Wednesday, April 23, 2008

7.2

Just a quick update.
So, I can really feel movement with this set. Yesterday afternoon I was so aware of my molars - they felt so weird but it didn't hurt to eat or anything it also didn't hurt to remove the aligners for supper last night so that's good. And I finally noticed a difference in my gap this morning, I mean it's not a huge difference, but it's cool that I can notice the change now.
Sad thing about this set is they don't fit very well, I mean they fit but they don't fit the contours of my teeth as well so they are pretty noticeable in one place. It's driving me crazy but I am sure it isn't as noticeable as I think it is. Its on my second right incisor. The aligner goes further down than the tooth does. I have seen other people's pictures where their aligners looked worse, so I don't want to complain!

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

седмые и много снегов!

Боже мой! Сейчас у нас есть больше снег, чем у нас в январе. Штормовой ветер, морозы жуткие и ещё снег постоянно идёт! Уже пошёл снег 4 дня. Мне надоел холод!

Okay, enough about the unexpected effing snow.....


Alright, so I was runnnig a bit late today, had to throw most of my breakfast out, ran to the subway (Okay I lied) trecking through a good 15-20 cm of unshovled snow, just made it, then almost fell in the street because I was trying to quickly cross and there is so much snow on the street and no snow plow has gone through, finally made it but almost got blown away the wind was so strong and my face was covered in snow. I just sat down, and they took me in. Got a different room than usual, walked past there storage office and by the looks of it(and I saw their client list) they have a lot of invisalign patients. Lindsay gave me my 7th set and I put them on. They went on fine, lots of pressure though but no pain or anything. Then she got the ortho, He had her pull up all my pictures on some sort of "dolphin" program. I thought that was just a name but when she pulled them up some there was some dolphin noises. He looked at my teeth said that they looked good, said my gap is closing nicely and has gone a long way already. He said they are closing in nice and straight and not tipping which is a worry with closing gaps(this I know because of all the extraction and tipping talk at archwired). He said it that happens it will be a bit harder to fix(I am assuming that means real braces). When schedualing my next appointment he said not to get lazy with summer and keep up wearing them as much as I have been. I said no problem! I said I would likely be in the middle of nowhere until mid august so he gave me all the aligners until then under the condition that if I get back into the city before then I come in for a checkup so he can check my progress. I am sure I will get in in June or July so I am not too worried and its cool to have basiclly 7 aligners. And shamlessly, I looked at them all as soon as I got back here. After about the 10th aligner there doenst appear to be much change - at least not compared to what is going on right now and previously. I heard them say that aligner 16 and on is "overcorrection" and I have the 15th aligner. So I will only have 4 more left on top and 3 on bottom after I get through all these. Exiting! I also asked to see my clincheck up until the 7th set to see what I've been through so she showed me. I assumed they had them all on their computer but they go to aligins website and then type in their username and password and then go through the clinet list to my name(a lot of people in treatment and awaiting treatment. I was so surprised at the amount of people). So she showed me the stage at each aligner and wow, there HAS been a lot of change - I just wasnt aware, the teeth really moved "in" and the gap has closed quite a bit. It was really encouraging to see, and another reason I love invisalign.

As I've typed this my right central incisor is not hurting per say, but I am definatly aware of it especially under the gum line - It's moving for sure. Again they don't fit perfectly on my molars like usual.

What else is new? Aligners are getting so easy to take out it was like back before I had buttons. I have started not being lazy and using denture tablets. I don't know if it is because I don't get the water hot enough, or I dont leave them long enough but it doesnt work that well. I mean, it gets most of the grime off, but the place where it really gets bad is the very last molars in the crevices and along the very back and even the efferdent doesnt get rid of it. I will try using it from the start with this new set and see if it makes a difference since I started well into my second week out of almost three with these last ones and by then they were getting really hard to clean with even a toothbrush and paste. Anyting else new? Oh! I was at a family funtion(dad's side of the family this time) and at this point I wasn't even thinking "I wonder if anyone will notice" because I am that used to the aligners already that I don't even think about them anymore. Well, I was talking to this one cousin of mine and out of the blue she goes "do you have tops and bottoms?" and I am like ".......yeah" and she is like "how are you liking it?" and I said "It's been really great I really recomend it. The only annoying thing is there is a ton of great food here right now and I don't want to go through the whole process of taking them off and then taking up time in the already crowded bathroom here to go through my routine." Later I told my brother that Dawn had noticed and he said that she has doing a whole lot with her teeth in order to get them straight over the years(everything but actual braces I think) so I am chalking her noticing up to the fact that people who are going through orthodontic work themselves, or don't like their teeth often notice other peoples.

