am i silly for being discouraged?

[MlleMo]

i'm at 18 of 25U and 38L

[Phantom Muse]

MlleMo,

I don't think it is ever silly to be discouraged; in fact, I think it is absolutely normal! It looks as if some of the difficult moves you needed to have happen, however, have happened! The top teeth, because the roots are so big, are harder to move, and it appears that the arch has widened and some of those teeth have moved "out" to meet the ones next to them. (If I accurately knew the correct names for each tooth, this would make more sense!). In my experience, the lower front four teeth can move rather easily, and you still have a number of trays to go, so I would not be worried.

In my own treatment, my lowers moved right away (they are straight now), but only now am I beginning to see changes on my uppers. However, for the first 6 trays, there was a lot of movement in the back teeth, making space for other teeth to move into their proper places.

Can you ask your ortho if you can look at some of the later trays so that you can get a boost of encouragement by having a tangible view of the changes to expect (and when you will see what you want to see)? One of the most frustrating parts of any type of braces is when the movement is happening, but it isn't visible!

In addition, with Invisalign, we can see everything so clearly because we take the trays off so often, and in some ways, I think that might make Invisalign users more prone to feeling discouraged. When I had metal braces as a teenage, I really don't remember paying much attention to my teeth while I was braced. I couldn't see the changes anyway...

Hang in there!

[myhollywoodsmile]

Don't be discouraged! Although it is normal the first parts of your teeth changing are often the ones that you see the least. As you get closer to the end things seem to suddenly look better. Lately I have been getting a little discouraged myself- until yesterday when I watched a video of myself five years ago. My teeth were awful! Why didn't anyone tell me!
I also agree with phantom that as the changes are seen over a longer period there is less of a wow effect at the end. It's still happening though!

[lemon tree]

Everyone above has given really good advice. Keep in mind you've still got quite a few trays to go and then three runs of refinements after that. To be honest, I felt similarly to you at different points in my treatment but given how crooked my teeth were to begin with I try to stay positive and focus on how much they've changed. I definitely see a change in your teeth and hopefully by the end of your treatment (refinements and all), you'll end up with results you're pleased with.

[MlleMo]

teeth.jpg

just updating

[InvisaNewbie]

Amazing! Congratulations, your teeth are beautiful! Great encouragement for people, thanks

[mommamorin]

MlleMo,
awesome!

[Jo Anne]

Wow! I looked at the "before" and they look awesome now!!

[ChicagoGirl]

WOW!!!!! What a huuuge difference! Your teeth look INCREDIBLY AMAZING!!!

Did you whiten your teeth after? What did you use to whiten them?

Congrats!!! This is huge motivation for me to keep going