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Hi Friends,

Today marked another milestone in my Invisalign adventure. I had 7 attachments installed and survived the infamous IPR experience!

I have 2 attachments on the upper arch on a canine and a premolar. The remaining 5 are on the lower arch on the incisors next to the extraction site and on the premolars.

The attachments procedure was pretty straight forward. First, the teeth were polished and cleaned to prepare the surface for the bonding material. The attachments were placed on my teeth inside some kind of template that fit on my arch just like an aligner. They were cured with the blue light and done painlessly in about 20 minutes.

I felt a little sensitivity on a few teeth as the excess bonding material was removed, but it wasn't too unbearable.

The attachments are shaped like rectangles and very close in colour to my teeth. I highly doubt anyone will notice unless they're looking for them.

If you're reading this and have attachments in your future, I would recommend taking some lip moisturizer with you. The cheek retractors stretch your lips, and it's a little uncomfortable.

Okay...the moment of truth was next. Interproximal Reduction (IPR). The shaving away of perfectly good enamel. All I can say, is I am fortunate to have an ortho with a very steady hand! This procedure was done using a handpiece with a shaving wheel on the end that was just slid between my teeth. No pain at all. I felt the wheel hit the gums a few times, but suprisingly it didn't hurt. I guess my gums are pretty robust now that I floss like it's going out of style.

Now for the fun part. I have been fighting 'tooth and nail' so far trying to get the aligners off to eat. After about 5 minutes, a cut finger, and saliva running down to my elbows, I managed to get them off to eat lunch. I'm lucky I only have 7 attachments!! I really hope my teeth move a little by Monday...I don't think I can last a work day on a liquid diet.

The only slight tooth pain I have experienced so far with Invisalign is removing the aligners during the first 2 days of a new set. Other than that, I forget they're in my mouth on most days.

Thanks for reading!