2017 - Year of Invisalign

Why? After 10 years of watching my lower teeth bend in and looking at a future me being annoyed at my younger self, I decided to do Invisalign. I've never needed braces and still have fairly straight teeth. I figure why wait until there's a floss and bite problem to fix it when it can be done now with minimal (hopefully) discomfort. Plus anything done today will cost less than 10 years from now. So impressions were taken, trays were ordered and now I find myself on Day 4 of a 42 week plan to straighten my teeth. 

What I didn't know was that both top and lower teeth have to be done so that the teeth and your bite are not off kilter. My top teeth which I considered great are the ones getting the most tightness from the aligner. The lower aligner is hardly noticeable. I also wasn't expecting so many attachments to hold the aligners in place. I guess my teeth needed more work than I though, or at least more help since the 42 weeks in less than the projected 52 weeks.

The recommendation of keeping the aligners on for 22 hours a day is nearly impossible if you're used to eating 5 times a day like I do. You have to take them out every time you eat or drink (anything but water) then brush and floss your teeth before putting them back in. Otherwise cavities result and the aligner gets discolored. 20 hours I can do and that's the minimum allotment to stay within the 42 weeks. Putting less time in can lead to extra weeks added to the program. 

A new tray starts every two weeks. Today I am on Tray 1 of 21, Day 4. I'm not going to take pictures of my teeth because no one really needs to see that. Instead, I'll update my progress each month with Yertle.