I am done my finals, and have one more to do - a take home and no longer have internet in my apartment because we are in the process of moving and have had the phone and internet switched over to the new place(which is like 45-60 minute drive from where I am now) so I won't be able to get out a new video until I go home(back to my hometown) on Monday or so. I will also be able to take pictures with a real camera too. I am exited about that.

And now I am literally dieing with hunger. Gotta go.
Until next time,

Robin.

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Really quick video



I have gotten some PMs on youtube asking for another video of what the aligners look like and how noticeable they are with a gap. I tried to do this video in the best light I could so I hope you can see a little better than my last video. I really can't get any closer though or the focus goes blurry so if this doesn't answer your questions, I am sorry but you will just have to wait until the end of April when I can take pictures of my teeth and aligners with a real camera.

Friday, April 4, 2008

Picture updates: Aligner 6


Some comments first of all.
1)I tried to organize these
2)I couldn't get the same camera angle because well....it's hard to do yourself
3)Pictures are, again, grainy. It is either grainy or if I get too close it just gets blurry. Lose, lose situation.
4) Yes, my teeth are yellow. Can't wait until treatment is done and I can whiten them. It seems that my front teeth are okay but the ones further back are not. I don't know if this has anything to do with this yellow vitamin liquid I drink daily....I should monitor this...
5)The front on picture of my teeth with the aligners in looks better than it actually is. But the other pictures didn't really turn out so this one will have to do until a another couple of sets down the road.

Thursday, April 3, 2008

6.1

It is settling down nice. The aligners on my "trouble teeth"(the molars where it never sits right the first day) are almost perfect. This set feels tighter this morning that the others did at this time. The molars really hurt to eat on today especially the left side. None of the other teeth hurt though. When I put the aligners back on the two front teeth felt the most pressure and I can still really feel it. I can't tell if the gap is getting smaller yet. Damn these things, the change is so gradual I am not even noticing it. I wonder at what aligner I will start to actually notice change. I am betting on number 11. Maybe I'll be able to see soon -hopefully they give me my next five at my appointment at the end of the month since I don't know when I will be able to get into the city for an appointment this summer. Hopefully in early July. The only time I know for sure is mid august and I don't think they will let me go that long without an appointment. We'll see I guess.

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

шестые!

Changed into the 6th set tonight....this morning, whatever. I originally tried about 4 hours ago since I had had supper and figured I would put them in after I ate rather than just before I went to bed but I don't know if I was being to sensitive or my teeth really moved when I had the aligners out to eat but I tried the top and couldn't get it over my front teeth. I got half on but the right sides would sliding on top of the buttons so I just said "eh, I'll try again tomorrow" but when I went to get ready for bed I was curious and tried to put them on and it wasn't too bad. It was harder than the past ones but those always just slid right on. I feel like I am so cautious with these things and removing and putting them on. Oh well I guess, better safe than sorry.

Pressure points on this set are the premolars and molars. Feels really odd! Though this set still isn't as bad as the second set. They feel comfy even - if a little stiff. I shall see if there is a difference in the gap tomorrow when I take the aligners off. I can see on the aligner itself that the gap is growing smaller and smaller. The triangle piece of plastic between the two front teeth gets smaller and smaller and soon it wont be there any longer!

I don't see any change happening to my midline. Maybe it is moving(at a pace slower than a one legged 97 year old running a marathon)but at this point it doesn't look like it.

The last set was really hard to get clean(I like to really clean the aligners before I put them into retirement). I didn't realize it had gotten a bit murky in the crevices. I will have to be even more careful with this set since I will be wearing it almost three weeks. Man, I am going to have this set until school is done, finals done and I have moved. Seems like a long time. And as I typed that sentence I got a sharp shooting pain up where I assume the actual tooth is for a second. Gone now. I hope that doesn't continue.

More news tomorrow when these bad boys settle a bit.