I am done with . . . .

Invisalign trays and braces!
I started my Invisalign journey in April 2012.  What was suppose to take 8-9 months actually took 18 months and when I got rid of the Invisalign trays I was convinced by my Orthodontist to wear braces, something I said I never wanted to do . . . but in the end did!

I originally had a set of 10 trays. When I finished them at the end of last year, my teeth were still not where we wanted them, so I simply continued on with another round of 8 trays. At the beginning of September my Orthodontist said that the trays had did what they could, but it was obvious that we were not going to get the results we wanted.  BUT, if I would be willing to let him put braces on he was sure it could quickly pull the tooth, my left lateral incisor, down to align with my other teeth. While Invisalign did a good job straightening my teeth, the trays just weren't able to apply the pressure needed to pull the tooth down out of my gum line. We went back and forth about the braces, but I eventually gave in and said that I would give it a few months, but would have them removed before the end of the year.

As someone who did not have braces as a child, it sucks! It is nearly impossible to eat in front of people.  To those that I did eat in front of, I apologize for checking my teeth for leftover food particles while at the table or for not checking my teeth for leftover food particles.
I had the wires adjusted 3 different times and got them off this morning.  He was right, the braces were quickly able to pull the tooth down.  It really is amazing how quickly it worked.  I am so happy to be done. I still have metal retainers on the inside of both my uppers and lowers, but those are not bothersome.

Here is a "before" and 2 after pictures

Enjoy the moments!  

invisalign update

Oh the things that we do!    

I am wearing invisalign braces to align my upper
right incisor . . . of course the trays will straighten all of my teeth - but
that single tooth is my main concern.  

I got my trays on March 7.  I wore the first set of trays for the first month to get use to them.  At times they were bothersome . . . at times they didn't cause any issues.  They were easy to put in and remove and I really didn't think much of them.  I was scheduled for my second ortho appointment on April 4.  At this appointment I got buttons (nubs) attached to 11 of my teeth.  The trays have space built into them for the buttons and will allow the trays to better grip my teeth.  The process of attaching the nubs was harmless, until the Orthodontist had to "grind" off some of the residual material.  Ouchy ouchy!  He got too close to my gum line and boy oh boy did that hurt.  

Once the buttons were smoothed off a bit . . . trust me these little things are almost like fangs or daggers in my mouth . . . I then re-inserted my trays.  Holy smokes this was like night and day.  There was a huge difference between wearing the trays without the buttons and with the buttons.  The trays IMMEDIATELY pulled on my teeth and felt very different than they had when I walked into the office.  I was sent on my merry way with my complete set of invisalign trays and 11 buttons attached to my teeth.  I was told to keep the first trays in for another week and then I could move onto tray number 2.  So two days ago I switched to my second set of trays.  It was exciting . . . in a simple way . . . but it did mean that I was on my invisalign journey.  My teeth are still a little sore.  I especially notice it when I pull them out and eat something.  Tonight we had cream of Broccoli soup with a nice loaf of Italian bread . . . I really noticed my sore teeth when I bit into the bread!  I will wear this and each subsequent set of trays for three weeks.  

He also suggests that I wear each set of trays for 3 weeks instead of the
standard 2 week period.  This is to acknowledge the difficulty in getting
22 hours of wear per day.  At first glace 22 hours doesn't seem that
impossible.  Simply remove them for a couple of hours to allow for eating,
right!

So here is my average schedule of NOT wearing the trays

take them out for breakfast - 30 minutes - brush teeth
sometimes I drink coffee at work, I am a sipper . . . not a guzzler - 60
minutes - brush teeth
lunch - 40 minutes - brush teeth
afternoon snack - 15 minutes - brush teeth
dinner - 40 minutes - brush teeth
drink a glass of wine in the evening - 60 minutes - brush teeth

So on average the trays are out of my mouth for a little over 4 hours a
day . . . so I am clearly not getting to the recommended time of 22 hours
per day.
Here is both a before picture and a current picture for comparison purposes.

