gap

Hi Friends,

I'm a little overdue for an update. It's been several weeks, and I'm now on tray 6/32. I'm just starting to notice some changes in my teeth now. Nothing too drastic, but there has been progress.

The gap in my lower arch is starting to close up. It's hard to tell with the naked eye, but my tongue doesn't poke through as easily as it did after the extraction. Since having the attachments installed, I've also noticed that the 2 incisors that are moving over to fill the gap feel slightly loose most of the time. I was a little concerned at first, but it seems to be a normal during treatment. Actually, feeling the loose teeth keeps me mindful of wearing the aligners as long as possible to support them.

My only other indication of change is the floss slides between many teeth a lot easier now. I have noticed that there is what I would describe as dark brown stains on the sides of some of my teeth. I'm not too sure what that is, but I can only guess that it's permanently stained from years of not flossing regularly.

Now that I floss several times a day, I don't think I could ever return to the days of not flossing. It's mind blowing to see really how much food comes flying out from between teeth after only 1 meal!!

Also, I seem to be dropping weight surprisingly fast. Infact, I might just go as far as saying I am withering away. I guess I didn't realize how much I snacked before starting Invisalign!! I'm a pretty gangling individual to begin with, but I have dropped 11Lbs in 10 weeks!! I don't even think Jenny Craig could compete with this kind of weight loss program. At this rate, I'll be reduced to a pile of dust by the end of my treatment.

Now, I'm sure everyone has some great stories of dealing with Invisalign in public. So far, I've survived a few corporate golf tournaments, a rock concert where I told the security official at the entrance my Invisalign case was for holding my teeth when he asked what the blue case was, and a few fancy dinners out with my wife.

I've only experienced one excruciating dilemma...I was rinsing out my aligners after a meal at a restaurant, and one of them slipped out of my hand into the sink!! For the life of me I didn't want to put it back in my mouth, but I had several hours ahead of me before being back home to dunk them in peroxide.

I stood there almost paralyzed for a moment. I gave it a good scrub with toothpaste and water, popped it back in, gagged and moved on.

I'll only let that happen twice...The first time and the last!

To conclude, my treatment is still going very well as far as I can tell. My teeth are sore for about 3 days with a new set of trays, but Tylenol works well for pain management. I'm really happy to see some progress. It keeps me compliant.

Thanks for reading!