64 trays later

It's been a while since the last update. The progress has been amazing, I change trays every three days and I could see the results daily. Acceledent really speeds up stuff!
Next week I will have a full scan again for the last set of trays. Another 32 trays, so 100 days more to go.

Progress

It's been a while since I posted an update, but things have been a bit crazy lately.

Nearly two months ago I received my first set of trays. They require a bunch of attachments to help move the teeth. The attachments are transparent, so they are almost invisible when the trays are off. One has to really pay attention to notice them. The trays are very delicate and nearly invisible, except for bubbles of saliva that get under them sometimes.
I also got a bunch of additional "buttons" with rubber and wire pieces to help with the teeth motion. That took me by surprise, I was hoping for no more sore spots in my mouth. These are little springs over the space of the removed bicuspid  on one side and a rubber band across the right side from top canine to bottom molar to increase the tension on the canine. The rubber band has to be replace every hour to keep the tension (ok...., at best I do it every 2-3 hours). I have been back to the office twice already, to reattach the buttons that came of... Make sure you point out where your crowns are, the crown has to be prepped for the glue and the assistants forget to do that.
At the moment I am on tray 4. The first three I replaced every 10 days, but with the AcceleDent the teeth move much faster, so the doctor agreed I can replace them every 7 days. It hurts for the first 2-3 days, but then is just fine. I put the tray in the evening, treat it with AcceleDent and go to bed. This way it is not too bad in the morning.

I use Retainer Brite cleaning tablets every 3 days or so to keep the trays clean. It works ok for residue, but does not get rid of discoloration. I am addicted to tea, so my trays get yellow quickly, but I prefer that than giving up tea. It's cold right now where I live and winter is coming, so I will not stick to water for that!

And here is the current picture of my teeth. I can see much difference, but people that don't see me daily did notice some motion... You can see the rubber band on the right (as well as some attachments that look like little bumps) and the button on the right.

Wires came off!

The orthodontist removed the wires couple days ago, the canines moved by about a third of the space of the removed bicuspids. You can see the space in front of the canines in the pictures.
During the visit a nurse took a scan of my teeth for the Invisalign. It took a while to take a photo of each surface of each tooth, with a bit bulky device that keeps blinking and beeping inside your mouth. But the effect was amazing! A 3D image of my teeth! Now I have to wait for 5 weeks to get my trays. In the meantime, I have to wear a retainer to ensure the teeth don't move while I am waiting. Otherwise the trays won't fit.
The pictures below were taken with the retainer on. It feels a bit bulky and gives me a bit of a lisp, but the pictures convinced me that it isn't that visible. One note: if you get a retainer like this, make sure you have the retainer removing tools like these at hand: http://www.amazon.com/Invisible-Braces-Retainer-Removal-Outie/dp/B001NFS4HW
I already broke two nails when taking this thing off and my tools don't ship till next week!

First check-up appointment and AccelDent

Yesterday I had my first check-up appointment, 8 weeks after the first visit. The doctor said that the two cuspids are moving nicely and the spaces are closing. I can see a nearly 2mm shift on the right side, the left one is moving slower. So they activated the left side a bit more to make up for the difference.

I also got my AccelDent. My first impression wasn't very good. When I opened the package I saw a fancy shiny box, way oversized for what it contained. The device itself doesn't seem very sturdy, it has a one-year warranty, but seems like it might not withstand a daily use for two years. But for the amoutn I paid ($580) I expectred someting more sturdy. The worst part of the package is the plug that one is supposed to use to charge the AccelDent. It's so flimsy it doesn't even stay in place when plugged in, I will have to buy one myself to use it. For the first charging before using the device I used my phone charger!
Here is a picture of the device:

 

 I was still skeptical while running it. It seemed to change the vibration frequency, I am not sure if that was intentional or not. But after I was done with the 20-minute session I felt the pain in the teeth (especially the molars) greatly reduced! So maybe the AccelDent is actually doing something!

I am so sore!

After one of the bracket got loose, I called the doctor's office next morning, got an appointment and had the bracket fixed. Turned out the person who mounted my braces didn't use a special glue for crowns and that's why the bracket came off. Now everything remains in place. If the bracket comes off again, it will have to be replaced with a band around the tooth. Hopefully that won't happen, this band is pretty wide, covers most of the tooth and is pretty visible.

On the same note, if you ever need to go to the orthodontist shortly after you got your braces, pop some Ibuprofen before the visit. The teeth are so sensitive that even touching them is painful, not to mention pulling, poking and readjusting the wires. The teeth hurt enough that I cannot put any pressure on them. Chewing is not even an option. Luckily I have the partial braces, so I can use the front teeth to nibble on food. But the molars are so sensitive that even chewing on a soft bread is painful. Soups, yogurts and puddings are the main ingredients of my diet now.

But back to the main topic of the post: the sores. The inside of my cheeks and lips is sore, red, swollen and irritated. Can't eat or drink anything warm or very cold. Rinsing with camomile tea helps a bit, though. Hopefully the tissue will scar soon and my mouth gets used to the braces.

Game on!

I got my partial closing wire braces today. It's a spring-like wire around the extraction site that will exert constant force on the canines for the next eight weeks pulling them to the back.

The pictures below show the structure of the wire:

 It is barely visible from the front (I have to pull the lips up quite a bit for the braces to show), but they stick out to the front a bit bothering the inside of my lips, not so much the cheeks in the back, though.

At the beginning it was a bit painful, now after several hours the canines are a bit sensitive, but it is bearable.

UPDATE: About 5 hours after the braces were placed, a bracket on the left second bicuspid came loose... Luckily it is the middle one, so it is not bothering me, but I can feel the tension on that side is reduced. This happened 30 minutes after the doctor office closed... Will call them first thing in the morning to set up an appointment and fix it.

The preparations

After many years of debating what type of braces would be an option for me I finally found the answer. Invisalign. It was the only option due to my job (I am an assistant professor). Teaching undergraduates and giving talks at meetings and conferences basically excluded any visible type of braces for me.

After doing some research, I found an orthodontist that specializes in Invisalign treatment and decided to give it a go.

First visit was a consultation, a lot of measurements of my teeth taken, their condition assessed and a verdict: I am a good candidate for Invisalign... after removing couple teeth and an initial treatment with partial wire braces on the top jaw. In my situation there is simply not enough space for all the teeth and I have to get rid of the top bicuspids to make space for the rest.

Two weeks later I am without teeth #5 and #12, but with a lisp that I didn't expect to be that bad. Hopefully I will get used to extra spaces in my mouth and get over the lisp soon.

Now I need to wait till next week, to let the gums heal a bit and I will get my partial wire braces. Just mounted on the canines, the second bicuspids and first molar. Should be almost invisible. Let's see how it turns out.

The bottom jaw will go directly into Invisalign at the same time the top does.

Here is a picture of the current status of my teeth:

 

This is after the extraction of the bicuspids, it's barely noticeable that they are missing. If it wasn't for the lisp.