Before the trays

After 1month - not much difference - but I can feel that the incisor has started to turn - it isn't really detectable in the picture, but I can feel it with my tongue.

buttons on 11 of my teeth

Pros, Cons and Observations of Wearing invisalign

Con - brushing my teeth at least 6 times a day

Con - the feeling that I have too much saliva in my mouth
Con - the feeling that I don't have enough saliva in my mouth
Con - I am not flossing as much as I use to


Pro - I brush my teeth more ofter
Pro - I will eventualy have straighter teeth
Pro - I will not see my Orthodontist more than my Oncologoist . . .


Observation - people don't notice that I am wearing trays, because they are not "normally" in your space
Ovservation - Efferdent is the best way to clean the trays.  

Heading out for an hour run this morning!  Enjoy the weekend!

Running, rolling and aligning

Random thoughts for Friday

Running:
I had some good runs last week when I was on vacation in Florida - both at Cape Coral and Key West.  It is so great to head out the door with water, a running skirt, hat and sleeveless top and leave behind pants, thermal shirt, jacket, warm hat, gloves and still worry about the first mile with cold hands.  While in Cape Coral I had a couple nice, get use to the humidity runs of 2 and 2.5 miles and then in Key West I ran on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday morning - 5, 4 and 4.  On Friday morning I got up early to run and catch the sunrise.  Although Key West is well known for its Sunset party every night at Mallory Square - if you visit - don't forget to get up early and see the sunrise over the Atlantic.  Just as pretty and way WAY less people.  

We got back to WI Saturday afternoon - and we were welcomed back with fresh snow from the day before.  ;-)

My running back home has been OK.  Sunday - 4 miles in 25 degree temps vs. the 80 degree temps just a few days prior.  Monday 2 miles, Wednesday 4 miles and Tuesday and Thursday 2 mile walks.  So not the greatest week - but certainly not a total slacker week.  (in my book) 

Totally excited for Saturday - some of my Ragnar team - The Panty Raiders is meeting up here in town to enjoy a nice run and get to know each other.  It will be great to meet these wonderful women and spend some time talking tough - I have to talk tough, since I am bringing up the rear in age!!

Rolling:

I know that most people say that they "earned" each and every wrinkle and frown line . . . while I agree that I earned them - I am not quite ready to simply accept them and do nothing about them.  In full disclosure - I have had both a little Botox between my brow and a little Restylane filler in my nasolabila folds and under my eyes.  I have been extremely happy with the results and don't think that anyone is the wiser!  

A couple of women my age have asked me what I have done, because they notice that I don't have the sunken look under my eyes or the normal smile lines.  Some I have told and some I have not.  

I found a great salon in Madison, Radiance Skin Therapy and trust the owner with my face!  This morning I tried a technique called Dermarolling.  It is an interesting process, similar to aerating your lawn.  A tool with very very fine needles is rolled over your face and neck, which punctures the top layer of skin, promoting new collagen growth.  Here are some after pictures - looks like a bad sunburn, but it should be cleared up by tomorrow.   You will notice that my neck is especially red - I have a lot of pigmentation in my neck due to years of sun worshipping!  Trust me it looks much worse in person.  

Aligning:

In addition to wrinkles something that has happened to me as I age is that one tooth, my left lateral incisor, has started to twist and actually move back "out of sight" in my mouth  I  don't have perfect teeth and never had braces as a child but have been OK with my smile - but this recent tooth issue bothers me . . .  so I decided to get Invisalign trays.  Today is my third day . . . so far so good.  At times I have had second thoughts - but am committed to doing the trays and straightening my teeth.  Of course you can't just fix one tooth - both my uppers and lowers will be realigned (it is a package deal / well really not a deal / but the purchase price includes both upper and lower trays).   I will be documenting my Invisalign journey on my running blog.  Probably a once or twice a month post.  Anyway - here are two before pic's  

WOW my nose looks big in this pic . . . 

Enjoy the moment and heck is you are not happy with the way you look do something about it!!!