Vacation time

I decided to stick to the program and swap out my aligners on the second night of vacation. This set went in easily, but I was definitely feeling it the next couple of days, even with liberal use of Sensodyne toothpaste. Not that it slowed my vacation eating any - so much for the Invisalign diet - breakfast buffets, ice cream treats, and other goodies were there the entire week.

Progress continues, though during the last sets my teeth looked so good, this set is one of those "transitional/my teeth don't look right" sets. As before, patience is necessary - I'm sure in a set or two things will look good again. I continue to have concern that a couple of teeth are not tracking well, though my ortho says everything looks great. I still expect that I will need some refinements. I will be glad when the whole process is over, but will deal with extra weeks of refinements - the whole process overall has not been bad, so what are a few extra aligners?

Lucky 13

Set 12 went off without a hitch. Had a good ortho checkup; everything continues to go as planned. He gave me 4 sets of aligners and an appointment in 8 weeks - my longest stretch between appointments (he actually asked me if I wanted 3 or 4 sets).

Set 13 is still tight 8 days into the set - I think this is the longest time I have noticed tightness. I have been using the chewies every time I insert the aligners (recommended by Dr. Jason Tam of Markham Orthodontics, who is a frequent poster on the Invisalign boards and has some great informational videos on youtube). Maybe the aligners are just seating better than before so I am feeling it longer.

For my increase in chewie use, I ordered some mint-flavored chewies. They don't taste bad, and it gives a little bit of a feeling of chewing gum, which I miss since I began treatment in February. I will again float the idea of making the aligners mint flavored - might be nice to have a hint of minty freshness all day.

I am back to the vacation dilemma I had in March. We are going away starting Monday, which is the day I would normally switch to the next set of aligners. I took an extra week back then, and also an extra week in July when I was sick, so I am reluctant to extend my treatment yet another week. I will make a final decision over the weekend.

Minor delay

Was flat on my back sick as a dog for nearly 5 days last week. Well, ordinarily illness would not be an issue, but multiple sessions of cookie tossing are not conducive to aligner wearing, and they were out for much of those days.

So I wore set 11 for an extra week, and am now wearing set 12. They went in fairly easily, but as I slacked off on the Sensodyne toothpaste again, I am feeling some soreness the past 2 days. The only other change is that I am using the aligner "chewies" more frequently, to ensure the aligners seat well and I get maximum movement for this aligner.

Halfway point

How could I have missed the fact that I am now at the halfway point? Now, when I say halfway, I mean that I am on set 11 of 22 upper and lower aligners; but I know quite well that this is just the initial treatment. There could be a whole new set of refinements when I hit the magic 22. Even so, I am quite pleased to be at the 50% mark - things have gone well, I have not had much trouble adjusting to Invisalign, and hope the rest goes as well.

On another note, while checking into a hotel yesterday, the bell hop said "can I ask you a personal question?" I said "fire away" and he said "does your insurance cover Invisalign?" I told him that my insurance covers about one-third of the $6600 price tag. I also said that I was surprised he could tell I was wearing the aligners - nobody has ever said anything before, and as I noted in an earlier posting, my wife and even orthodontist don't even notice. Anyway, he said he went through 2 sets of braces - once as a teen and again in his 20s, and he feels his teeth have shifted again. Funny, they looked movie star perfect to me...

Long time, no post

Wow - over 3 weeks without a post. Things have been so quiet that there was nothing to say.

While the time was uneventful, I was a bit lax with aligner set #10. I left them out for longer than I should have for a few days last week - one afternoon for a barbecue, one night from before dinner until bedtime, etc... I know some people feel it is OK to slack off near the end of a set of aligners, but I decided to extend my wear until yesterday, 2 days extra, so I would get enough hours for that set (supposed to be 280 to 300 hours per set).

#11 went in tightly, and my teeth are sore all over my mouth. The last few weeks were nearly discomfort-free, so I slacked off on Sensodyne as well, but I am going to use it at least twice a day for the next few days. It really does help with the discomfort.

Good checkup

Ortho checkup this morning went very well. As in the past, everything looks good; my teeth are tracking the aligners and moving nicely. The bone loss issue from my dentist seems to be a non-issue - my ortho says that (1) it would take 6 to 9 months for bone loss to result from invisalign, and (2) the panex panoramic x-ray he took looks fine - there is no evidence of bone loss.

I asked about refinements, but he said it was too early to tell. I also asked about IPR (interproximal reductions - filing small spaces between certain teeth to allow for movement), and he said that he planned the case to have no IPR, which I am glad to hear.

I was given 3 more sets of aligners, and sent on my way for another 7 weeks.

Number 9 Number 9

Breezed right through aligner set 8 and into set #9. This set went in much more easily than the last 2 sets - there was no struggle to get them in, and minimal discomfort. I do find that the trick I used to remove the lower aligner doesn't work anymore, so I had to find a new spot in the back to use a nail and remove it.

Orthodontist appointment next week. Still need to look at the bone loss issue seen by my dentist. Fingers crossed that it is nothing.

Meanwhile, I continue to see real changes in my smile and bite, though the temporary misalignment on the left side molars remains annoying.