point: if you are going to get invisalign, stock up on toothbrushes!!! I worked out that I use my home toothbrush 4x a day. That means, in a week, I will have used that toothbrush 28 times. Thats the same amount as some people do in a month! So every week or two weeks, maybe one and half, I have to change my toothbrush because it gets soooo frayed and flogged out!! Like I've been using it for 6 months, it's crazy!!!!!

That's all folks, tune in next time for some more Invisalign fun! P.S. KAT IF YOU KNOW WHERE WE ARE DRINKING TONIGHT, TEXT ME!!! WE FEEL LIKE BEING SOCIABLE FOR A CHANGE.

A weirdo stockpiling

I just had a thought to share with you my recent trip to the supermarket with a friend.

We had planned a movie night, and needed the junk food to go with it. I also needed to buy some toothpaste etc, to stock up for when I got Invisalign, while I had the money. My partner put in a request for liquorice and chocolate.

We walked up to the checkout, Leanne with her popcorn, bikkies, wine, lollies and chippies, and me with a huge armful of toothpastes, toothbrushes, floss, denture cleaner, chocolate, and liquorice. Well, the look the checkout lady gave me! It was like "honey, I suggest not even buying chocolate if you are that anal over oral hygiene and tooth decay." Maybe in future I will buy the bits and pieces one or two at a time, in order to live life more inconspicuously. 

Another thing, this morning dad asked after my Invisalign, wondering why they hadn't arrived yet. I told him they must be still on the boat... "A BOAT!? THEY COME ON A FLAMING BOAT? HOW BIG ARE THE FLAMING THINGS? GIVE ME THEIR NUMBER!!!!" Yes, certainly, so nice dentist man can turn into torturous dentist man when I visit him next.